Thread: Evinrude?

I have a 85 50 hp evinrude I put in new reeds in myself . Got from a place in FL they asked me some questions and shipped them to me . Wasn't that big of a deal to replace the reeds..

Chris Carson Marine, Manufacturer of custom reed valves for all outboard applications.

This was the place

Where the metal reeds?
He also mentioned something about them having to be jetted also, but I’m not sure what that means. I think between my Dad and I , we could tackle that project. I have a lead on a new boat and my son wants this one, so it would be great if I could just fix this motor.


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i had reed valve probablem on my 55 HP . they are just behind the carbs . when i took them out there was a small bolt the one that holds the air dam over the caebs had some how came out and went into the carburetor and got stuck in the reed. removed it and it ran good .

Usually if you have bad reeds there will be blowback or spittle coming out of the carbs, along with poor idle. They're generally pretty trouble free and I think a failure is pretty rare, unless something was ingested, as mentioned.

$1200 is steep. Parts are less than $100 and it's only a few hours of labor, including syncing the carbs and stuff afterward. The reeds are in the intake manifold behind the carbs, pull the carbs off and they're right there.

Once you get them apart you'll be able to tell if they need to be replaced. If they've started to curl and have an air gap or obviously if any are broken, it's time for new ones.

There's no need to rejet if you're replacing them with stock reeds also.

I’m having the poor idle issues and sputtering. I can’t idle in a no wake zone without it dying. I’m going to tackle it myself, I think I can handle it. Thanks for the feedback.


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Once the reed block is out, need to look at the block itself if not smooth then a piece of glass and emery cloth is used to smooth out the reed blocks if not a smooth surface the new reeds will not seat right.

When leveling the reed block use a figure eight motion, to help keep from getting high and low spots.

Good tips in here. I wonder if that's what is wrong with my 1998 75 merc? I had to replace the fuel pump and already have tore the carbs off of it to fix a mounting issue on the cowling. Wish I would have done it then.

My motor runs pretty good but at idle it will cough and idle down and then get back up good and do the same thing. I'd say it happens every minute or two. It really sounds like a cough and not a sputter. Only does it on idle. It's not hard to change but a boat motor is not one of my favorite things to work on at all.

Originally Posted by SloppyJ

Good tips in here. I wonder if that's what is wrong with my 1998 75 merc? I had to replace the fuel pump and already have tore the carbs off of it to fix a mounting issue on the cowling. Wish I would have done it then.

My motor runs pretty good but at idle it will cough and idle down and then get back up good and do the same thing. I'd say it happens every minute or two. It really sounds like a cough and not a sputter. Only does it on idle. It's not hard to change but a boat motor is not one of my favorite things to work on at all.

Sounds like you are running a tad lean. If I were you I'd run some seafoam thru it. Then turn your idle mixture screw out 1/8-1/4 turn.