Bit of a long shot I know but I need some help. Got an old evinrude 2.5hp outboard with a lean/rich knob on the front. Anyone know how to adjust or set it up correctly?

I could help if it was a Seagull! Or a nice 75 Mercury!

I know my way round a mercury/tohatsu 2.5 very well but can’t help you here. Does it have a choke too? Maybe it’s used instead of a choke.

Googleis your friend answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110410145118AAm1N0b]

Not sure if it’s the best advice but sounds about right.

Isn’t it just a choke?

Start it on rich and wind it back as it warms through.

If it starts at all your doing well! Old outboards are the most abused and unreliable machines on the planet!

I’ve got a Johnson 2.5hp which is actually a rebadged Suzuki. Someone told me that some Evinrude models are also rebadged Suzukis (or maybe rebadged Mariners/Mercurys)

So, if you’ve had no luck googling ‘Evinrude 2.5’ the you could put ‘Suzuki 2.5’ into google images and see if a similar shaped outboard comes up under that.

The choke on my Johnson 4-stroke provides a richer mix, the further it is pulled out. The choke on my old 2-stroke Suzuki is richer if you flick it towards the right.

Whatever way it operates, all old outboards are temperamental and you have to experiment a bit to find the right amount of choke to keep it going 🙂

I think it’s just the same as a choke, so start rich and then go to lean when it gets going.

Some will need dropping from rich to lean as soon as they fire up, IME. I’ve never used a midway position on an outboard choke, either full out or full in on the one’s I’ve used.

Presumably you’re having trouble getting it started?

So 1st some questions.

1)Is it fresh or salt water (last time used)
2)Have you changed/cleaned the plug
3)Using fresh new fuel with the correct mixture, i assume old = 2 stroke.

Do all those, spray the electrics with WD40, taking care if it’s been used in salt water to clean stuff. (Salt often shorts out things like plugs and coils)

Then set the nob 3/4 rich and try and get it to fire, it’ll probably four stroke a bit, then turn it 50% try again if it catches, turn the nob leaner.

You need to turn it over a bit, get some fesh fuel mix into the crank case, do this by taking the plug out if necessary after a long lay up. (It could have been winterised with a heavy oil mix in the crank).

Unlikely much wrong with it, outboards rarely get anywhere the use they’re capable of.

But they do clog up, too much oil, salt in the electrics, water in the float chamber, stuff like that..

Nothing a good cleaning won’t sort.

Edit, er pardon if I’m telling you how to suck eggs, but only start it in a bucket of water, don’t want the impeller burning out.
And, I’m probably a bit out of touch, although I did race suzuki engines back in the day, but OMC was Ediinrude and Johnson, Merc & Mariner were the same thing, but I wasn’t aware of any hook ups with OMC & the Japs, then again, times change it was a while ago now.