The basic outboard marine boat motor is of two stroke design. This is due to the weight of the motor being less. The power of a two stroke motor is also higher versus a comparable weight four stroke motor. As emissions became tighter direct injection two stroke engines have been produced. They still have low weight and alot of power but are very complex. Direct injection two stroke outboards are actually very clean motors and get excellent fuel economy similar to four strokes. As the technology of four strokes evolve, they have become much lighter and have flooded their way into the market. Although pricy four strokes are very popular and are getting closer to the weight and power of two strokes. Outboard motors started as two strokes with lower weight found on much smaller boats than boats produced today. Today it is not uncommon to see a 250 horsepower motor on the back of a bass boat! Many offshore boats may have twin 250 hp or 225 hp outboard motors on the back! Most mid sized ski boats generally use 115 or 150 horsepower outboards. Small john boats generally use 5,15 or 25 hp motors. Small skiffs use anything between 25, 40 and up to 115 hp outboards.
Do you live in an area where you car has to meet inspection requirements? Normally your vehicle will also have to pass emissions requirements also. This article will help explain what emissions are and how to fix a possible problem your vehicle may have. The emissions test is normally done with a probe placed into the exhaust tailpipe. The emission sampler will sniff or sample the contents of the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe. Every road going vehicle produced, has certain clean requirements that it is required to reach. This requirement is specified by EPA to limit the amount of pollutants exiting the vehicle. Most samplers are five gas analyzers simply meaning they “see” or measure five types of gases. The five gases that will be measured are HC, NOX, O2, CO, and CO2. We will start with HC or hydrocarbons. HC’s are simply another term for unburned fuel that makes it through the engine and out the exhaust. HC’s cause smog and and are not good to breath. NOX means oxides of Nitrogen. NOX is a by product of highly heated and compressed air that has nitrogen in it.
Testing trouble codes is easy. This is a basic how to, on checking trouble codes. All codes supplied here are for pre OBD-2 cars (1996), newer cars can be checked at autozone for free! First turn key forward but don’t start. If you know where the diagnostic plug is, you can use a paperclip to check the codes by jumping the top right (usually) two wires in the plug. GM-bottom of dash. Turn your ignition key forward, codes will flash on the check/ service engine soon light. The code will come up three times then alternate to the next error code, don’t worry about the first code 12. The car ignition is off = 12. A code of 13 will look like this 0 = flashes 0_000, 0_000, 0_000 (larger pause) then will alternate to the next code. Dodge, turn the ignition switch on and off twice, then turn forward (do not start engine) and keep it there. Check engine light will also be used for Dodge vehicles. Dodge codes work same as GM. Ford-under hood and find diagnostic plug labeled EEC Test. Use a jumper wire to connect the single external plug to jump to the main 6 prong plug. Look at the plug with the row of four at the bottom, next look at the next row of two on top.
Setting the timing on a vehicle is a simple task. First you must know what the manufacturer’s spec is for the stock timing. This information is usually under the vehicle’s hood. Many vehicles have their ignition timing set somewhere between 6 and 12 degrees advanced. Advanced ignition means that the spark that occurs in the cylinder happens earlier before the piston reaches top dead center. After you know what the timing spec needs to be you will need a timing light. Connect the timing light up to the battery or power source that it uses first. Next connect the clamp over the number one spark plug wire, which obviously runs to the #1 cylinder. This should also be marked on your distributor. If your distributor has a vacuum line running to it, remove the vacuum line and plug it so that it doesn’t suck in air. If this line is not plugged, the timing reading can be incorrect as the timing may be advanced slightly. The next thing you will need to do will be to locate the timing mark usually high-lighted yellow on the end of the engine or dampener.
