Nine Cody members were very kindly hosted by Mel and Steve at their home whilst Keith Eayrs taught us how to service and repair outboard engines. Keith is very knowledgeable about these engines, and we all learnt a lot from him.
It turns out that a routine service does not involve that much work on an outboard engine and that this is within the scope of an amateur.
We learned about spark plugs, how to change the gearbox oil and how to change the impeller, and also many other things about outboards, fuel, corrosion, contamination, and lots more. Keith is hugely knowledgable and experienced in engines, engineering and the theory as well as the practical.
We spent a lot of time in the afternoon on one of the club outboards, and eventually figured out that the carburettor itself was end-of-life and we’ll get a replacement. This is the outboard that did not work properly at camp and cut out while being used, we were able to reproduce the symptoms, and despite many cycles of stripping and cleaning the carb we could not get the innards to work smoothly. The other club outboard works beautifully now. We did run out of daylight and there is the impeller replacement still to do on the club outboards (which we’ll sort out during another session), put the covers back on and to prepare them for the winter.
We also know how noisy air-cooled outboards are!
Very many thanks to Keith for sharing his experience and knowledge throughout the day, and thanks to the many people who contributed to the feast.
Steve set his garden up very well for our purposes and we were able to work on outboards throughout the day. Mel hosted a lovely lunch, and we ate very well. It was nice to meet other Cody members and to have a chat with them and not just about outboards….
It was a bit nippy, but it was dry. Overall, this was a fine friendly day that was very worthwhile. The Cody social programme goes from strength to strength with sociable, interesting, valuable events occurring in most months during the winter season. Do come along when you are free!
