Tom-
The plug alignment with the gap toward the injector nozzle in called "indexing" and requires marking the plugs with a felt pen so that you can tell where the plug gap is in relation to the fuel nozzle once they are threaded into the cylinder heads. Apparently the threading tap that creates the threads on the plug bores cannot make all of them exactly the same, so they are at random, and so are the plug threads, and one has to substitute plugs until the correct alignment is made. You're certainly right about three cylinders having less opportunities for making matches with the plugs you buy then when six choices are available. Might need a friend with the same plug requirement to trade mismatches with.
Running your etech in extremely cold water and air at idle speeds for long periods has got to be the extreme test for outboards which are prone to problems already because they circulate raw cool water through their cooling jackets and therefore have lower powerhead temperatures in general, which leads to carbon build up especially when run for long periods at idle speeds.
The thermostats are supposed to control minimum exit temperatures to maintain reasonable powerhead temperatures for efficient operation and limit carbon build up, but there are still a lot of problems in this area. One fix used sometimes is to use a higher temperature thermostat, but with your warranty and with the etech factory involved, I'd follow their advice to the letter until the problem is resolved, of course, to keep the onus of responsibility on them and the warranty intact.
What they really need to do, in my opinion, is to develop a re-circulating cooling system to supply the already heated water back down to the water pump and achieve higher and more uniform water temperatures, using the thermostat as a dump valve into the exhaust passages once the more efficient and cleaner operating temperatures are achieved and maintained.
Apparently, however, the problem in its more extreme form is not found often enough to justify the added expense of design changes that would be incurred in their incorporation. Might be a fertile field for someone to develop an after market kit to do just that, but warranty issues would probably be the kiss of death to such a device, at least until engines were beyond the warranty time period.
One other thought would be to be sure your engine is not being excessively carboned up in your operating pattern, and to ask the factory techs if the liberal use of Evinrude's version of Techron / Ringfree (Yammi speak) would be advised. Fun talking with you! Joe.
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The plug alignment with the gap toward the injector nozzle in called "indexing" and requires marking the plugs with a felt pen so that you can tell where the plug gap is in relation to the fuel nozzle once they are threaded into the cylinder heads. Apparently the threading tap that creates the threads on the plug bores cannot make all of them exactly the same, so they are at random, and so are the plug threads, and one has to substitute plugs until the correct alignment is made. You're certainly right about three cylinders having less opportunities for making matches with the plugs you buy then when six choices are available. Might need a friend with the same plug requirement to trade mismatches with.
Running your etech in extremely cold water and air at idle speeds for long periods has got to be the extreme test for outboards which are prone to problems already because they circulate raw cool water through their cooling jackets and therefore have lower powerhead temperatures in general, which leads to carbon build up especially when run for long periods at idle speeds.
The thermostats are supposed to control minimum exit temperatures to maintain reasonable powerhead temperatures for efficient operation and limit carbon build up, but there are still a lot of problems in this area. One fix used sometimes is to use a higher temperature thermostat, but with your warranty and with the etech factory involved, I'd follow their advice to the letter until the problem is resolved, of course, to keep the onus of responsibility on them and the warranty intact.
What they really need to do, in my opinion, is to develop a re-circulating cooling system to supply the already heated water back down to the water pump and achieve higher and more uniform water temperatures, using the thermostat as a dump valve into the exhaust passages once the more efficient and cleaner operating temperatures are achieved and maintained.
Apparently, however, the problem in its more extreme form is not found often enough to justify the added expense of design changes that would be incurred in their incorporation. Might be a fertile field for someone to develop an after market kit to do just that, but warranty issues would probably be the kiss of death to such a device, at least until engines were beyond the warranty time period.
One other thought would be to be sure your engine is not being excessively carboned up in your operating pattern, and to ask the factory techs if the liberal use of Evinrude's version of Techron / Ringfree (Yammi speak) would be advised. Fun talking with you! Joe.
[/i]
and it is unusual - I would say its more likely a defective part than design defect.