I am having trouble with my 1977 Johnson 40 hp outboard. Ok, no snickering out there, I am female, but try to do and repair most things myself, but this one has me at a disadvantage. While driving my bass boat, the engine starts fine, takes off fine, full throttle and all that, but then, all of a sudden, it loses power. It is acting like it's not getting enough gas. The bulb is tight and stays tight even after it stalls. It will restart with throttle. Once I move the lever back down and try to reengage the engine it will die. If I am using the throttle, it will idle. Yesterday, I took the boat back out to see if I could get it to run, I had to have it full throttle several times, just to keep it running. I eventually was able to engage the engine, but even with it open full tilt, boat was going really slow. Also, when I was just sitting there letting it idle, I thought maybe I had some bad gas in the lines, it was emitting a white smoke from the engine. After reloading the boat and bringing it home, I started investigating. The first thing I went to was the carb cover. Took it off, it look pretty much clean, then I took out the fuel filter and found what looked like sand in it. Ok, I went and bought a new one, but after reading this forum yesterday and today, everything indicates that I should rebuild the carb. I had the card replaced 2 years ago. Boat is originally from Texas and after my Uncle died, it sat for awhile until I got my hands on it. Never had any problems with it (9 years) until now. I guess my questions would be this. Should I rebuild the card? Should I empty the gas out, clean the tank and replace gas? And, is there anything else you might be able to help target before I put it back in the water. Also, yesterday, before I launched it, I put the muffs and hose on it and it was running fine, thats why I decided to take it for a ride. After a few minutes out on the water though, it started to bog down really bad. Suggestions please.
