Re: 1987 evenrude, no power off idle
I have a 1987 Johnson 200 VRO. I had the same problem you are having. Assuming the carbs are clean, your problem would be electrical. To me it sounds like you have 3 cylinders that are not firing all the time. If this is the case the motor will sound OK as long as it's out of the water(prop exhaust). When you put it in the water the idling problems become more apparent. It turns out my problem was a burnt ground wire to one of the powerpacks. Check them closely for corrosion. Correcting this immediately fixed my problem. If you have fire on all six cylinders while idling but lose it as you speed up then the problem is some of your ignition coils are breaking down under the heavier load. You stated your motor was rebuilt but I bet you still have the same electrical parts you did before. Heat is a killer to these parts. These examples I am giving are direct lessons I have learned from my motor. They are bullet proof but the electrical parts are not. I bought my motor newly rebuilt but used 2 years ago. The powerhead is great but I have had to replace the old coils, 1 powerpack and stator which failed due to heat and their age. Motor now runs great.<br />Good Luck