2012 9.8 Tohatsu now won't run after 2 hours

[fishndirk]

Re: 2012 9.8 Tohatsu now won't run after 2 hours

Just as pvanv said up above, his rpm figures are right on the money. My 20hp Tohatsu will idle at just over 900 rpm no problem. But I have set it slightly higher to right around 1000 because at 900 when the motor has only been running for a few minutes it will stall out sometimes when I put it in gear. So I set it a little higher to avoid this and I've never had an issue with it. When it runs at 1000 in nuetral it drops to almost 900 anyway in gear when the boats in the water.

 

[pvanv]

Re: 2012 9.8 Tohatsu now won't run after 2 hours

I got a factory manual a few days ago and am a bit disappointed that it says nothing about adjusting the idle, just what it should be. The idle adjustment screw isn't even identified in the exploded carb diagram or anywhere else in the book. It's listed as a "stop screw". I will get plenty of use out of the book, just have to b*tch a little...

Yes. Idle stop screw. It's just a terminology thing. Since there is also an idle mixture "pilot" screw (hidden under the EPA cap so we mere mortals don't fiddle with it), the author got specific, and called it what an engineer would... a stop. Any service manual of any brand will assume that the mechanic has some basic mechanical skills, and hence would understand the method to adjust the idle. FWIW, I run my 9.8 idle at about 950 (a little higher than spec) to promote a smoother cold idle, as fishindirk does. With my 8,000 pound sailboat, it's not a problem at idle, as the boat barely moves at all with the motor idling.