'71 Johnson 20hp Smokes and Jerks

Bass2ply

Cadet
Joined
Jul 30, 2004
Messages
12
This motor is a little hard to start and sneezes a little when it first trys to turn over. After I get it to run, it jerks a lot at idle and dies. If I push the RPMs, it won't jerk as much. It will die when put into gear. Sorry, I don't know a better word for it than "jerks" because that's kind of what it does. Also, it smokes a lot, but I know it isn't the gas because my other outboard ran clean on it. I have replaced the head gasket, plugs, and it has good compression, spark, and cooling. I am green on outboards and certainly frustrated. Any suggestions?
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: '71 Johnson 20hp Smokes and Jerks

Bass,<br /><br />Usually, a "sneeze" is indicative of a lean mixture. Has the carburetor been disassembled and cleaned lately?
 

Bass2ply

Cadet
Joined
Jul 30, 2004
Messages
12
Re: '71 Johnson 20hp Smokes and Jerks

Not to my knowledge; I just recently acquired this motor. I did try to adjust the low speed mixture while running, but it did not improve the problem. I will look at rebuilding the carb.
 
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