9.9 hp Slow Speed Needle VERY HARD to Turn

[gm280]

scout-j-m, if you were able to buy the plastic carb top for under $50 dollars you did good. My neighbor broke his top plate and the new one was going to cost well over a hundred dollars. And so he decided to glue his back together. I can't say how well it worked after then because he passed away before he ever got to try it again and his family removed the boat to some other place. I can't see how gluing it would work because of the type plastic involved. But I am watching your thread to see how it all works out. Not sure what model carb he had anymore, but at the time every place I looked, the top was either rout of stock or well over $100 dollars. I couldn't believe it. JMHO!

 

[scout-j-m]

scout-j-m, if you were able to buy the plastic carb top for under $50 dollars you did good. My neighbor broke his top plate and the new one was going to cost well over a hundred dollars. And so he decided to glue his back together. I can't say how well it worked after then because he passed away before he ever got to try it again and his family removed the boat to some other place. I can't see how gluing it would work because of the type plastic involved. But I am watching your thread to see how it all works out. Not sure what model carb he had anymore, but at the time every place I looked, the top was either rout of stock or well over $100 dollars. I couldn't believe it. JMHO!

I actually did not buy the plastic top but I could have. I ended up purchasing the newer side style needle and spring and the plug and gasket for the location the old needle was. It totalled about $40. But here is a screenshot of the plastic top parts for a 1992 model from marineengine .com. It is $18 for the top piece alone and $122 for a kit which includes the needle and gasket, which seems like a ripoff. I'd recommend anyone in the same boat as me replace the top plastic piece instead of getting the newer needle that way the choke knob won't interfere.

 

[scout-j-m]

So I did take it to the lake to test earlier but it poured on me despite the sun shining bright the entire time. Ran it around in the rain to get a feel for the motor but didn't want to get my tools out or take off the cover with the weather. Spent most of the time fishing under a bridge.

The motor ran great though. It was doing 19 mph at 6800 rpms with two people and light gear and the 8" 3 blade prop it came with. I have a 10 pitch I can try out to try to get it back down to the recommended rpm range.

It idled ok but it was not real consistent and about the slowest it would go in fwd idle was 850 rpms. I'm confident some adjusting can fix it though. The leaking gas is honestly a bigger concern right now and was prevalent as gas was visibly streaking down the leg from where it connects to the lower cowling. The float height was good and I torqued the screws in the pattern on the bowl so I' guessing the gasket is bad or the plastic bowl is warped or has some other problem as I'm not sure where else gas would leak from aside from the carb throat or vent, both of which happening though would mean the engine would be flooding and not running as good as it is (I would think). Unless there is some major difference, I may just end up puttting my 1982 carb on for its simpler design.

 

[gm280]

I actually did not buy the plastic top but I could have. I ended up purchasing the newer side style needle and spring and the plug and gasket for the location the old needle was. It totalled about $40. But here is a screenshot of the plastic top parts for a 1992 model from marineengine .com. It is $18 for the top piece alone and $122 for a kit which includes the needle and gasket, which seems like a ripoff. I'd recommend anyone in the same boat as me replace the top plastic piece instead of getting the newer needle that way the choke knob won't interfere.

Yes scout, If I remember correctly my neighbor's engine was a Johnson 15 HP and the part he broke off was where the linkage attaches to the top of the carb. The plastic part. And he tried to glue it together. I did a little research with the model number for a replacement and I searched everywhere. But that part was so expensive, I couldn't believe it. A mere plastic carb top for $100 plus dollars. So of course he didn't buy a replacement.

Glad your is running better though. Once you get the gas leak solved, you will be good to go. :thumb:

 

[scout-j-m]

Yes scout, If I remember correctly my neighbor's engine was a Johnson 15 HP and the part he broke off was where the linkage attaches to the top of the carb. The plastic part. And he tried to glue it together. I did a little research with the model number for a replacement and I searched everywhere. But that part was so expensive, I couldn't believe it. A mere plastic carb top for $100 plus dollars. So of course he didn't buy a replacement.

Glad your is running better though. Once you get the gas leak solved, you will be good to go. :thumb:

Thanks! Yes, this 15 hp has some much more power than my old 82 9.9 hp so I am very happy with it.

 

[scout-j-m]

Another update: It was hard to adjust the low speed mixture with the setup I ended up with and still couldn't get it to idle down low and smooth like it should. So I bought the appropriate plastic top for my model along with a new top gasket and low speed needle. It was all less than $40. The needle was still hard to turn in but with the knob on, I did get it in all the way and then backed out 1.5 turns. Running it in gear in a tank, it seems to be running much better already. It still needs to be smoothed out but I could get it to idle down to about 500-600 rpms without dying. I think the other setup was running too rich no matter how far in the needle was set for whatever reason.

I'm much happier now. Maybe I can finally get a nice slow, smooth idle and can set the idle speed.