Bought my first boat and it won't run

[tropicalfishguy]

Hi, I hope this is the correct place, I am new to this forum. So as the title states I just bought my first boat. Its a 1981 Grew 14 ft fiberglass, with a 1991 50 hp Johnson outboard. I apologise if this is a long post but I want to be thorough. So I bought the boat a month ago, fixed it up, painted, etc. Last week I tried to start it and it only ran for a few seconds then died. I changed one of the quick connect fittings on the fuel line from the tank to the motor and that solved the problem. Great, so I took it out on the river for the first time and at WOT it would only go about 10 MPH. And then after fishing some I had the hardest time starting it back up and it wouldn't idle so getting back to the dock was an adventure. Thus far I have cleaned both carbs ( which were spotless already), changed the fuel lines in the engine compartment, changed the plugs. Now it will run only with the choke on, or half. I have a background in car mechanics, but have no experience with boats. The only thing left I can think of is to change the gas line and pump from the tank to the engine. I'm out of ideas and hope someone can help, its really frustrating, instead of enjoying my purchase I'm to busy trying to fix it. Also, with the choke on should it be revved up really high? It sounds like its going to take off, but I am not sure if this is normal or not.

 

[tropicalfishguy]

Ohh, forgot to mention. Has spark on both cylinders and I checked the compression and both were 125 PSI

 

[Crosbyman]

fuel pump working ok to feed the carb (s) ? will it run if YOU keep pumping the bulb ?....

if yes....probably bad fuel pump

you have fuel , compression and spark ....fuel delivery looks like the issue ...follow the fuel ! clean and blow all fuel passages in the carbs. nice looking is not enough

check for sticky inlet needle .

 

[sutor623]

And don't feel bad! I am pretty sure most of us can relate to your title. I sure know I can. The good thing is that you are going to study your motor and figure out all of the nooks and crannys so if you ever do have an issue on the water you will have a better chance at figuring out your issue. Good luck!!

 

[tropicalfishguy]

Well I fixed it. Sheer dumb luck is how I did it. I changed the fuel line and bulb from the tank to the engine and it started running better. So I thought great, took it down to the river and nothing. It would run, but only about 10 mph again. I noticed the bottom carb has no suction but if I covered it with my hand the boat would start to speed up. After covering it for about 30 seconds, 2 or 3 times something happened and its running awesome. Idles perfect and is quite fast. I though perhaps the reeds were stuck and covering with me hand caused enough vacuum to free them?? I don't know but its working so now I can get back to fishing.