Idle Timing with Boyesen Reeds

[Salmonseeker]

Hey Guys,

The motor is a 2004 Johnson 50HP 2 stroke.
I installed Boyesen Reeds over the winter. I was told that I should be able to lower my in gear idle from 800 RPM to 650 RPM. I installed the reeds and everything seems okay except I cannot get my RPM's lower.

According to my manual the idle adjustment is controlled by the idle timing. When I adjust this the idle rpm does not adjust. I also tried adjusting the idle fuel mixture slightly leaner and richer with no effect.

Is there a way to make the RPM lower on this motor? I believe the amount of air this motor gets at idle is constant and cannot be adjusted. Just the fuel can.

I would like to lower my idle in gear a bit to get my trolling speed a little slower. That was why I bought the reeds. I would rather not mess with the other options to make the boat troll slower.

So is there a way to adjust the idle below factory spec which is 800RPM?

Also I should note that when I tested the boat. Sometimes after a WOT run. When I put the boat in Neutral, the rpms would rise to about 1500 and then slowly come down. This did not happen before I put the reeds in. When this happens the throttle roller cam is not engaging the Carb butterfly valves. So I know it is not a linkage problem. I did mess with the low speed mixture on the carb, don't know if that has anything to do with the problem


Thanks, Jay

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Idle Timing with Boyesen Reeds

Are you adjusting the idle in the water or on the flushette?

I'm not sure that the reeds will make the motor idle at a lower rpm. With all the sets we've installed I don't remember that happening. If anything the idle was higher because the reeds worked easier. Then you could adjust the idle timing down. That motor should idle at about 700 in gear (650-750) no matter what reeds are in it.

 

[Salmonseeker]

Re: Idle Timing with Boyesen Reeds

I was adjusting the idle in the water in and out of gear. When I did the link and sync. The starting setting on the idle timing screw was 1/2" according to the manual. If i try and adjust this dimension out to retard the timing. The timing advance arm seems to be able to move around. It seems like there is no tension on it. There is tension at 1/2". If I try and go the other way there does not seem to be to much of a change in rpm.

Is this the proper way to adjust the idle speed? Is it possible the low speed carb setting is not right? Would that setting change idle in gear rpm if it was to lean or to rich? I am new to this carb setting thing.

Also any idea why the motor would idle so high in neutral after a WOT run? It also seemed to stay in gear slightly after I put in in neutral near the dock. Again this would only happen once in a while. Perhaps the high RPM would not allow the drive to disengage right away?

Thanks, Jay

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Idle Timing with Boyesen Reeds

Make sure the throttle cable is disconnected when setting the sync-n-link and adjusting the idle. It also sounds like the shift cable is out of adjustment. Let's start there then deal with the high idle after wot later.

 

[Salmonseeker]

Re: Idle Timing with Boyesen Reeds

The throttle cable was not disconnected when I did the lync and sync. I will play around with it this weekend.

Jay