I have a 1986 70 Hp Johnson outboard and it runs great when I flush it out on the street. It starts up, runs smooth out of gear and it runs great when I engage it in gear. I might add that it has not run in about 7 to eight years previous, but I did replace water pump, change the lower unit oil, new spark plugs, cleaned and rebiult the carbs, and installed new head gaskets. Plus I flushed the gas tank and put on a new fuel filter and added a full tank of gas. I tried to run it in the water, but it would not start in neutral unless I gave it a little gas and it sure would not engage in gear without killing over on me. It seems like it is idlling to low or that it can not operate with a load due to improper mixture of gas and air. That is my guess at least. All this a little new to me, but I am very interestted in learning all that I can and fix it myself. Please inform me on what could that problem and how I can go about fixing the problem. Thank you and have a great day! 