tune up ?

[newboater411]

I have a 69 85 hp johnson. This is my first boat, but I have worked on some engines before (old volkswagon). The engine sat for about 2 to 3 years. It starts great, and runs at speed really well. The only problem is, after it warms up, it doesn't idle at all. It makes docking really hard. Any suggestions as to how to proceed would be much appreciated.

THANKS!!

-gabe

 

[HighTrim]

Re: tune up ?

You might want to start with a compression test first before you start spending money elsewhere, a 20 dollar compression screw in tester will be fine. After that the reccomend the plugs be changed every couple years, although i do mine every year. The carb could also probably use a cleaning, there are some great posts in here on how to do that or you could try running seafoam in you fuel to clean it out, there are also posts in here on how to do that, gl

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: tune up ?

Some of those things are good to do, but before I jumped into carbs, I'd check to make sure you're getting spark on all cylinders, after checking compression. If you're getting a good spark and have good compression, then you may want to look to fuel mixture.