Carb rebuild kit

Scour the internet for hours(which ive done with many other projects to boat thus far), or one post to IDO for some answers

94 120hp johnson outboard, quit dying on me whenever shifting to forward/reverse. Adjusted the idle to just a few half turns higher, and after a Seafoam upper intake clean to all 4 carbs and thing flies just above idle now(yes I know one thing at a time to diagnose). No issues cutting out now at low idle, but rockets probably 4mph lowest going forward(perhaps just the fish/ski hull?). Turned it ALL the way down(idle) after noticing and runs much nicer, but still cuts out once in a while(perhaps several times over the course of 2 days fishing). Replaced fuel lines from tank to transom, connector on transom is good, then fuel line from transom to engine, including bulb, filter and all clamps. Bulb always needs to be primed on cold start, and doesn’t stay ROCK hard when going but read this isn’t an issue with these setups, stays pretty firm…. VRO is top notch with running good oil(Pennzoil Marine XLF) in it for 4 full tanks now. Water separator is on order but in mean time took gas and oil samples for separation and none showed.

Assuming at this point the Seafoam cleanse helped the most with stall issue, so tells me? the carbs etc just need to be upgraded, how hard of a task is this? Trailer, solenoid, fuel lines, gauges etc don’t seem all that scary to me. Carbs scare for me some reason and may want to outsource for perfection. Am I over thinking this? Rebuild kits are cheap AH but the thought scares me. Anything I’m overthinking here?

Pool 2 has been screaming at me this entire fall, but with an unreliable motor not happening on moving water, sucked enough to be stuck on Leech. This is about the last hurdle with the newer boat I need to tackle this fall, as far as I’m concerned wont have to winterize for at least another month!!!

If you have never done them before this would not be a good time to learn. Im all for doing things yourself but you need to cut your teeth on a single carb/ single cyl. engine before you play with the big dogs.

nhamm,is the cutting out only when you move the shift/throttle lever??
if so I am wondering if you dont have a chafed wire either under the flywheel where the trigger(an ignition trigger) is,or if there is a wire chafed in the handle area??

wish I was there,those old girls are fairly simple to work on,but if you have never had a carb apart,I wouldnt learn just yet so here is what I would suggest to you.
go to an orielleys near you if you have one and pick up a seloc outboard service manual for that year and model of motor,study it well.
it will show you how to take the carb apart,clean,and reassemble it piece by piece.

if you still dont want to tackle it,take them off and send them to me this winter after you put the boat away,I will do it for you.
or talk to trumar,that may be something he can help you with if he is closer to you.

Iowaboy1 wrote:

nhamm,is the cutting out only when you move the shift/throttle lever??

You can hear the engine sort of sputter when it starts to cut out, may do it for a few seconds beforehand, been learning the signs of it now so give it a snotch of gas to keep it fine and may not act up again for some time. So the answer to yours is no, it happens now more so when going, as before it did cut out quite a bit when shifting and going.

I had a similar problem with my engine. It would die every time I put it into reverse. It turned out that the previous owner put a screw through the wire harness and nicked a couple wires in it.
On a side note, the best thing I did to my VRO is plug the oil injection and pre mix the gas. Good luck.

If you are still looking for an answer try

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/forumdisplay.php?26-Johnson-Evinrude-Outboard-Forum

I have a Merc and it is a great resource for motor info.

I would tell you to go for it, read the manual, take pictures with your cell phone as you go, and take your time, count and write down the turns as you go on the needles (so you can put them back to where they were).

It is not hared just take patience.

On a 4 carb setup of this vintage it should come as no surprise that these things need some love once in a while. Carbs need to be tuned up and multi carb setups need to be balanced every so often. It’s also possible that one of more of the carbs needs to be taken down and rebuilt, but that can only be determined once the carbs are systematically tuned.

To do this correctly, you absolutely need a good carb intake airflow meter and then you have to know the setup process. It really helps if this can be done with the engine in the water, not being force fed through muffs because the backpressure from being in the actual water can affect the setup.

Bottom line is that if you have done carb rebuilds and setups before on a single carb engine, you may want to tool up and try this. If you are not familiar with setting up even single carb motors, outsource this in the off season.

BTW, I can’t believe we got over 4 posts into this thread before someone recommended you rip out the VRO. The fact that the VRO has nothing whatsoever to do with the symptoms never seems to enter the discussion.

Grouse

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

BTW, I can’t believe we got over 4 posts into this thread before someone recommended you rip out the VRO.

Just barely…

There is that carb place in White Bear lake off 61 that all he does.

On Johnsons and Evies, if the carb linkage isn’t exactly where its supposed to be in relationship with the timing, it will also cough. The carbs have to be set fairly close to eachother, when their set right the motor will still want to run even when fully de-throtteled and you think it should die by then. My personal opinion is Johnsons and Evies are harder to get tuned right then Mercs, Mercs seem to have a built in buffer zone that they run good in.

I like a challenge, but also don’t like consequences.

Worse case scenario bring to shop and have them tune it?