1981 Johnson 150 no power

my motor starts easily but surges at idle and will not turn above 1500-2000 rpms under load, also will not turn above 3000 rpms unloaded. compression is as follows (not sure of cyclinder numbering sequence)as viewed from exhaust plate Top right- 95 mid right - 100 bot right - 95 top left - 100 mid left - 100 bot left - 100 spark easily jumps 7/16" gap on all cyclinders plugs were installed new @ compression test (5/22/05) boat was test run 5/23/05
Thanks in advance, Robert




Modified by Skeeterdude at 11:05 PM 5/27/2005

Model number Please.

j150tlco sorry I meant 1985 I will edit the post if I can

Compression looks good, Ignition looks good...Have you pulled the carbs and looked in them?

One other thing, have you checked the Ignition after the motor is warm?

I will pull the carbs this weekend, what am I looking for?

What is a warm ignition test?

The motor will restart when it is warm, when I have the surges I can push the choke and it helps, sometimes, others it will bog with to much fuel.

You are looking for any type of debris, there are jets in the bottom of the bowls, main jets, they Must be clean, there are small tubes that pull fuel for idle, they also must be clean.

Has this motor been sitting for any length of time?

No, I even ran it on a hose every 3-4 weeks during our kentucky winter

Did you use a fuel conditioner?

yep, and I filled the tank at the begining of winter to reduce moisture

Do you have excessive smoke at idle?

This is the first outboard i have ever owned, I would answer yes that I do based on others at lakes.

The reason I asked is, the oil tank...If you are still using the oil pump, it can, and will force oil into the fuel system causing some of the problems you are experiencing.

I use Quaker state synthetic blend and pre mix it.

Are you OK with pulling the carbs?

yeah, I have rebuilt several auto engines, although a reed box is something I still don't understand LOL

In this case you dont need to get into the reeds, just pull the carbs and get them clean. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif

will do and if it sees to run better on the hose I will taker her out on the ohio and test run it.
Thanks

Let us know how it turns out.

Rusty,
I removed and cleaned the carbs as suggested, nothing in there but fuel cleaned with carb cleaner and copressed air through passages. Hooked to garden hose and started, granted this is no load but I am sure this did not fix the problem. Do you have any other suggestions? http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/bows.gif

I think we are looking for a ignition problem now since you didnt find anything in the carbs.

When you move the throttle, motor off, does the throttle arm move the timer base, this is the linkage on the right side.