2004 Johnson 150 2-Stroke

I have had a problem with my Johnson motor not idling right and also starting. Sometimes the motor will start up just fine and stay running at 600-700 rpm just fine, other days it will be hard to start and wont idle at all. Also I have a problem when having the motor in gear, at 800 rpm the motor will idle sometimes and sometimes it will not. I have had the motor into the dealer multiple times, each time it is something different. It will work fine for a few weeks and then it will go back to shutting off and bad idling. Does anyone know of any possible solutions to this?

I have exactly the same motor and haven't had the issue you are having. Mine is normally hard to start first thing in the morning, but then normally it starts and idles OK the rest of the day. Every once in a while durig the day I need to crank it a few seconds to get it fired up.

Sorry I can't help, but hopefully one of the experts will have some advice for you.


BTW....welcome to the BBC

What rpm is your motor at when it is just in gear? Also how long can it idle when it is just in gear?

The carb motors like to idle with the engine level, then trim it all the way down just before blast off. Sometimes its the simple things. I think they idle around 1000 in neutral and drops to about 800 in gear in the water.

I believe mine is 600 in the water in gear. I will have to check again, once the ice comes off.

You might want to raise the idle slightly. My idle speed is a little higher then that. It idles about 1000 on the muffs in neutral. I don't think it would idle well at 600 rpms.

I would also make sure you have good grounds on the engine. Intermittant problems are hard to track down.