1989 johnson 150

here is what i got, the motor sometimes is hard to crank at the ramp and backfires alott..have to crank it up a few times due to stalling from being cold i guess. once it gets to going it fine runs great no problems at all. runs strong.then i get to my fishing spot and fish for a while and go to crank up, same problems as the boat ramp... new plugs and vro pump put on by mech. he says its fine but i dont think so..its my first boat and i just want to fish and know that im not having problems. some one pls at least have some good news for me.. ohh yea it fires right up if i run it for a while then turn it off..the problem just occurs when i let it sit for a while.. thanks for reading, and any advice..

Is it model # J150STLCEM?

Yes sir it is.. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/praying.gif

Could you please describe your cold starting proceedure? And do you have a surface mount control box or a concealed side mount where just the throttle is exposed?

yea sure man, well i push in on the key for about 7 or 8 sec to prime.. then try and turn it over, sometimes it will backfire, if im lucky it wont before i get it to warmed up..and once it cranks for about three sec it stalls and i crank it up again. then wonce it warms up enough to pull the idle lever up without it stalling i let it up for about ten sec. then take off after pushing the lever back down, cause it wont go in gear with it up.. get to a spot and fish for a while then try to crank up and it wont crank for about 15 or 20 tries. i just hope its nothing major man.. i love fishing and being on the water, thanks for your help man i really appreciate it...

Do you make sure your primer ball is full before trying to start every time.

yea thats just the thing i took it out today and tried priming it a different way instead of squeezing it real hard i just did rapid little squeezes to just get the bulb full of gas and it started right up. i think i may have air in my fuel line but i dont know how to tell, on the lake it ran good with just the little primes every time i stopped... im also not convinced that is the problem though.. when i go to crank up and put it in gear it stalls 2 or 3 times , but if i crank it and pull the choke up for a few seconds then put it back down to put it in gear it works fine... i dunno im not a mech.

I'd suggest that you find a knowledgable John/rude mechanic and have him perfrom a syncNlink on your motor. That should fix your right up.