OK experienced gurus, how's this one...

1990 Johnson 70 VRO (VJ70TLES8) good old two-stroke that runs solid, usually pulls the kids on tube or boards. Tops out at 5400RPM but rarely do that much. This past weekend put it in the inter coastal. Ran between 5000-5200 for 10-15 minutes at a time, then idle for slow zones. When I tried to take back off, it would only reach 2000RPM. Also, it didn't sound "right", almost like it was getting too much gas. I'd shut it down, trim the motor out of the water (don't think that did anything, but the wife insisted). When I'd restart it (it started right off fine) and gave it throttle again, it would sputter and surge for 10-20 seconds, then pick up and run fine.


I assumed it was a fluke, but it did the same thing 3 times. By the second/third time, I could tell by the sound of the idle that it was going to bog down. I'll put it in our lake later in the week and see how it runs, but it did fine each time after it finally picked-up.

I'm thinking carburetor, possibly float or needle... Any thoughts?

Thanks,