Hey all,
ChampioNman I hope you see this and respond as you helped me last year. I have an 83 model 70 horse Johnson that I received last year and knew no history other than it had sat for several years. I installed new fuel tank, all new fuel lines and bulb. Removed the carbs and went through them. Found several wrong jets and replaced with correct size. It ran but would die as I started advancing throttle. I removed the carbs again and soaked in professional strength cleaner and reinstalled. It ran good enough at this point and I have been using it since. Last trip out it started running sluggish, loss of power but no skipping or popping, just as if I was towing a load. Gradually got worse. It then started cutting off when I dropped it in gear similar to in the beginning. I thought maybe more carb trash so I removed carbs and soaked them again. It is better but still runs like it is pulling heavy load. Just rebuilt the fuel pump and the primer bulb stays tight. Another thing is the manual says idle timing should be 4 degrees ATDC. I have found it will not run at all at TDC or later. Could my charging system be weak? I have seen cars with bad coils that when tested for spark externally worked but the spark under compression can fail. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Looney Toon