Motor dieing at idling speed?

[carlcmc]

Hey, I picked up a old pontoon boat that has a Johnson Seahorse 55 hp motor on it. When I run it, it works fine. I do have a problem with it dieing though. If I start the motor with the throttle open part way and let it run for a bit, i then throttle down and shift it forward and then farther forward and push the throttle/forward gear forward. Many times it will die at the lowest throttle position or as I shift it to the forward position.

I know little to nothing about motors let alone boat motors. Is there a way to correct this? What is the best way to shift it from idling to forward? Any tips?

Thanks much, Carl.

[carlcmc]

Hey, I picked up a old pontoon boat that has a Johnson Seahorse 55 hp motor on it. When I run it, it works fine. I do have a problem with it dieing though. If I start the motor with the throttle open part way and let it run for a bit, i then throttle down and shift it forward and then farther forward and push the throttle/forward gear forward. Many times it will die at the lowest throttle position or as I shift it to the forward position.

I know little to nothing about motors let alone boat motors. Is there a way to correct this? What is the best way to shift it from idling to forward? Any tips?

Thanks much, Carl.

[Guest]

Sounds to me like the idle screw needs to be adjusted a little.
As far as your shifting problem goes, not sure exactly what your problem is there. Is it dying when you go down to idle speed just before you shift? If so, I would try to adjust the idle and then see what happens.

[mnrstrider]

Did the boat/motor sit for some time? , I suspect some carb issues, nothing major, maybe some seafoam would take care of it, maybe not, worse case, take the carbs apart clean them, get new gaskets, and put them back together, no real previous carb knowledge needed. And heck maybe the idel needs adjustment, but I kind of doubt it unadjusted itself, still possible.
Since it's still runnign I'd run some seafoam or some other high quality cleaner first.

Very long shot:
Oh also make sure and check you're priming bulb on the gas line stay firm, sometimes mine screws up and doesn't stay primed as well as it should, and sometimes it causes problems at idel.

[fishin789]

adjust the idle screw so the idle is a little higher. i have a 50 hp evinrude and i don't have a trolling motor so i turned my idle down a bit so i could troll slower. when it is just idling of just in gear it will die sometimes.mostly when it is cold or if i leave it there for awhile.