Please help! I have a 1983 Tohatsu M70 outboard. Driving down the road one day I hit a bump and the motor fell down from the tilt position. I got to the lake and it wouldn't go over 5mph at top speed. I narrowed it down to a stuck float valve. I unstuck it, and swapped it to the other carb. The engine ran great on a number of occasions until the motor fell again and the valve stuck again (I've since solved the falling motor problem). The last time I took the carbs apart to unstick the float valve, I cleaned the deposits off the valve with some muriatic acid and cleaned the valve seat with 220grit sandpaper. The float valve seemed to operate corectly and the valve float height checked out.
Now, the motor won't run again with extreme loss of power and a loping idle (rpms up and down). I checked the bowls of the cars for gas and it's there. I've changed and gapped plugs and cleaned every jet and passagway in the carbs to no avail. Odly if you close the choke all the way (completely choked) the engine does not die which suggests a lean situation to me. The gas is fresh and I've tried two separate gas tanks/hoses. It has a fuel pump that runs off the vibrations of the engine case and based on the adequate gas in the bowls I'm guesing that's not the problem. The only thing that I can think of is that I lodged something somewhere in the carbs but all the jets and pasageways that I can get to blow through fine when I spray carb cleaner. I have to bump the idle up to keep it from stalling at idle and when I open the throttle to full it either dies or just chugs along at about 5mph.
The engine ran great before all of this and I don't have the $85/hr for the shop to trouble shoot for me. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Now, the motor won't run again with extreme loss of power and a loping idle (rpms up and down). I checked the bowls of the cars for gas and it's there. I've changed and gapped plugs and cleaned every jet and passagway in the carbs to no avail. Odly if you close the choke all the way (completely choked) the engine does not die which suggests a lean situation to me. The gas is fresh and I've tried two separate gas tanks/hoses. It has a fuel pump that runs off the vibrations of the engine case and based on the adequate gas in the bowls I'm guesing that's not the problem. The only thing that I can think of is that I lodged something somewhere in the carbs but all the jets and pasageways that I can get to blow through fine when I spray carb cleaner. I have to bump the idle up to keep it from stalling at idle and when I open the throttle to full it either dies or just chugs along at about 5mph.
The engine ran great before all of this and I don't have the $85/hr for the shop to trouble shoot for me. Does anyone have any suggestions?
