Idle jet spitting fuel - top carb - 88 Evinrude 40hp

[saltydogg]

I have a 1988 Evinrude 40hp tiller, elec start, no VRO. When I remove the air silencer cover and start the engine the top carb will spit a small amount of fuel out the idle jet every cycle. Idle sounds normal. Also, when I partially cover the bottom carb throat the idle increases, as expected, but when I partially cover the top carb the engine struggles. There isn't any adjustment on these carbs that I can find but it seams like the top carb is running too rich at idle.

I removed the carbs and sprayed through them with carb cleaner because I was having an idle issue due to the bottom carb idle passage being clogged. That's when I noticed this behavior. I have no idea how long this has been happening. It could be normal for all I know or everyone may say that I need to do a full scale carb cleaning (soak overnight, blow out with compressed air, etc...) and rebuild kit.

Also, the gaskets are missing between the carbs and the base plate for the air silencer and the one that goes between the silencer base and cover. How urgent is it that I get those replaced?

Thanks in advance for any info/advice.

 

[oldcatamount]

Re: Idle jet spitting fuel - top carb - 88 Evinrude 40hp

How does the plug look in the top cylinder compared to the bottom one? It's possible there is an ignition issue with the top cylinder. Can you do a spark test?

 

[saltydogg]

Re: Idle jet spitting fuel - top carb - 88 Evinrude 40hp

The top plug looked only slightly wetter than the bottom plug, but that was before I resolved the bottom carb issue and I was having to use the primer to keep it idleing. I haven't pulled the plugs since then. I don't think I have a spark issue because it was only idleing on the top cylinder before I cleaned the bottom carb. I have not done a spark test. Both coils are new and the idle is smooth. I can pick up a spark tester this week and verify though.