1972 johnson 20 hp wont start

[stevensmithnc]

Soooo I bought the motor not running and it looks nearly new. It had strong compression and very strong spark.(I didn't do a compression test but it blows your finger off the spark plug hole) The carb was very dirty. I took the carb off and cleaned it and soaked it in carb cleaner. After that the motor started up after a few pulls and ran good. Next I put it on the boat and went to the everglades and put it in the water. Now it wouldn't start again. I cranked and cranked and nothing. I took the plugs out and sprayed in a little ether(the one made for outboards that has upper cylinder lubricant in it) I put the plugs in and wallah it started and ran. i cut it off and it started back up. So I ran it for a few hours The motor ran very good and it was really fast. I went home and put the motor away. A week or so later i started it again in a barrel and it ran well there. I went to canada for two weeks and now it wont start for nothing. The first pull it sputtered a little and after that nothing. I tried the ether again and get just a little smoke......i may have imagined it. I took both plugs out again and verified spark....good. The compression still blows fingers off of spark plugs hole. I remove the fuel line from carb and have someone pull the rope.... Gas flows. What is wrong with this motor I am confused. Could the reeds be bad? What are your ideas?

[tashasdaddy]

take a read here. http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/top-secret-file-updated-8-1-2012-a-299680.html

[stevensmithnc]

soooooooooo.....the answer is....none of the above.....Basically it was mounted on the inside of one of those white plastic drums and i took it off and put on a more solid motor stand and then it starts first pull........didnt help that someone had also taken the pin out of the motor that controls the trim and tilt function.......