1989 johnson outboard 120 hp,,,about to get shot ,,,,put in the water a month ago and ran like a dream but wasnt charging, replaced rectifier but had no gasket under it so i had to take it back apart put gasket under it and wha la no spark at all,,,,,,so checked wiring and fuses , voltage readings,,,everything i could think of and nothing so i spent 140.00 on a service call to find out the ground wire was broke, service guy calls me tells me im all set, fires right up, charging good, so i go to the boat and he was right it fired right up what he didnt tell me is that it wont idle,,and at high idle it was missing and sputtering and smoking and when i ran idle down it sputtered 2 or 3 times and conked out,,,,,so i thought maybe an ethnol problem, put st-bil in the tank and ran motor for 30 minutes to an hour,,at high idle runs great, no missing no sputtering little to no smoke, soon as i back it down to idle it sputters 2 or 3 times an shuts off, turn key it fires up runs 3 seconds sputters 2 or 3 times and shuts off kep turning key it keeps firing and shutting down,,,, tomorrow its going to suffer a fatal gun shot,,,any ideas, could it be as simple as a cloged fuel filter ?
