Throttle Arm Sticks before WOT

My 1979 115 hp Johnson V4 has never throttled up past 3000 rpm since I bought it a year ago. I recently noticed that when I push the throttle control all the way up, the throttle arm sticks about an inch before it gets to the WOT stop. It looks like the spring in the arm just isn't pushing it all the way. I can push it with my finger and I've sprayed a little wd40 on the joint but it's still not making contact. Is there a better way to lube this? I can also jiggle the throttle arm a little like it's loose. Should I go ahead and just replace it? How hard is that to do? I have an identical parts motor with a good tight throttle arm that moves the way it should and I could use it.

Re: Throttle Arm Sticks before WOT

reagon said:

My 1979 115 hp Johnson V4 has never throttled up past 3000 rpm since I bought it a year ago. I recently noticed that when I push the throttle control all the way up, the throttle arm sticks about an inch before it gets to the WOT stop. It looks like the spring in the arm just isn't pushing it all the way. I can push it with my finger and I've sprayed a little wd40 on the joint but it's still not making contact. Is there a better way to lube this? I can also jiggle the throttle arm a little like it's loose. Should I go ahead and just replace it? How hard is that to do? I have an identical parts motor with a good tight throttle arm that moves the way it should and I could use it.

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Actually, a very common problem. The throttle arm is the symptom, not the problem. The real problem is the timer base is sticky. You may get lucky and a squirt of WD-40 may free it up. Otherwise, you have to pull the flywheel, then the timer base, and deal with whatever is making it stick. Sometimes it is the clips that hold it down.

Re: Throttle Arm Sticks before WOT

Thanks FR! That did it. I sprayed a little WD-40 on the timer base and worked the spark advance arm back and forth for a while. It improved a little bit right away, but when I looked at it again today the spark advance was pegging the stop hard enough to make a popping sound. I guess I just needed to know where it was sticking. I'll test it out tomorrow on the lake. Thanks again.

Re: Throttle Arm Sticks before WOT

I have a similar problem with a 1997 Evinrude Ocean Pro. The throttle arm sticks when I pull back on the throttle and does not allow the engine to idle down. I pulled apart the assembly and cleaned all the gunk out of the timer base and even sprayed some WD 40 on the base to help loosen it up. This helped but after reving up the engine a couple of times, the arm stuck again. The spring appears to be in good shape. It just seems that there is too much friction between the throttle arm and the base. I was thinking about taking the arm piece and rubbing a fine grit sandpaper around it to give a little more room for it to spin. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not. My question is, does anyone have any good ideas on the best way to lubricate this assembly? I was thinking about using a silicone or lithium spray lube, but I am not sure what would be the best for the engine. I really don't want to have to replace the whole assembly if I can help it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!