johnson 35hp 1996 outboard stalls and wont start for half hour or so..

hey,
Outboard has had a problem ever since the previous owner had it.. it would stall on occasion whether it be high revs or low revs but it would start straight away after it had stalled now it stalls and sometimes takes bout half an hour to start again.. Went out last weekend and it did this and i had to get towed back to the boat ramp by marine rescue.. and one of the blokes on the marine rescue boat suggested that i may have water in the tank and to get a fuel filter with a water seperator on it which i did installed it went out today pulled up at a fishing spot sat there for 15 mins went to start it and it wouldnt start and had to get towed back again.. but then everytime when i get home i can put the earmuffs on and it starts first go and runs like a dream.. any suggestions would be great.. Thanks Michael..

Re: johnson 35hp 1996 outboard stalls and wont start for half hour or so..

gday mate .. sounds like it might be eletricial hows the spark when its refusing to start? its not uncommon for coils or cdi units to work fine when cool but get an open circut when heated causing loss of spark...let it sit(15 minuets 1/2 hour ) it cools down and starts to function as normal again....

Re: johnson 35hp 1996 outboard stalls and wont start for half hour or so..

thats what we thought to but i disconnected the fuel line today and it started but drove for like 50 metres then coughed and spluttered then stalled again i have one of my mates coming round tomorrow to have a look at the carbys to see if the needle and seat and the float is operational he thinks the carbys are floading themselves..could this be the reason? i have no idea bout boats am able to fix the problem but i am unable to diagnose the problem lol
thanks for the reply it may be somewhat helpfull i read another post somewhere else that the electrical component on top of the fuel pump was loose and was causing sort of the same problem..any ideas upon this matter?

Re: johnson 35hp 1996 outboard stalls and wont start for half hour or so..

Can't help, but I carry a trolling motor for backup just in case I get stranded. I never had that happen thankfully, knock on wood. Good luck.