I've been fixing up my dad's old '84 Stratos. Its in relatively good shape but has been sitting up for several years. This year I've dumped out the old gas and replaced with fresh gas and I've also had the impellor and lower gear lube changed. I've made a couple of trips to the lake so far. I've found that the engine is quite cold natured. I have to choke the fire out of it just to keep it going. But once it has warmed up, it is good for the rest of the trip.
However, my last trip ended up being a failure. I backed it down the ramp and into the water and proceeded to start it up. In addition to having to really put the choke to it, it wont idle. After 30 minutes of working with it on the ramp, I gave up and went home.
So, my problem is that the engine will only run when I'm either choking it or working the gas throttle. It will not run at idle. Does this sound like a carb issue? A cleaning or a rebuild?
However, my last trip ended up being a failure. I backed it down the ramp and into the water and proceeded to start it up. In addition to having to really put the choke to it, it wont idle. After 30 minutes of working with it on the ramp, I gave up and went home.
So, my problem is that the engine will only run when I'm either choking it or working the gas throttle. It will not run at idle. Does this sound like a carb issue? A cleaning or a rebuild?