91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

[jamesm1832]

hello everyone, first time poster her, been reading tons of the topics trying to figure this out......my 91 evinrude 60 hp outboard i have had for 12 years will not run in idle without throttle being half open. i have new fuel, 3 re-built carbs, new plugs and wires, and a suspect primer bulb that i will be changing in the morning...i havent run this boat in 5 years, and it fires up with no problem and will run for 20 minutes with forward throttle in nuetral but as soon as i get back to no throttle neutral it dies like i turned off the key....unfortunately, my rectifier is "in the mail" and my tach isnt working until i replace it......does this sound familiar to anyone??? im losing my darn mind over here....i have a 3 year old that asks me everyday if we fixed the boat yet!!!....please help........by the way, the boat is a 91 bass tracker 17ft tx...also not sure if this is important but dont want to miss anything, my throttle lever at the counsel moves about 4 inches forward and back before ingaging the carbs....

 

[fireman57]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

It sounds like you have dropped a cylinder. do a spark test on it. make sure that the spark is bright blue and jumps a 7/16" gap. These engines will run on one cylinder believe it or not but won't run well. Dieing as soon as you put it in gear (putting a load on it) is a good symptom of this.

 

[jamesm1832]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

it dies out before i even get to attempt to put it in gear...i will try the spark test in the morning...could this all be attributed to possibly having the wrong setting on the float??

 

[fireman57]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

If your floats were set wrong then wouldn't run at WOT as it would run out of fuel. Even at idle you would see fuel pouring out of a carb if you had astuck float. You can take your cover off and run it and see. If the carbs haven't been cleaned/rebuilt I would do that. Easy to do and well worth the time you will spend doing it.

 

[jamesm1832]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

the carbs were rebuilt last week. i will be doing the spark test later today while i install a new fuel primer bulb....i will keep you informed of my findings

 

[Cowthief]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

also not sure if this is important but dont want to miss anything, my throttle lever at the counsel moves about 4 inches forward and back before ingaging the carbs....

James let me know if you find out anything about having to move the lever several inches before the carbs engage. I have the same problem.

 

[jamesm1832]

Re: 91 evinrude 60 hp wont idle without throttle in nuetral

I think I have it figured out!......was gonna remove the gas tank for a real good cleaning and for some reason I decided to check the vro oil tank.....FULL OF WATER!!!..changed the oil, resynched the linkage and boom..all good again