97 Force 120- Low idle at times, stalls when engaging into gear

[toneybrown]

Hey everybody. Just thought I would stop in and check the vast knowledge here before I seek any solutions. I have a 97 Nitro with a 97 Force 120 outboard. For the most part the engine has been good to me, but I have a frustrating problem.

The boat sometimes dies when idling, and normally requires me to give it throttle in neutral to start easily. In addition, once I start it, if I don't give it some throttle before engaging the drive the motor stalls and dies. If I start it with throttle and get the rpms up a little, it will idle higher when I put it in neutral and then will shift into gear without stalling out.

My question is what could be the cause of this issue? I have had the boat close to 3 years now and I think the stall issue has gotten worse from when I first had it, but it would still stall even when it was new to me.

Any an all suggestions to fix this frustrating situation would be great. The motor seems to run fine other then this one issue.

 

[racerone]

Nobody here can put hands on your motor.---Check head bolt torque.-----Have you adjusted low speed mixture screws ?----Information must be posted.-----Post the compression values.----Does spark jump a gap of 3/8" on all 4 leads.

 

[jimmbo]

What Rpm is the engine running at Idle, when in Gear? Maybe all it needs is a slight adjustment of the idle speed stop, though that is a bit more complicated than just turning a screw as it usually also requires adjusting the Throttle Cable length, so check out the things racer said above

 

[toneybrown]

Nobody here can put hands on your motor.---Check head bolt torque.-----Have you adjusted low speed mixture screws ?----Information must be posted.-----Post the compression values.----Does spark jump a gap of 3/8" on all 4 leads.

I know very little about outboard engines, I can probably figure out which screw is the low speed mixture screw and fiddle with it from a random youtube video. No way to check compression, but I don't think that would be a major issue. The spark plugs are new and don't have a gap.

 

[toneybrown]

What Rpm is the engine running at Idle, when in Gear? Maybe all it needs is a slight adjustment of the idle speed stop, though that is a bit more complicated than just turning a screw as it usually also requires adjusting the Throttle Cable length, so check out the things racer said above

I wish I knew the RPM at idle, the RPM gauge is all over the place. It seems to work OK at speed, but at idle it jumps around a lot. Plus, sometimes it idles higher, like after giving it throttle in neutral. Other times it idles lower. I would just pull it down to the local repair shop, but last time I was there with a starter issue the mechanic said he didn't work on my motor......

 

[racerone]

You need to do the compression test.----Checking the 3/8" gap has nothing to do with the sparkplugs.-----You use a device , bought or homemade to test spark !------Good luck with the motor.----Perhaps find a friend to help you.

 

[toneybrown]

After doing some googling to figure out what a 3/8" gap was, I bought a tool and rented a compression tester. 100-110 on each cylinder and the spark jumped the 3/8" gap with a white spark. From what I can tell, all of that is plenty acceptable. So, I assume my problem is a carburetor/carburetor setting issue. It does say that if you change the idle speed that you need to adjust the shift cable.

Again, this issue is intermittent after the engine is warm. Sometimes I can start it and shift no problem after doing a bit of fishing. Other times I have to keep it in neutral and give it some throttle to get it to idle high enough not to stall when engaging the outdrive. The boat is older, and I have no clue what was done with the previous owners. I can live with this problem, but if a simple idle screw adjustment can fix it, that would be great too.

 

[jimmbo]

Shift Cable? The Throttle Cable is the One that usually needs to have its Length adjusted when the Idle Speed is Adjusted

 

[toneybrown]

Shift Cable? The Throttle Cable is the One that usually needs to have its Length adjusted when the Idle Speed is Adjusted

Maybe it said throttle cable, I don't really remember..... Anyway, this has been less then helpful. Thanks anyway.