Strictly controlled by the Linkage, and eventually by the Cable. Forget the Cable for now. Disconnect it. You have to get the Motor set up properly again. And since you messed with pretty much every adjustment, it will take a complete Link and Sync. The correct Service manual would certainly come in handy.
Do you have the Pickup Timing Spec?
It is 5°. I have it set at 5°.
I have gone through the procedures listed in the thread I linked to a few posts up several times.
-Essentially disconnected all cables.
-Ensured top and bottom carbs were closed and tied together.
-Set pickup timing to 5°.
-Idle is approx 700 in gear and 1100 out of gear.
-Roller is set to cam. Roller is set into perfect center alignment with the top scribe on the cam.
-Using a movement accentuating tool, ie. brake cleaner straw clipped to throttle cam, made sure that the butterflies were closed at idle and only started opening just after the cam started moving.
-WOT timing is set to 24° which is -4° below the book spec of 28°. The timing was set by pushing the timer base up against the stop screw and adjusting the screw as necessary to achieve 24° while spinning the motor over with the starter. This method, known on the forums as the Joe Reeves Method, stipulates timing to be set 4° below the book spec.
-With everything at idle setting the cable was then adjusted to slide over the stud. Minor adjustments were then made to the cable barrel to make sure the system was returned to true idle after shifting forward to full throttle and back to the middle.
I feel like I’ve gone over the link and sync procedure pretty completely and I have gone through it several times. I even made minor changes to the Spark Carb Plastic Linkage to see how that affected the full assembly. Where the scribe hit vs roller vs butterfly positions vs cable adjustment, etc.. After deciding on what I believe to be the best position went back through the full link and sync as I understand it to be.
Is there anything else that I am skipping? Anything specifically that you think I should check?
I am beginning to wonder if there is a small incompatibility with this throttle box and the 78 Johnson. I am under the impression that the 78 was kind of an oddball year where they were making changes to the engine design. I saw that cables even changed at this year. We now have old style and new style cables and 78 is the pivot year. I am using the new style cables. The old style use a clamp instead of pre installed ends.
I’m just stating things based on what I understand to be true so you know the information I am operating on. I am by no means an expert in the outboard world. If I have something mixed up please let me know.
Is there a service manual that would be recommended?
Thanks for all the help and continued advice.
