Looking For Ideas--Suddenly Running Rough

[natispotatis]

Got a 1985 3.0 OMC stringer that ran like a dream the whole summer. Then the tilt went out. It took me several weeks to fix the tilt and when I did and got it back on the lake, it ran rough right off the get go. It was a little low on gas while I had it sitting in the driveway (covered) during that time. I have replaced the plugs and wires, which were old, but that didn't help. I realize this could very well be a carb issue but I don't understand how it would gum up in the span of a couple of weeks after working really well the first part of the season. I'll check the timing when I can get to a timing gun. One thing I noticed is that the belt is a tad loose; would that affect the timing, say if it 'slipped' a little? Compression is good and there is no water in the oil. It's not backfiring, just chugging a little and not opening up when throttled. Anything I might be missing?

 

[projo198]

Re: Looking For Ideas--Suddenly Running Rough

I'm not sure about a 3.0 but on my 2.3 you can check to see if your timing belt is where it should be by popping the little circle cover off the belt cover. If you manually turn your crank to TDC there is an indicator inside the cover you can see through that hole. You can do all that without a timing light.

Other than that I would say check the dwell and timing.