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Help Chasing wild geese 98 Tohatsu 140

jmg96

New member
"Thanks in advance for any and

"Thanks in advance for any and all opinions. Here's the skinny- We put my dad's boat in the shop to get an overhaul as it has sat idle for 4-5 years. Multiple shops estimated the same general repairs- water pump, draining gas, rebuilding carbs, oil changes, etc. But now, the shop that has it can't get it to hit on one of the cylinders (bottom one when looking at the outboard). It idles perfectly.

So now he's chasing geese trying to find the problem. Plugs and wires are new, coils are fine, getting plenty of fuel and fire. Reed valves are good and clean and gaskets replaced. The next move he wants to make is to replace the head gasket even though the compression tests fine.

I'm fairly mechanically inclined but don't know much about outboards so I'm at a loss and don't want to keep paying for geese. Any ideas on what to check would be greatly appreciated!"
 
Pick the engine up and take it

Pick the engine up and take it to a different dealer that knows how to troubleshoot the engine's systems. The one you have now is just guessing and that usually does not turn out well.
 
I was afraid you were going to

I was afraid you were going to say that. I believe everything that I've paid for has been legit so far with the exception of the reed valve housing gaskets. That was certainly a guess on his part. I don't understand really because he's very busy and did come recommended. There's not too many in my area that didn't cringe when I told them I had a Tohatsu. I was hoping someone here might know of a well known issue with these or something.
 
"It's a problem that trans

"It's a problem that transcends brand or country. As engines became more complicated they developed into a voodoo zone. Mechanics randomly replace rather than breaking out a service manual and following the test procedures that are laid out in front of them...Its even worse today than it was 40 years ago. Back then the dumbest mechanic could use an ohm meter. Today the average mechanic doesn't know how to correlate the reading they get with the actual spec in the manual...

You just need to find a mechanic, with a copy of the service manual, who knows how to use a multi tester, who is honest and isn't backed up for 2 months
"
 
"Thank you for your insight.

"Thank you for your insight. It sucks to change shops mid-repair because more often than not, the new shop wants to pick apart the work just done so they can verify it was done correctly. I'll see about getting it in somewhere else. By the time I find someone to fix it, I might as well pay them to winterize the dang thing since summer will be over!!

Thanks again..."
 
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