94 Evinrude 200 low rough idle wont run in gear

"94 Evinrude 200hp Ocean Pro.

"94 Evinrude 200hp Ocean Pro. The motor has been running good all season, 12 launches without a problem. Last time out to the lake, motor started, idle was low and motor would stall. Motor also stalls when moving into gear neutral.

What I have done so far:
1. Verified fuel in tank.
2. Replaced fuel line, primer bulb and fuel filter.
3. Verifed getting fuel out of the fuel pump.
4. Checked spark - good on 5 out of 6 cylinders
5. Replaced coil and plug wire, still no spark.

Stator was replaced about 18 months ago.

Per the Selco manual, I believe I should be testing the power pack, but dont have the tools for it.

Am I describing a bad power pack, or are there other possibilities that I can troubleshoot first?

All help / questions / advice is appreciated.

Robert"

Timer base? Try running a tes

Timer base? Try running a test on it as described in the factory manual.

"Sleeper, Good advice, and I n

"Sleeper, Good advice, and I needed it. Per the manual, I tested the resistence between the white and other six pastel wires. On each, I had about 1.2 - 1.3 Mohms. I also tested between white and black and found ~220 ohms (believe this is correct - can anyone verify?). I think this proves good.

Next, found a buddy at the marina that had a bad power-pack for a '93 Ocean Pro, but said he was not getting spark on two of the starboard side plugs, but was indeed getting spard on all port side cylinders, so I borrowed it.

Sure enough, good spard on 4 of 6, including the plug I was not getting spark on initially.

I removed the testing power pack and reinstalled my power pack. I am now reading spark on all 6 cylinders. Unsure if this is typical of a faulty PP which will inevidably go bad again???

In any case, with muffs on, the motor starts, runs for about 10 seconds, and then idles down low... until which point, engine cuts off. It will also cut off going into gear.

I have a tan temp wire from stbd side sensor to temp guage. When initially troubleshooting this issue, removed cover and found the wire dis-connected, I think. I have tried to run the motor with temp sensor wire connected and disconnected, idle lowers and then stalls.

I feel I have completely eliminated a fuel problem, but again, have not gone into the carbs.

I did pull all plugs (installed new in the spring). ALL plugs clean and verified properly gapped.

Any thoughts? I feel like I need to start over with the troubleshooting.

Robert"

"Took air cover off carbs. Cle

"Took air cover off carbs. Clean as a whistle. No build up, not sticky, observed butterflys moving effortlessly.

Verified the fuel pump is pumping out, but don't have a pressure tester to check the psi.

1. Fuel Solenoid is working properly, fuel not leaking by.
2. Ignition primer control (choke) is spitting fuel to the carbs properly.
3. Red fuel peacock lever in the "down" positon, (6 o'clock when motor lowered vertical).

I mentioned, prior to issue, it ran good at all speeds. WOT was about 43mph via gps with 600 lbs of gear and pax. Additionally, I could troll at 3.5mph for hours at a time, no motor misses, backfires, studders, etc. Meaning, this is not an issue that gradually built up. Basically, motor ran great last week, pulled out of water, put back in a few days later and issue appeared.

Any reason to suspect temp sensor or shift switch?

Robert"

"You really can't get much

"You really can't get much of an idea of the condition of the carbs looking through the throats. The nasty build-up is located in the bowls of the carbs, which is unfortunately where the jets are located, which is what causes them to gum up. Not familiar with the 1994, but on the 1990 I have I would try to see if I could remove one carb bowl, and see what it looks like."

"Not too anxious to take apart

"Not too anxious to take apart the carbs, but did open it up and inspect the jets and bowl. No sticky mess and no build up. Since I don't know carbs that well, I still have to suspect them.

Ok, got it all put back together, verified all 6 cylinders are getting spark (power pack still holding out). The motor started as normal with muffs on. I let it idle for about 3 minutes and it maintained a smooth idle. There is a little popping (not a backfire), but I think this would not be noticable if the motor is in the water.

I repeated a shut down and restart several time and the motor appears to idle and run properly.

So, I took it to the lake. Once in the water the motor had trouble starting. Once started, it would hardly move in the water. It seemed like the water against the exhaust was causeing back-pressure so I tilted the motor up a bit and brought the prop closer to the surface. On the way up, the motor gained power. Not full power, but more power. At WOT was was getting about 2500 rpm.

I backed the butterflys off the throttle a bit and this seemed to help provide the motor, but still way down on the RPM.

Can I still suspect the power pack?

Summary of new findings:
1. Motor hard to start
2. Once started, rough idle
3. Once in gear, motor seems to choke or stall when giving fwd or rev. throttle
4. Backing down butterflys off the throttle linkage (required more throttle before the flys would open) helped keep the motor running
5. Would never get over 2500 rpm
6. Good pressure from exhaust (between the pee-hole).
7. Verified good fuel, fuel flow from tank to pump outlet.
8. Tested spark good on all 6

I am at a loss, and need help.

Could it be timing, advanced timing, power pack, still think it's the carbs?

Robert"

"Its been drummed into me,
co

"Its been drummed into me,
compression test first.
Then spark test, 3/8th inch, not sparkplug gap.
then rebuild carbs.

If its still no go, start testing ignition system.
Factory manual is best, got mine (1994 J150) on ebay."

"Disconnect the shift interrup

"Disconnect the shift interrupt switch and test again.
When starting the quick-start overrides the system, but as soon as the engine reaches the set temp -one cylinder bank is gone."