1996 johnson 70hp 2 stroke

"have a 96 70 hp johnson that

"have a 96 70 hp johnson that dies at about 4000 rpm. Starts fine, will idle all day, and run well under 2200 rpm. Will be motoring along fine and then the rpm's just drop and engine stalls but will restart without a problem. Suspected fuel, and have changed fuel/water separator, primer bulb but with no change. Have not been able to get to the bulb quick enough to see if pumping it makes any difference when engine starts to stall. Carbs were rebuilt this past spring (complete kits). Plenty of oil in resivoir, all warning lights are functioning. Any ideas?? Also, what should the maximum rpm be for this engine, mine does not go over 4500, Thanks"

"ck for water in fuel?...
try

"ck for water in fuel?...
try the primer bulb thing w/another person,to see if it helps.your WOT is about 1000 rpm low.ck compresion,ck spark.then proceed to fuel delivery."

thanks for the response. I di

thanks for the response. I did find some water in the separator so I changed the filter. I also suspected that it was not making full rpm's although it was running great up to 4500 until this recent problem. This is an engine that sat for about 6 years and although it's a '96 probably has less than 35 hours on it. Will try your suggestions and let you know. Thanks again!

"just a quick update, finally

"just a quick update, finally got to try the primer bulb thing but it was no help. Almost thought the problem had gone away but it died again. Was able to restart and motor around 1800 rpm but it sounded like it was running on 2 cylinders. Back to the drawing board. Will update as soon as possible.
thanks again,
Tom T"