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90 hp stalls when going in gear

F

Finster

New member
I put a 1993 90hp Evinrude VRO on my boat. The VRO was taken off when new and has had premix it's entire life. It runs great at low, mid and high speeds. Not even a sputter!! The problem that I am having is that it stalls when you put it in gear. I'm talking just flat out stalls. I've searched the net for the same problem but all I can really come up with is everyone saying it is the carbs. I'm 99.9% sure it is not the carbs. If the carbs were sticky or fouled it would never run this good. I need a few suggestions on what the heck I'm looking for? Remember other than dropping into gear, it runs great. I should mention that it will go into gear with the muffs on ..... no problem..... It is only when it is in the water and there is a load on it.
 
a tune up,w/a tghorough Link& sync procedure,may help you...u would need the factory manual....missing any plastic throttle rollers?
 
jwbmarine said:
a tune up,w/a tghorough Link& sync procedure,may help you...u would need the factory manual....missing any plastic throttle rollers?
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Not missing any rollers, everything is there and hooked up correctly. I was wondering if it coud be a timing advance problem or some people are taking about a interupter switch that may be bad?
 
Engines running on a flushette....... or in neutral when in the water, always seem to run okay even when they are not.

Your problem indicates that the carburetors have slowly become fouled over the years due to sitting, resulting in a lean mixture. Remove, clean, and rebuild them using complete carburetor kits. Kits are no doubt available at this site.

The above is assuming that your engine has proper compression and spark on all its cylinders. Be sure to check these two areas first.
 
I had the very same problem, my boat would idle just fine, run on the muffs just fine, too. But when I put it in the water and in gear it would die. Took off the carbs and in one carb I found some dirt, one piece of dirt had the needle valve stuck closed. I took both carbs off twice missed the valve the first time when I turned carb upside down to check the float it moved and hung pararel but I didn't see the stuck
valve.

Joe is most likely right like he always is, take off carbs and clean them up, rebuild kits are pretty cheap, take your time and clean every passage put in new needle valves and floats. Use carb spray and compressed air to clean passages. (no air just use carb cleaner get two cans and put on the straw on the can fits in most passages, remember carb spray is for cleaning metel carbs not plastic or rubber) Don't forget to check fuel delivery system for leaks, and also check fuel filter.
 
For anyone interested, I took the boat out today. I puttered out to the middle of the lake on my 9.9 so I could work on my big motor. I fired it up and had the same stalling problem. I adjusted the idle a little and adjusted the advance.... BINGO! It now drops into gear and runs like a champ. 37 mph top speed with a GPS. and from a dead stop to full plane in just about 6 seconds. Looks like problem solved.

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Finster,
Can you describe the adjudtments you made to the idle and advance. I have been having the exact same problem with my 70 horse Johnson. I did a total rebuild and clean on the carbs and it still stalls when I first put it in gear and try to accelerate (unless I hit the choke a little).
 
fmarando said:
Finster,
Can you describe the adjudtments you made to the idle and advance. I have been having the exact same problem with my 70 horse Johnson. I did a total rebuild and clean on the carbs and it still stalls when I first put it in gear and try to accelerate (unless I hit the choke a little).
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First I turned up the idle to around 1000. When I go to put it in gear it drops to around 750. It slips smoothly into gear, not a big clunk or anything like that. The advance I screwed in secondly about 2 or so turns. I did loose a bit of top rpm I noticed, but no big deal. it was 1/2 mile per hour or so. It's running great now.
 
I have Johnson 150 HP 60 degree motor. It’s been serviced,compression is good on all six cylinders . Carbs have been rebuilt no leaks. But you put it in gear motor starts spitting and sputtering and cuts off. Will idle just fine . I did notice you and push choke in and it will not shut off when put in gear . Any ideas
 
You should start your own thread to get more responses. I think the "push in choke" is actually an enricher that bypasses carbs and puts fuel into manifold. So probably a carb issue.
 
bkclark said:
I have Johnson 150 HP 60 degree motor. It’s been serviced,compression is good on all six cylinders . Carbs have been rebuilt no leaks. But you put it in gear motor starts spitting and sputtering and cuts off. Will idle just fine . I did notice you and push choke in and it will not shut off when put in gear . Any ideas
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I've been battling this issue for the past couple of years. I've got a 90HP V4 and had the exact same issue as you. It would die as soon as I put it into gear but I could get it going if I pumped the primer/choke button while putting it in gear. It idled and ran great once it got going. I was certain this was a fuel related issue but another member here who is more familiar with these motors pointed me in a different direction - timing. Over time, the plastic timing arm work its way out adjustment and causes running issues. As soon I adjusted the timing arm back to its proper position, it resolved 100% of the issues.

I haven't done a link 'n sync yet as I don't have the proper timing analyzer tool to do so but it has been running great with no issues. I'll probably take it in next season to have it done unless I can get my hands on one.

Here's the thread on how to adjust the timing rollers:

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=11790
 
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