Engine running Ruff...help Required please

Hi all, I have a Honda 90HP 2005 which I bought second hand and have no history to it. It was lying for 2 years. I sent the carbs away to a dealer to get serviced, when I pulled the leads off number 1 - no change in tone, then it fixed itself and was running fine. Went to it today and pulled the leads of 3 & 4 no change in tone ,Plugs were wet so was getting fuel. checked compression 180 180 180 190 in cylinders. There is sparks to all the leads. Do I need to balance the carbs would this help? , Or has anyone got any other suggestions as new to this. Also Tried to take lower unit off managed to get 5 bolts off but seems to be stuck? Cheers for your help anyone

Balancing may help...it is worth a try.

Also, idle mixture screws should be turned out 2 1/4 turns from lightly seated.

Besides 5 bolts, there should also be a nut holding on the lower unit under the trim tab to the rear of the long bolt that you took out (under the trim tab).

Mike

DO NOT FORCE THE LOWER UNIT! You have simply missed the hidden fastener as hondadude suggests.
Have you tried new spark plugs? Use NGK plugs ONLY on your Honda.

With it having sat for so long, you could have some corrosion on, and in, some of your electrical connections. Unplug, inspect and clean all socket type connections. Shall disconnecting, spraying with contact cleaner and then repeatedly plugging and unplugging a few times will clean them sufficiently. Your plug wire ends can also benefit from this treatment.

For your main battery and ground points with eyelet type connections, you will need to take them apart and "scrub" all sides with a medium grit sandpaper or wire brush.

Not sure how;... "Usually disconnecting, spraying with contact cleaner" in the beginning of the second sentence of the second paragraph of my previous post became;... "Shall disconnecting, spraying with contact cleaner"... but I was using the phone to type and the mistake escaped my edit. I apologize for any confusion.

Good luck.

hi will clean contacts. plugs are new. filters are new. all bolts out off lower unit ther is no bolt under trim tab 2 bolts each side 1 at the back.it is tight on thers water in the oil so want it off eneyway ill keep looking & traying. thanks

I would be MUCH more comfortable if hondadude weighed in on how many fasteners we're dealing with on the lower unit. I don't have the PRECISE manual for this outboard. Usually when the gearcase won't budge, it IS a bolt or nut that was missed. However, I have had more than a few that were stuck because of oxidation. On those, a generous amount of PB Blaster around the parting line and in the bolt holes and then some very careful tapping and rapping with a rubber or deadblow hammer can work them loose. Hitting the case from the sides and getting it to "wiggle" can be very effective and will have you striking down on your cavitation plate less. The cavitation plate will break if you get too "frisky" so be careful!

I was mistaken, there are only 5 fasteners. I quickly looked at a picture and it showed a nut and a bolt. The nut is used on a stud through the extension case for extra long motors. The bolt is used on long shaft motors.

So roddy18 has all the bolts out. There is a locating pin at the front and at the back of the lower unit. They like to corrode and hold everything together. Coaxing it with some hits from a rubber mallet at the front and the back, generally helps break things loose like Jimmy said.

Besides the two locators, the vertical shaft and the shift shaft could also be corroded or stuck. Hopefully, you can break them loose. The shift shaft on the lower unit goes into a long shift shaft, which snaps into the shift mechanism in front of the powerhead. So that gives you two chances to break it loose.

Mike