RobertO5031
New member
I have a 1986 Johnson 120 outboard and I'm having a couple issues with it. When I start the engine it has an extremely rough idle for the first 5-10 minutes. The engine will go from a high idle and then almost stall and then save itself about every other second. It does it both on the hose and out in the water. After it finally comes down the engine runs well but doesn't quite hit top speed. It only hits around 5500 rpm.
I suspected the problem for speed could have been with the linkage. So I adjusted the screw where the throttle cable enters the engine bay. It ran better but then I couldn't get the idle down. The idle adjustment screw up by the flywheel was already set as low as it could be. I didn't like it idling at 2000 rpms so I set it back to where it was.
The compression is good, I replaced the spark plugs and gapped them to OEM Specs, and cleaned the carbs. Does anyone know what the problem could be? Thanks
-Bob
I suspected the problem for speed could have been with the linkage. So I adjusted the screw where the throttle cable enters the engine bay. It ran better but then I couldn't get the idle down. The idle adjustment screw up by the flywheel was already set as low as it could be. I didn't like it idling at 2000 rpms so I set it back to where it was.
The compression is good, I replaced the spark plugs and gapped them to OEM Specs, and cleaned the carbs. Does anyone know what the problem could be? Thanks
-Bob