at idel

85999r Evinrude 85 hp at an idle it sounds like it has a miss but when the rpm increases eit smoothes out is this normal

If what you are calling a miss actually sound more like a mild backfire shooting out one of the carburetor throats, that's caused by a lean running carburetor slow speed jet, located near the rear gasket of the carburetor just above the float chamber gasket (In back of that silver looking aluminum screw plug), one for each cylinder. That jet is a FUEL jet NOT a idle air jet and should be numbered (imprinted on its face) number 48C (.048).

Have the engine idling with the problem occurring, Stick two fingers into the carburetor throats, one by one. When the engine smooths out, you've found the offending carburetor.

Should this be your problem, clean the jet and try again. If the problem persists, you can drill the jet a one thousands larger or so at a time (whatever it takes... trial and error) until you obtain the proper idle mixture.

so rebuilt the carbs finally and cleaned all the jets, the problem I'm having is more like a misfire the engine runs smooth purrrrrrrrrrr then a miss then purrrrrrrrrr then a miss don't
think its back firing ? maybe wrong. could a bad coil or a short somewhere cause a misfire

clean and gap plug then check for spark jumping the full 7/16th gap.
what is the rpm at your idle when this happens ?

If--IF it is lean sneezing, that can also be caused by an air leak somewhere, letting air into the crankcase. Look for gas seeping out. But if it is a crankshaft seal, you can't see it. A lean sneeze sounds more like a muffled sneeze, not a loud backfire.

Here is the classic sound of a motor lean-sneezing. https://youtu.be/m4CgucHyCmw

listened to the video, not quite the same ,on mine the idle slowly gets slower and slower and dies, the miss fire is happening when it is at full idle.I picked up an automotive tack yesterday put don't know where to hookup the leads.

another problem I'm having is the timing advance linkage is not returning all the way back to the stop,

Did you try the two finger mechanic's trick mentioned in reply #2?

no done for today, I will be back at it tomorrow took the hole week off for the holiday and to get this motor sorted out thanks

All spent the day on the motor, first I tried the finger method but the idle ports were to far back in the throttle body, I ended up pulling the carbs off and cleaned them again then reinstalled them. Then attacked the sync problem, no one has ever pointed out that the cable needs to be disconnected from the remote to do this,very important!!!! Once I synced everything I adjusted the cable out to the cable landing point with the linkage all they way back to the ideal position and reconnected t cable then used the adjusting black knob to push the linkage back a little further. I primed the fuel line to the carbs and when I turned the ignition she fired right up and purred like a new motor. I did find some debris in the jets while the carbs were on the bench. Thanks to everyone for there input and hope my experience helps others Mike/Brutus102