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1997 Johnson outboard 3 cyl. issue or not?

J

jmixell964

New member
Hey folks, My engine sometimes starts hard (depending on the day). The question I have is the fact that after starting and idling fine, it gets louder, smokes more, and seems to run better. This sometimes happens after a minute or so of idling. Is this a normal occurrence? I've only had this boat for 2 years. I hope the video below will allow you to see what it's doing..

Thanks in advance for any help.


https://youtu.be/iGcaaJVnJpk
 
Are you pushing the key in WHILE cranking for a cold start , yes or no?-----Looks like it might be running on 2 cylinders at first.----Then the 3rd one kicks in.----Post compression test values for future reference too. -----Test for strong spark with engine cold.
 
Ya most of the time I do push the key in while starting while trying not to flood it out. I had it looked at a while back for not running right and was told the compression was at 140 on all three cylinders. However I was also told that 2 of the 3 coils were bad along with the wires. Coils and wires have since been replaced.
 
When is the last time you replaced the spark plugs? If you had bad coils you could have fouled plugs that finally fire just enough to make it run a little better. I’d say replace the plugs first and see if you get an improvement in starting and running.
 
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