1974 85hp Johnson slow power and stalls at full throttle

" Hello to everyone,
Well I

" Hello to everyone,
Well I just bought a 1974 85hp model 85ESL74 it sits on a 17' 1974 slickcraft tri-hull ST-170, just put it in the water today. Starts fairly ez idles good. She takes off a bit slow but after a few, gets up and runs with it. AND then dies, then hard to start but starts, and then repeat etc, etc. Any ideas? Thank for any help. "

I had a similar problem with

I had a similar problem with my motor. Check to see if any of the wires are frayed and are touching eachother. If they are replace them. I dont know if this is the problem but it worked for me.

Clean and rebuild your carbs

Clean and rebuild your carbs and fuel system and see if that will help. I have a 1975 --85h/p and it did me that way and this is what i did and runs good now.

" Thanks I will do all of thos

" Thanks I will do all of those asap. Man I just posted last night You all are the best. As I read some of these, I seen one that said it might be a bit to rich, but the carb's would still be a preferred place to start. Have a great one!! "

" That motor has fixed jet car

" That motor has fixed jet carburetors and no adjustment.Trouble shooting ALWAYS starts with a compression test. There is no amount of cleaning,adjusting that will help a motor that is in poor condition as far as pistons and rings go.Especially on the "pressure back ring" motors of the 70's "

" Thanks everyone, After (

" Thanks everyone, After (lol) cleaning the fuel tank, that set for a couple of years, and cleaning the, dirty filter screen and getting the fuel mix correct. We finally got it right. Simply a newbie, However a compression test seems the next step(maybe), With just me and my wife in the boat it seems to do alright, as far as take off but; with a full boat (our four kids) its very slow at takeoff and take a long time to get to a top speed of about 29. With just me it will fairly quickly get to about 40, is this normal or is the motor due for an overhaul? it seems to me that it should be a bit quicker for an 85hp. Maybe the trim or something else i dont know about boats yet, Any suggestions? "