I am working on getting this new to me 1985 Johnson 120hp. While the motor seems to run just fine, it feels like the throttle and shifting is stiff and the response at the controls seems sluggish.

I think my cables may need to be replaced or lubed but I am wondering about all this grease that has been sprayed on the linkages. It seems like white lithium grease but it's crusty and not very "lubey".

Can I clean this off and redo it with fresh and more targeted grease or is that a no-no?

What should I use to lube this area?

I belive this isn't the original color and want to repaint it to oem.

I have this evinrude 20 hp outboard from 1989 that's been giving me trouble lately. It starts and idles fine, and works great even at higher throttle for about 5-30 minutes. But every time it runs it starts doing this pulsing at higher speeds after just a bit of runtime. It still runs fine at slow speeds, but increasing throttle causes it to pulse. (See video) I thought it was the fuel pump so I got an OEM repair kit for it, but no changes. I have made sure that there are no air bubbles in the fuel line, and I also disassembled the carburetor and cleaned it out. I'm starting to think it may be an ignition issue but I'm unsure. If anyone knows what might be the issue that would be super helpful! Thank you!

Looking for some insight here. My OptiMax seems to have an intermittent missfire. At idle and higher revs. Compression 120/115/120. See photos for brand new spark plugs after 10 minutes at idle. 1-2-3 from left to right. Video shows cold start and cutting out. After it does that it idles continuously but still seems to miss - but doesn’t die. It seems like after it warms up a bit it keeps on going, but the hesitation / missfire is concerning to me.

I pulled each plug cap off one at a time and it dies when I do that…. So spark seems good to me. I also pulled each injector connector in the same fashion….. dies when I pull each one. Fuel pressure is over 100 psi (current gage only goes up to 100, waiting for new gage in the mail) and air pressure is 92 psi.

I do have a whole new fuel rail as a spare, wondering if I should replace the air regulator? My 100psi gage seemed like it was showing probably 110 psi fuel psi so my guess is air is low??? But hard to tell.

Any thoughts?

*** spark plug photos in comments. Can’t attach photo and video at same time

I’ve got this late 90s 40hp 2t evinrude with no spark

The kill switch is spiced together with clean contact, I cleaned the coil pack ground, and used a dvom on the ignition wires and still nothing

Been sitting for 2 years but has even 125psi compression cold and the motor was completely fogged before winter

I got this old Elgin by Sears for cheap. I don’t have spark so i took the flywheel off and the coils are bad crusty. I can’t seem to find anything online. Part number WICO x7500. Anyone know a good alternative? Thanks

Runs great on hose and in a bucket, starts right up. Shifts great, tilt and trim good. Comes with control/harness/ignition. Took it off a project boat, never ran it on the water myself.

I have it up at $2k but feel like I may be overpriced.

Noticed this with my 2 stroke 15hp 93’ johnson. After running it and take it out of the water I notice a water/oil mix coming out of this weep hole not sure where it goes or what it is/reason. TIA

I’ve been having some issues with my boat. It runs really well up until half throttle. When it goes past half throttle it feels like it loses power for a sec and then gains it back and it’ll do that over and over without a pattern. I’ve checked a lot of things over the winter but as of right now I think it’s the fuel pump. There may have been a fire in the years before I owned it that’s why some of the pump looks a little melted. I removed the pump and checked the diaphragms and they looked okay. So now I’m lost because I was expecting my problem to be the diaphragms. Do you guys think I should just replace this VRO pump with a normal pump? How easy is it to do? I was told by a mechanic that swapping pumps on my boat would be tough before the VRO pump is linked to the choke? (Is that what the wires are for?) or would I just buy another VRO?

Thanks.

Mercury F90 2002 model

Need some help here!

I’m having an issue where cylinders #2 and #3 are misfiring and “sneezing” in the mid-range, around 2000–3500 RPM. The engine runs perfectly at idle and at full throttle (5500 RPM).

The hesitation in the mid-range makes it harder to get the boat on plane, but once it passes around 3500 RPM it runs perfectly and feels strong.

What I’ve done so far:

Cleaned all carburetors in an ultrasonic cleaner

Set pilot screws to 2 turns out

Synchronized the carbs (helped a bit, but not completely)

Replaced fuel lines, filter, etc.

Running only 98 octane fuel

Replaced all spark plugs (they look good after a full day of running, even with the issue)

Replaced both ignition coils (cylinders 2 & 3 share the same coil, but no change after replacement)

Compression tested all 4 cylinders at 185 psi – all equal

The problem improves when the engine is warm, but there is still some sneezing.

Any ideas what else I should check?

It was sitting for a while, we gave it a check over compression, electric system, and fuel and it started up after a few days of work