90hp Johnson will not rev over 1000 RPM in gear

[seventy2duster225]

So... We bought a boat. First motor boat. haha yeah were in for a ride I know
Well heres a back story. its a 1972 Baja. It has a 90hp Johnson on it now. (not original and unsure year. Somewhere between 1966-1972 im thinking. it sat for four years. the guy would start it occasionally I guess. My husband bought this boat and we are both greenhorns here. I havent had much time to mess with it because of the rain. (PA sucks hah) I managed to get it started so we took it out the next day to see how it is.
It fired right up. Moves around and such. Learned it does not have power trim. (boo) Also it goes 8 MPH whoa. it wont rev over 1000 RPM in gear. It seems to sound okay. I guess. It does cut out here and there but if you drop the throttle back its good. its like it runs to half throttle then doesnt change past that. Ive read some forums and im hoping to get even more information of where to start before i start ripping into things. I can fix and old greasy diesel truck, but im lost on this thing haha.

PS. there are two levers one red and one black. no im not completely inept here i know black is forward and reverse as well as speed. the red and black seem to want to move in tandem. is this suppsed to happen? I did learn the boat wont crank if the red lever is all the way down. so go ahead and shoot off your suggestions please. You wont hurt my feelings any here haha.

 

[racerone]

It really helps if we knew the year or model # of the motor.----I do not believe they marketed a 90 HP in the years 1966 to 1972.----So post a picture of it.

 

[seventy2duster225]

Sorry I’m just going off the book the guy gave me . I’ll get A picture on here as soon as I can. But it’s a Johnson meteor

 

[racerone]

That would be a 1964 or 1965 model.-----The only years they marketed a 90 HP " meteor " model.----Start by cleaning the ignition breaker points.----Sounds like it might be running on 2 of the 4 cylinders.

 

[seventy2duster225]

the guy did say to sand the points to get it started. I did that the first day after it didnt seem to want to start. fired right up after that. Is this going to be something i have to do everytime or is there a way around this like dielectric grease maybe?

 

[seventy2duster225]

That would be a 1964 or 1965 model.-----The only years they marketed a 90 HP " meteor " model.----Start by cleaning the ignition breaker points.----Sounds like it might be running on 2 of the 4 cylinders.

You are very informative. One thing I forgot to mention above was that it also drips gas from what looks to be a breather under the carb. is this normal or could this be part of my problem?

 

[racerone]

Well maybe the float needles are stuck on that 4 barrel carburetor.

 

[seventy2duster225]

oof. i really wanted to stay away from that thing haha. well what better time to learn than now i guess. well thank you i will look into all these things. if the rain would quit on the weekends.

 

[jimmbo]

Is this the control box? Are you referring to the lever black arrow? That is the fast idle lever for starting , it was pushed back for starting, and was designed to flip[ fprward as the main lever was pushed ahead. Often didnt work well because the Throttle cable on it's way towards the motor was often secured to the Boat without a certain amount of movement and the cable jacket couldn't move.



As for the Not going over 1000. Maybe someone messed with or disconnected parts of the throttle Linkage under the cowl. Or the timing Belt is off a few Cogs. Or you don't have spark on all cylinders Some Troubleshooting on your part is needed.

 

[oldboat1]

A somewhat related point -- a lot of the PA rain has undoubtedly found its way under the flooring. All that weight will slow things down a tad.

 

[racerone]

???----Why would you not want to touch the carburetor ?------The carburetor puts fuel into the motor.----That also carries the lubricating oil into the motor.-----So it is most important to verify that carburetor is clean and working properly.----Or the motor might go ----" boom "

 

[seventy2duster225]

???----Why would you not want to touch the carburetor ?------The carburetor puts fuel into the motor.----That also carries the lubricating oil into the motor.-----So it is most important to verify that carburetor is clean and working properly.----Or the motor might go ----" boom "

oh I know I just hate to mess something up is all

 

[seventy2duster225]

Is this the control box? Are you referring to the lever black arrow? That is the fast idle lever for starting , it was pushed back for starting, and was designed to flip[ fprward as the main lever was pushed ahead. Often didnt work well because the Throttle cable on it's way towards the motor was often secured to the Boat without a certain amount of movement and the cable jacket couldn't move.



As for the Not going over 1000. Maybe someone messed with or disconnected parts of the throttle Linkage under the cowl. Or the timing Belt is off a few Cogs. Or you don't have spark on all cylinders Some Troubleshooting on your part is needed.

Yes that is the lever haha. And I’m actually thinking it may be linkage too. The guy said it ran good enough for him so maybe he was just happy with putt putt haha I have some work to do for sure that I do know