2004 Honda 50 rough idle

E

easy does it

Member
Tue morning I was loading at yellow stone lake and the engine died about 50' from the trailer. I'm loading myself and needless to say I got wet! It also dies when docking or putting it in the slip especially if someone is watching! This is so discouraging and I am at my wits end. I have read all the posts and have experienced exactly the same symptoms as the flooding post but I seem to be past that and still rough idle at low rpm's. I tried adjusting the carburetor mixture screws or pilot screws but does not seem to make any difference. I would like to learn about my engine and work on it myself so I have the manuals but really they don't seem to be much help. I set up the idle screw and that seems to work but I grind into reverse and when I set back it down it starts shaking and dies on me. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
I have been running it with 2 cans of sea foam in a couple gallons of gas ( in a garbage can) and now I notice oil in the water...this cannot be good, also there is a kind of chatter in the area below the engine compartment. I am going to drain the garbage can and check things out..the fluids etc. before I go any farther
 
Just adding the SeaFoam to a couple of gallons of gas could be the cause of seeing a sheen on the surface of the garbage can.

The outboard carburetors are a little tricky to get correctly set. Yellowstone being at over 7,000 feet alone could make some difference in idle. I would certainly set the idle speed up a bit when there. Also lean out the low speed jet.

If I am dealing with the carburetor, I much prefer to use one of the carburetor cleaners directly In the bowl, let it set for a day and then drain and fill with good clean non ethanol fuel.
 
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