Outboard Motor tune questions

[John Sv]

Hi, so I bought a 14 ‘ Klamath with an 18 hp Tohatsu. Very happy. I have a couple of outboard questions though and am looking for advice.

1. It runs rough in first click forward. Seems sputtery. Guessing it is an air/fuel mix? Could it be not tuned for elevation-is that a thing.

2. It trolls (flies of course) at 1.8 mph at the slowest unless I point it into the wind or do tons of 's' patterns.

Can you tune a motor to troll slower?

Thanks in advance

[willies99]

John,

There are altitude compensation kits for your motor. That would probably help with your sputtering, if it doesn't already have one on it. If you search for the kit online, for your specific model, you may see an image that will help you determine if it already has one installed.

A drift sock, an old bucket with holes drilled in it, a trolling flap, or a prop with less pitch are some of the ways to slow your trolling speed.

Best of luck,
Dan

[John Sv]

Thanks Dan,
Will look into the altitude kit. I have a drift sock for my canoe, will give that a shake too

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

1) I get a reference for a good outboard mechanic and get it serviced.

2) Use YouTube videos and service it yourself?

3) If you are fishing around Truckee then you will be at 5,000 feet or more so jetting your induction system and even a propeller change

might help it run better.

4)Old gasoline is pretty common too. If it sat around for some time the carburetor can be plugged up?

[noyo55]

See if you can find a vendor that sells non-alcohol fuel. I had a similar problem with my 2 hp Honda 4 stroke. Had a repair shop clean everything out and they recommended non-ethanol fuel---made a hell of a difference.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Top boat shop, Bucks Outboard Repair, in south Sacramento recommends Chevron mid-grade gasoline for all 4 stroke outboards.

Florida and South Dakota both have non-ethanol gasoline. Kind of hard to find in California.

Most landscape businesses us non-ethanol fuel in all their small equipment if they can find it.