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So I have a 1997 65hp suzuki two stroke on the back of my montauk. The engine always starts, takes a little love if it hadn't been started in a week but once I have her running it'll fire up first time for the rest of the day. Anyway I was out this weekend fishing and was killing the engine, drifting, firing it back up and resetting, then repeat. I did this 4 or so times and then when it was time to head back I fired it up but when I went to put it into gear it slowly stalled. I fired it back up tried again and same thing. I then fired it back up and tried to rev it up in neutral, this sounded fine, so went back into gear and everything worked well... Docking went fine and going in and out of gears went as planned...

I haven't had the issue before or since (one more try once I had it docked). My plan is to change the water filter, check the gas lines and replace the plugs (this was planned anyway - I've always been told doing it every year is worth while). From the advice I've been given most people seem to think this is a gas/air problem and isn't anything to worry about but more advice couldn't hurt.

Aside from this the engine sounds real strong and is yet to give me any type of problem... I also don;t have a tach on it so I can't say if it's idling low, but again the advice I've been given is it sounds "right on" says the marina's mechanic anyway...

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do a compression check, it can't hurt, and can tell you if thats the cause.

my johnson 90 horse did good until it started dying when i would put it into gear, a would only go into gear on a fast idle an high throttle no slow shifting, an so i did a compression check, it was low on the starboard side, 85 psi while 115 on port.

hope thats not the case.

good luck.

also i would do compression check before sepding another dollar on fuel lines an spark plugs.

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Wouldn't bad compression cause consistent problems and mess with the engine when starting, idling and at higher rpms? There seems to be no loss of power and the engine only doing this once seems odd to me but compression checks are not hard so I will give it a shot.

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Reads to be a fuel issue. You may have lost prime. Check the connectors, primer bulb.

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i can only speak from experience, my 1986 johnson 90hp pre mix would do great above 2500 rpm.

as long as i would fast idle it an then throw it into gear, it also didn't really have starting issues, it was just putting it into gear issues,

maybe there was also a fuel issue with my motor, but there was bad compression.

and you at least in my area can rent a copression guage from advance auto by putting in a 45 dollar deposit, do your check give it back to them, an get your full 45 dollar deposit back, its free tool rental service, im located in saint marys, ga.

idk if its different in your area.

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I'll give it a go for sure the more I know the better. I am by no means an expert on outboards .


I'll take a trip to the auto shops and see what I can find thanks for the heads up

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Vacuum forming in fuel tank? Valve open on tank? Recall dummie me didn't open tank valve. Vacuum forming sucked gas out of motor. Duh.

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I don't know about your engine but I need to choke mine for 10 seconds and raise the throttle a little for an easy cold start.



It sounds like a Heat Soak issue. You ran it up to operating temps and shut it off. After awhile the carbs absorb the engine heat, the fuel heats up & vaporizes, and will make your engine run exactly as you described. If it happens again just let the engine idle until you get fresh fuel in the carbs.

If you had started it up a little earlier or a little later you wouldn't have noticed a problem.

Or I could be completely wrong.

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Yeah I'm still working on my engines exact needs but like you it is a combo of choke and raising the throttle has got it going every time. I also didn't let it idle at which I've always been told to do but hey I was just excited it starts up every time on the first crank.

Thanks for the advice guys I'll be going thorough it this weekend and seeing what I learn.