outboard poor performance

[mestrezat]

I have an 18hp Tohatsu 2stroke on my 9 foot dinghy. When there is just myself or two of us on board it runs fine. When I really have a load in the dinghy, it bogs down and seems to miss, never getting any where near the revs it has with a lighter load. I know it's heavier with everything but should that make the motor sound and act like its missing? It just won't perform like normal.

[44'cruisingcat]

Mine has started to behave similarly. It's done thousands of hours though. I've had it suggested that new reed valves might help.

[belizesailor]

Main jet/circuit probably dirty and/or a dirty internal fuel filter.

Regardless, a good carb cleaning will fix the majority of small engine problems. Tear down the carb and clean it (just squirting cleaner in it is rarely very effective), replace the plugs (properly gap them), and your problem will likely go away.

[mestrezat]

We bought it in Thailand just over two years ago. Made in 2006. Had a compete engine check up done at that time with carb overhaul. All fuel get filtered at least twice before it hits the engine but agree, a carb rebuild is in order. Now if I just knew how to do that. Mechanics here in Curaçao are rare and take a long time to get things done and it's our only way back and forth to our boat. May have to wait till back in Mexico around Christmas.

[Drew13440]

Cleaning a carb is really very easy. There are a plethora of Youtube video demonstrations. Another $100 solution is to simply buy a new carb and put it on. You can clean/rebuild the spare at your convenience and repeat the process when the new one starts to gum up. Good luck to you.