trolling motor help

[Jedburton]

My Uncle gave me an old 10 horse johnson last year and I am trying to get everything ship shape for this year so I started it up yesterday and it seems to run alright, but it is still idling a little on the rough side. It seems to either be missing every once in a while or it is trying to engage something. It is spitting water fine so it the impellar is probably fine, but I would like to get everything running well and I would also like to know if anyone knows what the best preventative maintenance type things I need to or ought to do?
jed burton
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[fishinfool]

Run some sea foam thru it,if you can get it on the lake and run it at a higher rpm that stuff will clean all the carbon out of it,then put a new plug in her and you should notice it running smoother at an idle,unless you have a timing problem.
And always run the gas out of it before you get off the lake,that will keep the fuel system from gumming up.
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[AFDan52]

[font "Arial Black"][red][size 3] Hi Jedburton, I have a 6 hp johnson trolling motor that I had to work on last year. 1968 model, it ran just like you described. [/size][/red][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3] Check to see if your points are pitted or not working at all, also check your coilos are good. I found a bad coil on mine. Found a complete tune-up kit on E-Bay for $40.00 . Now runs just fine .[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3][/size][/#ff0000][/font]
[font "Arial Black"][#ff0000][size 3]AFDan52[/size][/#ff0000][/font]
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[Johnr]

I would also check the lower unit oil and make sure it is clean and moisture free, not cloudy or milky looking. You may have some other people tell you not to run the gas out of it, for fear of the gaskets drying out and rotting. This is for your to decide, I have a 1963 mercury 9.8hp. and I do not run the fuel out of it, however I do use Stabil to keep the fuel fresh. My father was religious about running the fuel out, both of us never had fuel related problems. I did have the impeller take a dump out on Utah Lake once and seized the motor, that is one tough motor as it started right back up when it cooled down, I jumped out and pulled to boat back to the shore that night, ahhh memories of when you are young and dumb (not changing the impeller regularly). The one thing I really like about that old motor is it only weighs 55 pounds, about half of what a new one does. As was mentioned before if it still runs too rough, have the coils checked for leakage,and check the spark plug wire connections at the coils, they just have a somewhat old and dated design on my old merc. and are suscepible to corrosion at these connections. Remember most old two strokes do not run silky smooth at idle, it is just the inherent design of an old two stroke.If you take care of that motor it will take care of you. Have a Wonderful evening. Sincerely John R.[]
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