I bought a used boat a while back. Has a 98 Johnson 130 V4 on it. Ran great first few times I had it out. Took it out one day was really hard to start,had a rough idle and wouldn't get up on plane. Only getting about 3200 RPMs. Took it home did a compression test I got 121 on all 4 cylinders did a good decarb on it with seafoam and new spark plugs. Took it out and the same thing. I just put a new Power pack on it today,now it wont stay at idle for more than 5 seconds and shuts off really rough idle too. I have 4 new coils coming on Friday to put on,see if that's it. Any ideas?

Sounds like you are diagnosing with parts. That could get expensive. You need to test stator and trigger before buying more parts. Also check fuel pump and filters if you have any. Have you checked for spark on all 4?

Old gas? Carbs?

stator, same problem with my 96 175 fast strike.
check the plugs for fire, you will probably find half of them have none.

Thanks guys, I will check spark today. Stator is what I was thinking after I replaced power pack.

You really need to test the easy stuff first. Pull the air silencer, start the motor on a cuff and look down the throats of the carbs (throttle only to keep running), is fuel spitting back out, is fuel dripping or running in the carb. Check for spark as suggested. Will the fuel bulb pump up firm and hold firm? Let us know what you find.

Agreed I had a bad time with floats sticking in carbs causing flooding and poor to no idle.

Well I just checked for spark I have spark on all 4. Primer bulb stays firm when it runs. Checked fuel filters. I get the new coils in tomorrow,will put them on and see what happens. Could it still be an electrical issue if I have good spark on all plugs? Only other thing I can think of is a carb issue like suggested.

Sounds like you need to give A. C. Stallings a call.
He will come to your house. Can't find his no# right now.
Big 10 will have his no#.

If you have spark on all 4, the coils are good. Have you thought maybe the carbs need a good cleaning?

Still going with this

Yep Freeman, I think I'll finally give him a call. I still have his number.

How long has it been since you filled up your boat? Have you tried dumping/changing the fuel filters? If it has been a few months since you had it out?

It might be worth dumping the fuel tanks and putting fresh gas in there, or you could also get some fuel hose and run it off of a fresh can of gas on the muffs.

Im with most of these guys. Sounds like old gas , and bad gas lines. With all the ethenol in the gas we get now , if it sits for any period of time without any treatment it will do damage to fuel pumps , filters , and lines..

Im with most of these guys. Sounds like old gas , and bad gas lines. With all the ethenol in the gas we get now , if it sits for any period of time without any treatment it will do damage to fuel pumps , filters , and lines..