My baby's got a cold. 2002 Yamaha 90 2stroke has developed a sneeze when idling. She ain't as responsive as she used to be when taking off from a dead stop anymore, either. Top end seems to be fine. I only run non ethanol fuel in her, but I know the previous owner would run her on E-10. Was gonna run her in to the shop and have my guy look her over, any other suggestions?

Outboard motor sneezing is an audible result of a lean fuel mixture resulting from problems in the carburetor. Described variably as a sneeze, cough or stutter, an outboard motor or any engine will lose its ability to run smoothly if it does not receive enough fuel. In small engines, the culprit is the carburetor.

It's called a lean sneeze. Carbs need cleaning/rebuilding.

I'd run some seafoam through your gas. You may have gotten some condensation in your fuel tank or just some trash in your carb bowls. I'd try draining the carb bowls and spraying a little seafoam deep creep in them then replacing the drain screws. If that sounds like chinese go ahead and let your guy look it over. Good luck. Running the 05 115, same basic motor. Like mine a lot.

I would check the timing advance adjustment.
Then all the above.

I have found a idle �cough� to be air fuel mixture on my motors in the past.

I have dialed them in right before winter before, and then when I ran her a couple months later she developed the same cough as before...so I have readjusted them...ran that tank of fuel out, and when I filled up again had to readjust for the fresh fuel...then she ran fine for the rest of the year.

I equated mine to the fact that I gave the gas both a dose of StaBil and Seafoam for the wintertime, and she just needed to get it out of her system.

I�ve found rule of thumb on my motors is 1-1/4 turns out for the air fuel mixture is the base to start adjustments.

Hope that helps.

Its 5/8 turn past lightly seated on that motor for the mixture screws for default settings. Would not suggest messing with anything else before making sure the fuel system is clear.

Have reeds checked first to make sure they aren't cracked, missing pieces, or misaligned. Replace if needed. If you don't perform this first, then no matter what you do with carb(s) and fuel mixture, it will still continue lean sneezing.