just bought this 97 stratos ... it sounded good when turned on with the ear muffs. Ran well at max speed, then when idling after running it starts coughing and sneezing then turns off, but if keep pushing the gas it keeps running ... what could be causing this ? just need some help first time boat owner need to know where to start . some good feed back would be greatly appreciated .

also the boat leans to the left on take off and feels as if its gonna turn if not trimmed right away ... what can this be also .. Thanks

Idle circuits in carbs need cleaning. You might get by with shocking the motor with Sea Foam. Leaning can be several things, bent skeg, bent cavitation plate, prop torque, bottom of boat, to motor mounted crooked.

Thanks for the info how much sea foam should i put in the tank ?
And is the leaning a big deal ?

I don't think the lean is that big of deal. When the motor is trimmed in all the way, its going to feel like its plowing once out comes out of the hole until you start to trim up some.

just read the can on the sea foam it will help you out, like stated "Idle circuits in carbs need cleaning."

Good luck, owning boats can be very hard have patients with it!

Thanks for the good feed back, i wil try the sea foam and re post. Thanks again guys

are the 97 Evinrude 150 intruder motors good ?

Yes just thirsty.

Nice ... Thanks for the info

Some of those have fixed idle jets and some have a idle mixture screws. If it has mixture screws you can richen it up 1/8-1/4 turn if it is a fixed jet motor you can try to change the jets but its trial and error