BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Just how badly is a small two stroke supposed to idle?

wrote:
Greetings,

I've never owned an outboard powered boat, but just purchased my first
one with a 40HP Mercury 2-stroke. At idle, the motor seems to idle
quite rough; so rough that my wife asked me if it was going to fall
off the boat!

I know the smaller 2-strokes are notorious for idling roughly, but
just how rough is normal I don't know. The motor has less than 50
hours, and was checked thoroughly before I purchased the boat.

Could the idle speed mixture be off, or should I just resign myself
that this is the way these things idle?

Thanks!

It could well be the low-speed idle screw, or too much oil in the mix,
or a partially fouled sparkplug. Multi-cylinder two strokes these days
idle decently, though not as smoothly as four strokes. You need an
engine adjustment.

--
"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in
Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me -
you can't get fooled again." -George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept.
17, 2002