I have a 2001 Yamaha 2 stroke that is starting to shake pretty violently at idle. Motor still cranks, idles and runs like a champ. It just shakes pretty hard when I’m idling along. Any idea what to do to fix it? No idea how many hours are on the motor but it’s a lot and it’s been run hard. But like I said it still runs like a new one.
Sounds like you’re dropping a cylinder at idle. Probably time for carb cleaning. You can crank it up on the hose and pull one spark plug wire off at a time. Each time you pull one off, the engine should change tone or run like crap. If it does, then that cylinder is working properly, including the carb. Plug the wire back up and go to the next one. If you have a bad one, the idle wont change when you unplug it.
Be sure you use a good insulated pair of spark plug wire pliers or it’ll pop the hell out of you.
If you find one that doesn’t change, you probably have a gummed up low speed jet or needle seat and it’ll usually be the bottom cylinder. If so, take it to a reputable shop and have it cleaned.
'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki
The same thing was happening to my 90 yamaha. It got bad enough that it would stall at idle, but then start right back up. I took it in and had the carbs cleaned and it’s been running great since.
ok thanks. That’s what we suspected but it’s nice to hear from somebody else that know’s what they’re talking about.
drop cylinder test at idle and definitely a compression test before you do any work
To me, it doesn’t matter which carb is gummed up, unless I have to take it off to clean it. Since it’ll run what sounds like all cylinders above idle, I’d mix the fuel with the recommended amount of seafoam and go run it. The more you run it, the better it should get. If that doesn’t fix it, do what they said above. If you do have to have it worked on, I’d get it in before it warms up, wait times are gonna only get longer once the temps stay up consistanly.
DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT!!!
The harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.