Johnson outboard bogs down

[MBLMIKE]

Got an old 89 60 hp Johnson vro that runs great for 4 or 5 trips and then out of no where bogs down like it's not getting gas if I give it throttle. Took me an hour and a half to get from Cedar point area to East harbor. I thought it might have been the fuel pump but put a new one in and it did the same thing. The oil sender was removed years ago so I pre mix the gas. Tried turning it off and priming the engine but bulb was soft and won't prime not sure if that's normal. Wake up the next day and bulb is hard and it will run like a charm 4 or more trips. Can't figure it out. Anybody got any thoughts besides buying a new boat. Just don't have the cash flow.

Hello Badboards I wonder if you have a hose that is going bad from the inside and that is blocking the fuel the symptom of the bulb going soft till next morning then gets hard may be that its not able to pull any fuel out of tank or a pin hole in the line between the bulb and the tank will suck air and cause the pump to loose its prime , just a thought .

[badboards]

Yes I believe you could be on to something there maybe it is a line going bad also I have a fuel filter before the engine that's clear not sure if this is normal or not but when I pump the bulb I see air bubbles in the filter. Not sure if that's normal.

[MBLMIKE]

Yes I believe you could be on to something there maybe it is a line going bad also I have a fuel filter before the engine that's clear not sure if this is normal or not but when I pump the bulb I see air bubbles in the filter. Not sure if that's normal.

air bubbles i think would be an indication of a hole in the line somewhere

[MBLMIKE]

I should be up at my dock sometime Thursday after noon working on my boat if your in the area I can take a look at it if you want