I have a '05 hi thrust 9.9 honda on a sailboat. It has about 225 hours on it - possibly less.

From day 1 - we bought it new - this engine has been very hard to start. Sometimes 30 - 40 - 50 pulls, but it would eventually go.

Couple of months ago, I discovered a kinked throttle cable, and the motor would not rev up properly because of this. Put a new cable on, only to discover that the throttle shaft in the carb was EXTREMELY difficult to move. That's why the cable kinked.

I could get proper power by using pliers to open the throttle. Not a very good solution.

Spoke with the dealer, changed the spark plugs, cleaned the throttle shaft, and now the shaft is smooth as silk.

Incidentally, both plugs had cracked porcelain when pulled - and I've never had them out before. This was likely the cause of the perpetual hard starting.

After getting the throttle problem sorted out, the engine no longer has any power. Now it starts first pull - never EVER did that before. It runs very smoothly at idle. It will rev up in neutral, but has a huge lack of power in gear.

Today, I cleaned the carb - for the second time in three days, there is nothing in the jet, float bowl was clean as a whistle, fuel filter is fairly new and I can pass air through it easily. I can't find anything wrong with the fuel system. That doesn't mean there's nothing wrong - just that I haven't found it.

After I started it this morning, I had it running at about 1500 rpm waiting for it to warm up, and about 2 minutes later all by itself the revs suddenly climbed to somewhere around maybe 4000 or so. I didn't touch the throttle at all.

When it is put in gear, it seems to be OK at low throttle and gets the boat going reasonably well. But open it to 3/4 throttle - where it is usually run - and there is a major lack of power. You can hear what sounds like a growl of air coming from the motor - most likely the carb - almost as though it is starving for fuel.

Any suggestions anyone has will be extremely gratefully received, I can assure you.

We live on an unserviced island, and this is our transport back and forth to the mainland. So, it is critical that I fix it!

you ave an air leak somewhere in the carb

that's why it revved up without touching the throttle

That could be possible - and that might also account for the lack of power...right?

I don't remember it revving up like that in the past.

Many thanks.

yep it could be spray carb cleaner around the carb