Re: Evinrude…primer .. not a choke! WEIRD

[Don]

OK, well I agree, the manual primer is confusing and tough to work. A conventional choke must be cheaper to produce than all that CPS crap. Once I figured them out, I agree, I could use the primers and they worked pretty well. But, customers don’t figure them out, and they cause needless frustration and dissatisfaction with new engines.
But, more to the point on your symptoms. The late 80s 25-35hp engines were known for being lean off idle, in other words, they loved to spit/fart/stall when run at speeds about 1500 RPM in gear. OMC did publish a bulletin recommending retarding the pick up timing slightly to richen up the mixture a bit off idle.
In other words, have the carb butterfly start to open about 3/4" past the notch/line on the throttle cam. This is a simple solution that usually works out well for these cold blooded engines.