Re: 1974 Evinrude 9.9 won’t idle at low RPMs, need help

[optsyeagle]

That welch plug area does look a little dirty. Definitely needs to be cleaned. I have never used pine sol so I can’t say how it might work on a carb. If you can get a can of carb cleaner, give it a good spray and blow out with compressed air, multiple times. Your part naming may be a little confused. Deep inside that jet orifice is a slow speed needle bearing. It is plastic and looks like a very small funnel. At the other end, to seal the needle and provide threads for turning, is the needle retainer. You need both and both need to be in good condition. I have rarely been able to see the needle bearings that were in my carbs, but I always had one in there. I can’t really help with it’s removal except the ideas I gave earlier and you have already tried the fish hook. Any small sharp wire where you can manually bend the end into a hook would probably work. It is also possible that some previous owner removed one and forgot to put a new one back in.

All that being said, every BRP kit I ever bought had both in there, including a new inlet valve that you said looked corroded, if I recall. You could post a picture of what they have in there that might work for the retainer seal, but it was usually red, plastic and had a little notch to make sure it did not turn as you turned the needle and would fit into the slot of the carb perfectly. It needs to be there or your carb will just suck air instead of fuel during idle. It seals the needle.