TOPIC: Mystery hose on 1984 Evinrude 70

Well, today I finally got that lost linkage nut out of my front exhaust cowl. Not a bad job, and I was careful not to drop anything else down there. Since I already got my hands dirty, I lubed all the grease fittings on the motor and installed the rebuild kit in my fuel pump. It must have been years since the last rebuild, the gaskets and diaphragm were like wood and it took about an hour with a hair dryer and a razor blade to separate the housing parts. But, it came out great.

Now my question. At the front of the powerhead, below the bottom carb and just forward from the shift rod, There is a rubber hose attached to a fitting. It's just pushed on there, no clamps. the hose is about 2 feet long and it is not attached to anything. I applied pressure and suction on the hose. pressure makes a slight gurgling noise. I'm hoping this is some kind of breather hose but I want to be sure it doesn't lead to an intake area which would cause a vacuum leak, lean cylinder, and unwanted fireworks. See photo. It's right at the very bottom of the motor below the bottom carb. Evinrude/Johnson gurus, what have I got?

The photo is taken from the port side.

Mystery solved, after I posted this, and after some web research, I answered my own question...

well, tell us what it is for, please

Sorry Frog, I wanted to share the suspense and anticipation of finding a solution

It connects to the air silencer cover that covers the carb intakes. Apparently it recirculates any unburned fuel/oil mix that the carbs spit out or that might drip out when the motor is tilted up. The air silencer is gasketed so the unburned fuel collects in there instead of dripping into the bottom of the motor case. The fuel mix feeds back into the intake for the bottom carb. I'm not clear on how the flow is metered to avoid a big vacuum leak. Maybe an orifice inside the intake or inside the air silencer restricts it.

thanks, you had me wondering about it also. greg