1975 Evinrude "sizzler" motor, rough idle, dies in gear,

[Justbcul2me]

hi guys.. I have a 1975 evinrude 50hs. its a "sizzler" model. a little hard to start, but it does run at an idle..running it in a tank. when I put it in gear it dies.. I have got it to run a couple times while in gear, but it doesn't seem to advance when I give t throttle. it just bogs down and dies..Thanks everyone!! Oh and I have had it on the lake when it died..

 

[racerone]

Could be running on just one cylinder.---Check spark and do a compression test on it.

 

[Justbcul2me]

Thank You racerone... I pulled the plugs and tested the arc between the cylinder head and the plug.. Very good spark. However I put the plugs back in and pulled off the boot and repeat the same test.. The lower coil looked like a lighting storm arcing around itself.. So I looked a little closer and it does have a small crack. Small but still a crack. So I am ordering a new one. I will let you know if this solves my problem.

 

[Justbcul2me]

The compression on both cylinders is 115. Both are so close I can't tell the difference.