I have a 1996 Mercury 200 Offshore that has an intermittent high end power problem. While at cruse the boat responded like water in the fuel for a few seconds then ran fine the rest of the day. Checked the fuel separator and all was clean with no water. Took it out two more fishing trips with no problems (about 4 hours running time total). The last trip while at cruising speed, it gave a sputter for a split second then ran fine for another 10 minutes on plain. Stopped and fished for a while and then got on a plain then lost all power over 2000 rpms. I checked the fuel separator and had all clean fuel with no water. I had to idle back for 2 hours and could never get over 2000 rpms. I suspected the high-speed stator so I had my mechanic come out and test it but it tested good. He and I ran the boat for an hour with no issues. Took the boat out the next day and it ran fine except for another split second sputter at cruse and then ran fine the rest of the day. A little over a year ago I had replaced the stator, both switch boxes and the trigger. I don?t want to spend another $500 on the stator unless I am sure that is causing the problem. Any ideas would be appreciated.
