I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

I had tried removing the carb drain screw last fall from my Tohatsu 5HP outboard. The brass screw head popped right off, leaving half the screw in there and a leaking carb.

I dabbed a little epoxy on the hole as a cheap fix, but now my trusty outboard is not running well. Here's what it does:

1) It will run wide open very well. No problems there.

2) When in gear and at very low "no wake" speeds, it will eventually stall, after maybe 2 minutes of operation. It starts running very roughly at the end of the 2 minutes, then stalls out. I can sometimes save it from stalling by squeezing some fuel up via the fuel line bulb hand pump and/or by putting on full choke. After stalling, it *always* starts back up if I squeeze a little up from the bulb in the fuel line, but does not start unless I do so.

Any ideas what I've done to this once very reliable little motor? Do I need to order a new carb now that I've expoxied shut the drain screw? Does this prolbem have something to do with the epoxying of the drain screw, or is it something unrelated? (I'm changing to plug now to see if that is a cause)

Thank you in advance for any help.

Re: I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

It would be good to know age/model number of your motor.
Drain screw is not likely the problem.If the fuel lines and connectors are in good shape(not likely to suck air or be plugged degraded) my guess is you need a fuel pump rebuild.It appears it is part of the carb.You may have to get parts from your dealer .The kit here doesn't appear to service the pump.

Re: I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

Thank you very much for the response.

It's a 1996 M5B - the 5hp model.

It has run flawlessly with substanial abuse over the years from 1996 to 2000, at which time I started maintaining it to proper standards.

I will start by double checking all fuel lines, as suggested.

Thank you.

Re: I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

Replace the screw, clean the carb, change the plug and everything will be just peachy.

Re: I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

Thank you for the advice.

I tightened up some fuel line hose clamps and connectors, and the problem has gone away. I should add... I'm very impressed with this outboard's ability to take a beating. Very reliable.

Re: I'm an idiot... can anyone help?

cant help u w/ the idiot part but if u replace the screw