I have recently purchased a 2003 Crest pontoon with 60hp mercury bigfoot. I had it tuned up and only ran at 3500 rpm - it then died and did not seem to get any spark - I had mechanic look at it and was told cylinoid was bad and it was replaced and carbs adjusted - ran great - high rpm and running GREAT - after short trip on lake - had difficult time starting - I could smell gas so i assumed it was flooded - it finally started back but then quickly died again - i had mechanic look at it again and it was found to have burned (melted) wires - he said one of the wires melted was the kill switch wire and that is why it would not start. He separated the wire and reconnected them and said if it did not start up - the burn went into the stator and would be very expensive repair - fortunately, it started and ran great - He said that now that he separated the wires, it would not over heat and would be fine - it did great on the lake today - no problems except now when it is in neutral, it sputters like a small backfire, when in gear, it runs great. After going out on the lake, I took the cover off, and the wires were cool. Should i be concerned about the sputtering? Is my problem really solved with the wires now being separated? It is frusturating when I have the wife and kids out and it breaks down. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
