Problems with 1988 Evinrude 150 XP Outboard

Hello,
I'm having problems with my 88' Evinrude 150 XP V6. I have had it out approximately 20 times this year and have continuously had problems getting it started. Although after it fired up and ran in gear for a few minutes it started and ran good the rest of the day. This weekend was a different story...after struggling to get it started I was cruising at about 20 mph (no rpm gage) and then I gave it approximately 90% throttle and heard a noise from the motor and it seemed as if the prop locked up and the engine shut off. It started immediately after this and ran good at 20 mph again and as I accelerated the same problem happened again. I tried starting it again after this happened and it cranks and fires but won't fully start. I was told it could be spark plugs or spark plug coils. If anyone can help diagnose this problem it would greatly be appreciated because I got fishing to do...

Re: Problems with 1988 Evinrude 150 XP Outboard

Check the compression and spark first. A simple spark checker device or a timing light will show whether you have spark or not. Since weak ignition components tend to fail when the engine warms up to normal operating temps, you might want to warm the engine up first.

Re: Problems with 1988 Evinrude 150 XP Outboard

Thank you emdsapmgr for the quick post. I'm definitely going to check out the plugs...I really appreciate your help! If I figure out the problem myself then I will post for others that may possibly have the same problem in the future.