Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

Hello all...I need everyone expertisim.... BTW.....yall are great. I have spent hours reading post and advise. Here is a little background information (my stupidity mostly lol) I bought this boat about 3 weeks ago. Limited funds 1984 Cheeta Bass boat 17 1/2' with a 150 Mariner. (I am going to post a picture that looks exactly like my motor to see if it is a 1984 also) (Not sure how to find out date) Boat was in great shape and engine started up and ran what I thought was great. Took boat out first day and it took on water immediately and fast! Loaded back on trailer. Took it back home to trace down to a disconected livewell hose. Fixed it took back out to lake last weekend and it wouldn't hardly run (but dry...lol). At first it would stall in N, when it would run it would stall when you put it into drive(backfire through carb). Finally got it running and with giving it a little bit of gas but still in the no wake zone it did good. Then when I tried to take off it wouldn't go over 15 to 20 mph (wouldnt plane) and eventually the engine would die. Trimmed it different a few times and knew something is really wrong! Someone suggested at the ramp that I had spun the prop...but I dont think that is it. Felt like a power problem (like the boat was full of water and it couldnt go because of weight) The lady I bought the boat off of said that it was put on water earlier in the spring and ran just fine. She also said that her boyfriend rebuilt the carberators. He told her that it needed to have an inline filter installed. (so I did that) I see black particles floating already in filter. I also noticed once that the gas was pouring out the butterfly side of the carburators. (maybe I flooded trying to start?) Or maybe the carborator is the problem? Going to do a compression check and a spark plug test tonight and will post results.
I think Im going in the right direction. Any suggestions would be helpful. Please be patient with me..as a female I might not know the correct terms and such..but I am mechanically inclinded and can do simple diagnotic test etc with guidanceThanks, Letreze

Re: Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

let us know what you find on the compression and spark tests and if you have it running after, squeeze the primer bulb on the fuel line to see if its hard. i think you may have a fuel problem but we will know more after your tests, and welcome to the board

Re: Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

Well I have good news and bad news.....I have good compression 110 on everything. I did however not have spark out of wire 3. Not sure if this is good news or bad and not sure what to do now? Please advise what direction I should go now?

Thanks,
Letreze

Re: Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

switch the coils to see if you then get spark on that cylinder

Re: Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

It is much better news than having bad compression, cheaper to fix and it is relatively easy to find the cause using some "part swapping" techniques and a DVA meter if necessary. The OEM shop manual will have a step by step troubleshooting guide that would help. If you don't have one, the below linked troubleshooting guides may.

http://forums.iboats.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=26805&d=1240511009

http://dolphinmarineservice.homestead.com/tech.html

Re: Stalling Engine and Loss of Power??

Ok....so its not the coil. The coil created spark on another plug. So cyl 3 isnt getting spark. Does that make the issue not the switch box? Or can it be something else too?

Thanks,
Letreze