Need some help guys boat died on lake today

So here we go I have a 1992 evinrude 25hp TE25ELENS on a bass tracker pro 17 . We were putting along at a very low speed almost crawling . The motor just cut off no violent noise or bog it just plain stopped . We tried to restart with no luck I decided first to change to some new plugs . This did not work with all the crancking in the world and a shot of staring fluid still nothing . I noticed that the linkage attached to the carb to open the butterfly was broke off at the end . So then I tried to hold the butterfly open a bit and start it . still nothing just a couple of backfires about one every 10 rotations or so . We used the trusty MINNKOTA to get us back to the dock when I got back home I took the flywheel off to inspect the ignition system I noticed a little square tab of metal stuck to the inside of the fly wheel it look like the came of the outside of the power pack but Im not sure if it had a pickup tab on it or not . There is some scratching along the inside of my fly wheel but not very deep . Im thinking some how maybe that little linkage bar got caught up in the fly wheel and broke the tab (if there is one in there ) . What do you guys think ? could my power pack be damaged ? is there a little metal tab that goes on the back of the power pack like ?) Not sure fellas please help me out I have a tournament next weekend Thanx NAte Wilson

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

Find out if your getting spark and then post the results.

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

I do have spark on both plugs checked them I also have good compression on both cylenders but it wont even start with starting fluid

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

I have gas I have spark I have compression but it seems like the timing got whacked out or somthing

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

dont use starting fluid ...
how about post up some pics so we can see the scratches and the metal tab thingy?

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

You can see the tab its kinda hard to get a clear pic its so small but it really does look like it came from the slot in the power pack you can see it in the second pic .

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

The third pic is the linkage i was talking about that may have caused the whole problem

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

im not terribly familar with this engine but one of the other guys on here should be able to help in the morning
i see the scratches and they look pretty minor as for that piece you found i dont know but those pics will help someone diagnose your problem

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

Is that little tab your flywheel key? If it is then it will be out of time; if its not then I have no idea where it came from, just not familiar with that engine. Hope someone can chime in and identify it for you.

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

I can't really tell what that piece is either. However, it sounds like you have a sheared flywheel key. When this happens, you will still have spark but it won't be happening at the appropriate time (timing). Hope this helps, Forrest.

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

I wish it was the flywheel key but its not To me it looks like it came out of the slot on the power pack thats the only thing I can figure . The flywheel key is in perfect condition .

Re: Need some help guys boat died on lake today

Looks like it came out of the power pack. When you were checking your spark, did you just ground out your plugs or were you using a spark tester set at 7/16 " open air gap ??