Boating amateur here. I inherited a 1996 Astro Fish and Ski from my father last year. The motor is a Mercury 2-stroke outboard 115. I took it out on the lake nearby my house several times last year and didn't really have any problems. I had to choke the heck out of it to get it started sometimes, but never was unable to get it started. I thought I would do some maintenance today. I changed out the spark plugs with the correct ones and changed the gear oil today. I thought I would hook up a pair of muffs and a hose and see if it would start after making the changes. It makes a humming noise instead of cranking. I don't know much about the internals of the motor, but I know it should be making more noise than that! I don't really have a good way of testing out my battery, but the motor trimming works fine, up and down, so the battery isn't dead. Any ideas as to how to figure out what's wrong without taking it to a mechanic? Thanks in advance.
