90 HP Evinrude - Acceleration Issue

I have a 90 HP Evinrude on my 19' Carolina Skiff. I put the boat in the water for the summer on Saturday morning and had no issues. Clean idle and acceleration. After grabbing lunch and loading it up for fishing in the afternoon I found that I can not accelerate without the engine sputtering and coughing. It idles fine, and is okay driving slowly (in no wake zones) but as soon as I try to get it up on plane it sputters and refuses to accelerate. I'm going to have to troubleshoot this on my own, as i just don't have the cash for a professional repair job right now so I'm hoping for a bit of guidance.

Here are a couple of thoughts of mine:

1. Based on the issue, I'm guessing there is most likely a fuel line issue. The primer bulb on the fuel line stays "soft" even after priming it. I'm wondering if this could be an indication of an air leak in one of the seals? Seems to me that after a few squeezes it should be hard as a rock as the fuel is cycling...but it's not. (Note: No fuel is leaking anywhere)

2. Bad fuel? I didn't run the boat last year so the fuel has been sitting for over a year (maybe as much as 2 yrs). I used Stabil, but I think this could still be an issue.

3. Tachometer: It is my understanding a bad tach could cause ignition issues. If so, I suspect I may need to install a new one?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Re: 90 HP Evinrude - Acceleration Issue

1. It is possible the fuel hose bulb is bad. They should pump up hard the first thing each day when you start it. The ball valves in the bulb may be bad. Make sure the hose bulb is pointed upward (the arrow faces skyward.) The hose won't always pump correctly if the hose bulb is pointed down. 2. Take a fuel sample. Use the fuel hose to pump some fuel into a water glass and let it sit for 15 minutes. You will see the water if you have any. If you do, drain the tank completely and refill with new gas.3. The tach gets it signal from the charging side of the engine's stator. This is separate from the ignition side of the stator. Not relevant to your problem.