Engine surges, Carb leaking and more...

1977 85hp rude, 4cyl, recently tried boat motor in river, after it had been serviced in March. (1st time out) I left boat on trailer, and started motor, it kicked in on 2nd try. Let run for about 15mins in idle, turned off, waited 5mins, and started it up again., Unhooked boat from trailer and everytime I would but it in reverse it would go dead immediately. Tried 2 more times and it did the same thing. On th 4th try the engine just spun, and started making a clickin noise, coming from the starter. Also, noticed after looking at it the next day, that when I would squeeze the gas bulb, the gasoline would start leaking from the top carburator. Also, one of the sparkplug wires that goes into the ign. coil, came out easily when checked. When engine was running did not check to see if gas was leaking, althoug I didn't smell anything. But engine would surge at times. The marine tech, had put a carb kit on and a high speed jet plug; also mentioned that I needed a stator, and timer base, but they did demonstrate that it ran.
Would like to try to do these thing myself, but not sure if its something that I should tackle, or get some help, or do nothing. (Scrap)

Re: Engine surges, Carb leaking and more...

Take a compression reading on each cyl. first. If the compression is solid on all 4 cyls, it's worth spending some time/effort on. When new, that engine had about 125 lbs compression on each cyl.

Re: Engine surges, Carb leaking and more...

On 1st tuneup 1yr ago, comp was 120; on last tuneup, comp was 105.

Re: Engine surges, Carb leaking and more...

The clicking sound on the starter can be a result of loose/dirty connections on the battery wire end terminals. Check the main battery lead ends on both the battery and engine ends for cleanliness and insure that they are tight. If the battery is well charged, possible the solenoid is bad and won't transfer current properly. You can test the starter by jumping direct to a well-charged battery with automotive battery cables. If it spins normally, the starter is ok. I'd work on that fuel leak first. It may be an internal carb leak or a loose fuel hose-you'll want to fix that first. Sounds like you need to replace at least one or more spark plug coils. If you plan on diagnosing the ignition system yourself, you may find some relevant troubleshooting information at this website: cdielectronics.com You can get an original factory service manual from the original publisher: outboardbooks.com