Hi folks, I did a search on the forum to see if this has been covered before to no avail. So here goes. 2000 Mercury 8 hp 2 stroke long shaft. Less than 50 hrs on the unit. It has a hesitation (backfiring) problem at 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. It trolls fine and higher rpms are fine too. It will backfire and blow a puff of smoke between 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. If I keep the throttle at this position it will do this problem once every 4 seconds. I put new plugs in and didn't help. I check the ball on the gas tank line and it appears that it is not always tight (is this unusual? should it be stiff at all times?) I also tried to turn the carb mixture screw 1/2 turn either way but did not notice any immediate difference so I quit trying. It is set at 1 1/2 turns out. Thanks very much for all your input! Warlo
