The troubleshooting done has been on the water pump and wiring. Motor seemed to be running smoothly last time I fired it up, but no water coming out.
I think the carb kit was suggested due to not knowing the history of the motor and is more preventive than performance issues. Tested on muffs and tub. Have not run it on river or lake (only fished on non-outboard lakes so far) last year for a variety of health related reasons. When I ran it on muffs, took about 5 seconds or so for warm water to come out of the weep hole. the last time on muffs, no water-put in tub, no water. removed t-stat to see if water making it there. no water to t-stat. dropped lower unit and verified there are no restrictions from water tube up to the thermostat. Due to age and not knowing history, replaced t-stat. Ordererd water pump kit at the same time, will replace that in the next few days. Looks like previous owner ran into some mud or clay (major crud all on the inside which comes off with water and elbow grease).
Wiring - found 10-12 AWG to trolling motor. Trolling motor is 24v, it was only wired for 12v (multiple splices, various wire colors, bad solder connections). 3 batteries, 2 for trolling motor, lights, fish finders, etc. Only thing using 2 batteries was the lights, fish finders and had a switch to parallel the 2 batteries. The 2 batteries have been wired in series and are connected to the trolling motor (brand new 6 AWG, 60 amp breaker).
Let me know if you need more information.