About at the end of my rope or should I say "line" on this forum, with my older Merc outboard. Been thro a lot with it but I'm about to give up unless someone can help. Here's what I'm up against now; '75 inline Merc 1500, 150hp, carbs removed, cleaned, adjusted, fuel lines and components replaced, tank removed and cleaned, fuel mixture replaced, replace a second time with non ethanol gas ( to correct the green gas problem) wire harnesses replaced, ignition coil and trigger assy replaced (corrected the no spark problem), water pump replaced, mechanical time checked and double checked, all plugs fire, ignition timing at idle 900rpm about 2 degrees ATDC, carb pickup at 6, starts hard cold but does start with fast idle, idle mix adjust doesn't smooth out the idle, idles a bit rough, dies when put in gear in the barrel. That's the first symptom dying when put in gear, the other symptom, after running for less that 10 min the plugs all are what I have learned recently is called "cold fouled" which is covered with what appears to be oil. Haven't replaced the plugs yet. Oh one other symptom the barrel we are servicing it in at the water line has a dark thick black oil line again after running only a few minutes. Yes the mix is correct and mixed good, right now we are running out of a gas can. What in the world do I need to do next? Thx in advance for any of your help.
