Re: online school
I would suggest you head to the library or do an on-line search for these two topics. Do #1 first and #2 second.
1) Two Stroke (or two cycle) engine theory
2) Four Stroke (or four cycle) engine theory
Until you understand how these two technologies work you will not be able to do any effective troubleshooting. The difference between these is night and day -- four stroke being like the engine in your car. Two strokes were used in snowmobiles, lawn mower, weed trimmers, chain saws and yes outboards.
Once you have that mastered, you then head back to the library or search for carburetion theory.
1) Carburetor theory
2) Fuel Injection theory
You simply cannot troubleshoot, repair and tune "any" outboard unless you have the factory specifications for the motor you are working on. You can do a lot of damage to any engine using the wrong disassembly, assembly, and tuning procedures. Think about this scenario. You want to learn so you buy an engine cheap but you know it has a hole in one piston. You disassemble the engine, replace the piston and rings, and the engine seems to run nicely. Except one week later the engine dies and you discover the piston you replaced has a hole in it again. The lesson here is you need to diagnose WHY the first piston developed a hole. Since you didn't fix the original problem (very likely a carburetion issue) you get to do the job over again. There simply is no shortcut to education. If there was an on-line school for outboard repair I would not be proud to hang the diploma on the wall.
