I just bought my first boat. The boat had been sitting for three years! I had problems getting it started. I then brought the boat to a local marine shop. They changed the battery, checked the wiring, and said that 1 of the 3 carbs was firing. They put their hands over the other two to create a vacuum and got them going. They also changed the impeller and checked the leg and changed the oil. They said I have got a solid little boat and motor. I took it out once and it gave me problems firing up. I did get it going and then it died on me before I even left the dock! The marine shop said the reason probably was because I was using the older metal fuel tanks (which probably had some rust in it which got up into the carbs) and suggested I get plastic ones. I changed the old metal gas tanks to plastic and it's all got fresh fuel. I played with it in my yard and got it going again. Since then I've only been able to take the boat out for about 1/2 an hour (today). The engine did fire up for me and then died after running for a bit (Stranding My family and I in the middle of a lake). It would not start up again and the smell of fuel was telling me it was flooded. I got a tow back to the dock and brought it straight back to the marine shop. The guy told me that when they first looked at the boat they didn't rebuild the carbs because they had managed to get it going before and thought that I could possibly get away without a carb rebuild. He is saying that a carb rebiuld should now fix my problem. Also he mentioned the cork float in the carb that controls the flow of fuel that couls be dead and is restricting fuel flow. I know there is good compression (according to them and that the boat did move well when we went across the lake and that I have spark. Being new to all of this, does it sound like he is telling me the truth or am I being taken for a ride? Any advice would be awesome. Thanks in advance.
