I have a 3 cylinder outboard that ran hot. I took the head off and the head looks good. I sprayed outboard oil into each cylinder before taking the head off and compression improved. The book says compression should be 135-145 for # 1, and 145-155 for 2 and 3. My compression drop is on number 2 and is around 20, which looks like it has slight grooves in the cylinder wall. There is also some slight damage at the very top of the cylinder wall. Number 2 walls do not feel as smooth at the bottom, but it is not highly damaged. They are grooved a little, unlike the others. This is a 1993 engine which was rebuilt just 3 years ago. The pistons look good and the rings do not looked damaged. Engines turns over with no noticable differrence in sounds coming from engine. Would putting a new head gasket on make the difference. I have a guy who does this type of work say he will look at it, but he is 50 miles away and charges 65 a hour. I have never rebuilt a engine, but do most of the other work with my cars, but I'm new to boat engines. What are my chances of making this run well again without spending a ton of money? I know the water pump needs replacing and I bought a book detailing this procedure, but I'm still a little uptight about doing any of this.
