Motor Help Please

[Beamer2]

Hi Again guys.

Well as you know from my last couple of posts I just bought a new boat. Sorry if this gets long but I want to give all the details I can. It has a 1987 Mercury 45 hp classic 50 motor. From the mercury forum on iboats supposedly it is a really good motor. Well Here is what has happened since I bought it.

First night out, primed the bulb, put the throttle up, and cranked it. Puffed at first and then just cranked with nothing. Didn't really sound dry so I figured I flooded it. Well fuel was pouring everywhere and I was embarrassed from all the onlookers. So we packed it up.

Went home, put the muffs to it, didn't prime it all and it started, then stalled, then started and stalled, etc. When I tried to bring it down to idle it would die. Finally got it going pretty good. Took it out to the water, got it running in the water, let it rev for a while so it could warm up, didn't sound too bad to my short experienced ears with outboards. Tried to put it in idle then in gear and sure enough it died. Tried to restart it and it would just crank. Well when I tilted it up more fuel running out. Finally checked the connector on the end of the fuel line and the seal was junk.

So thought I found the issue. Went to the store today and got the female connector and just to be sure got the Male for the motor side as well. Installed them, connected, primed the bulb, it got firm, and started it. It started almost immediately. When I brought up the RPMS it sounded much much better than before, so I thought I had it fixed. Well tried to bring it back down to idle and it stalled. Tried it again and it would only just crank. Put it to full throttle and it would bog way down like too much fuel.

So my question is what the heck do I do now? I am starting to get frustrated, cause I just want to fish. But I am nervous at this point that even if I can get it going, I can't rely on it to go too far from the dock. SOOOOOO, what to do. I pulled the plugs and they are pretty black, with carbon build up, but it does run so I don't think new plugs would really help, would they? I did just put some carbon helper in the tank today as well, to help with that.

Keep this in mind. I don't know that last time it was started. I do know that the previous owner got a new boat and I don't know when he ran it last. I have called him but can't get through. I would like to try and fix it myself but if I have to will take it to the shop. The previous owner had a lot done to it. I know he did put the unit on that acts like a distibutor, I think. So I know that it has a lot of new parts and stuff was cleaned (carbs, etc.)

So any advice would be appreciated. I was told there are a few on here that know their stuff (Zooker, Laser, others). So let me now what you all think. Thanks in advance for the help.

By the way what I was told when I bought it that the #3 cylinder has lower compression and knocks at full throttle. Talking to some mechanics, I have got different opinions on what this could be, from just run it with some carbon cleaner and clean it out and get another pressure test, to you have to replace the whole block. Just some more info for you guys to help with possible diagnosing.

Thanks again, and sorry for the long post.