Hi everybody. I’ve recently purchased a 12.5’ inflatable boat with alum floor. I also picked up a 1972 Mercury 110 9.8hp long shaft off CL for it. The guy I bought it from said it was good to go he just rebuilt the carb and put new wires on it. I was able to see it run in a 55g drum. Started up on first pull. I’m sure it was warmed up. And it looked pretty well taken care of, outside and in. This is my first boat and outboard purchase. So be gentle plz. Anyway, the first trip out the motor starts up within a couple pulls. Put it in gear and off we go. It dies about 2 miles out. Put it in neutral, give it a pull, and starts right up. That happened about 3 more times and then that was it. Right away I’m guessing spark. Start rowing back and try starting it every 30 minutes or so on the way back. Nothing. Got home, tested for spark and got nothing. Tested the coils and stator and found the capacitor was fried. Cleaned all connections between wires and components and Installed a used cap I had along with some new spark plugs and then fired right up. The next weekend took it out for trip #2. Got out on the water warmed it up for a minute or so, and opened her up and she took off. Right up on plane and then it dies. Starts right back up, on first pull. Give it about half throttle for awhile and now even at full throttle it only seems like it running at half. The motor idles fine. Tried running with the top off. No change. I hit the choke for just a second and there she goes full power back for a second. So as I’m heading back I stick a couple fingers in front of the intake. Not to block it but to try and choke the air a bit. As soon as I do that I get full power back at full throttle. At first I thought it might be the fuel/air mix. But the more I’ve been reading I believe I may have an air leak somewhere. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don’t really have a ton of money to spend on repairs. I was hoping I could tackle this beast myself. I have already ordered a carb rebuild kit. Just would like to know if I’m headed in the right direction.
