2005 50elpto

[michaelhedges]

I have a 2005 50ELPTO on a 20ft pontoon that has started to give us trouble. First symptom was the engine was hard to start would not idle. Did a carb takedown and clean and the problem went away for a while. The problem has resurfaced and I did the carbs again and cleaned the fuel tank. This time problem was still here. Changed plugs. The bottom plug looked horrible. Here again motor ran almost like knew and then problem resurfaced but not as bad. Now the motor is just harder to start, doesn't idle quiet right and is lacking in topend RPM. I checked stator, trigger, CDM and all are OK. It does have plenty of spark on all cylinders. The only thing is the bottom cylinder plug is still quite dirty. I was thinking next move is to decarb. The carb that was always the dirtiest was the third and I am thinking the cylinder is probably filithy because if you unplug the bottom cylinder plug wire the motor doesn't skip a beat much.

Can you run the fuel safely out of the carbs on this engine?

Any help would be appreciated.

Found missing reed valve....