Hi Guys:<br />Boat is still in the garage.<br /><br />Let me tell you my tale of woe....Working on a 1989 Mercury 50hp with power tilt. One guy tells me the problem is in the carburators. So I put new gaskets on the carburators. One guy tells me the problem is in my coils, so I swap coils and the problem went away for 2 days. One guy tells me the problem is in the computer switch box, so I swap wires and yes I got the #1 cylinder to fire. Put the wires back the way they were and the problem went away again for 2 days.<br /><br />Now my brother in law is telling me he is visiting from Florida and tells me he is an expert on Mercury Motors and the problem is in the stator. <br /><br />Here is the question----How do you check out the stator on this engine without having to pay 300 or 400 dollars or more for a new stator only to find out that that is not the problem. The wires on this engine look like brand new. Can one of you guys that really know your stuff let me know how you would trouble shoot an engine with an intermittent problem. The last dealer that worked on this engine replaced (3) inlet valves to the carburators (I think_) and the 3 spark plugs and charged $189.00 dollars only to have the problem reappear when I bought the boat.<br />So far I have bought 2 books on trouble shooting. I have also replace the headgasket because it was leaking next to the #1 cylinder. Have replaced the short gas hose coming from the fuel pump that was kinked. <br />Any help will be appreciated. <br />I guess my question is:<br />How do you trouble shoot with out having to substitute parts.
