recently while going to my fishing hole cruising<br />at almost full power all was well,the motor sputtered and a power loss experienced. following <br />the power loss the throttled advanced to full power the motor ran smooth, however could only get approx, 3to 5 mph. the gas appeared to be ok<br />fuel pump filter was clean, spark plugs appeared normal.<br />the overboard vent was plugged, cleaned out to no avail.<br />the fuel tank hand pump was soft and would not get firm.<br /><br />questions.<br /><br />1. i took the hand pump apart, no foreign material found, check valves appeared ok. can this be my problem.??<br /><br />2. explain the object of the overboard vent, could this contribute to my problem<br /><br />iam replacing all the componets from the tank to motor.<br /><br />the motor is an evinrude 1985 35 hp.<br /><br />thanks