1979 V6 Evinrude no full power

I have a 200 V6 and it is not

I have a 200 V6 and it is not making full power. The compression is good across all cylinders and the sparks look nice and blue. The plugs in the 1-3-5 bank of pistons when removed are as follows: 1- Mild carbon dry at tip of electrode. 3- Some bit of color but wet when removed. 5- Tiny bit of color but also wet. The 2-4-6 bank of pistons are a nice tan color and dry when removed. The motor runs ok but has a mis/cough at an idle below 1200 rpms. It will idle right down and the miss/cough goes away when I remove the #5 sparkplug wire. In looking at the spark #5 from that wire/coil(Was just replaced) its very blue and will jump 7/16-1/2 inch. PLEASE HELP. I am loosing my mind.

"Bobby... The spark should be

"Bobby... The spark should be a very strong blue lightning like flame across the 7/16" gap. The compression should be 100+ psi and even on all cylinders.

If the above is what you have, then I would assume that the carburetors are fouled and will require cleaning/rebuilding.

Before tearing into the carbs, check the continuity of the ignition coils as follows:

Remove the primary orange wire from whatever it's connected to. It may be connected to a powerpack screw type terminal, a rubber plug connector, or it may simply plug onto a small boss terminal of the coil itself.

Connect the black lead of a ohm meter to the spark plug boot terminal, then with the red ohm meter lead, touch the ground of the coil or the powerhead itself if the coil is still installed.

Then touch (still with the red lead) the orange wire if it's attached to the coil, or if it's not attached, touch the primary stud of the coil. You should get a reading on both touches (contacts). If not, check the spring terminal inside the rubber boots of the spark plug wire. Poor or no continuity of a coil is one reason for s/plug fouling.

Joe "

" Ok Thanks Joe, I will try th

" Ok Thanks Joe, I will try that test. The compression is actually 117 on all cylinders.
My biggest questions is why does it idle better with the #5 plug wire removed? Could that cylinder be firing intermittantly? If so what would cause that? Thats the plug that is the wettest and that has a brand new OMC coil on it.

I have rebuilt the carbs and they are clean as a whistle. Could it be the power pack? It appears to be all related to the starboard side of the motor. The max rpms under load is only 4300rpm and with the same size prop on my v4 140hp I would get 5500-6300rpm's. The plug that is the wettest is the bottom cylinder and that has a brand new OMC coil on it. "

swap banks with the packs and

swap banks with the packs and see if the problem moves also