1964 18hp evinrude

"the engine runs top notch its

"the engine runs top notch its on a 14ft aluminum boat. when i took it out it seemed to be lagging in power! but every so often id hit a wave the thing would take off. the next wave back to lagging. checked all linkages, cleaned carb,has blue spark,lots of compresson,fuel and water pumps both work. o'ya when i checked for spark the new plugs were covered in soot... too rich???please help asap!!!"

"Soot (dry flat black)

"Soot (dry flat black) usually indicates weak ignition. Check the coils for cracks, points for burnt arced contact area.

Also a common cause is a lack of continuity within the coils. Check as follows.

NOTE..... For the older magneto ignition coils, the continuity check would be as follows:

Checking the continuity of the ignition coils....... Have the ohm meter set to High Ohms.

Remove the primary wire from points. Remove the coil ground wire. You do not want either of these wires touching anything.
Connect the black lead of a ohm meter to the spark plug boot terminal, then with the red ohm meter lead, touch the ground wire of the coil.

Then touch (still with the red lead) the primary wire. You should get a reading on both touches (contacts). If not, check the spring terminal inside the rubber boots of the spark plug wire.

If there is no continuity between the secondary circuit (spark plug) wire and the primary or ground, remove the coil from the armature plate, then check the continuity directly between the prong within the coil (prong that the plug wire connects to) and the primary and ground. Poor or no continuity of a coil (or plug wire) is one reason for weak spark, s/plug fouling, or no spark."