OMC 3.0 stalls in idle, now won’t start

Hello all,

My wife and I just recently inherited her late grandfathers 88 four Winn’s with an OMC 3.0. I had it in lake mead the other day purring like a Cadillac shifted into neutral and it stalled out. We were dead in the water. The motor keeps trying to turn over but won’t. I took it to a shop they said they got it running first try. Took it to the water started it. Reversed and waited for my wife boat stalled again. Park ranger had to tow me back to the dock. I’m back home with the muffs on trying to get it started and no luck. Please help

Might be time for a tune up. Inspect the distributor cap and rotor. Should be no corrosion on terminals. Replace both if corroded. Inspect spark plugs. Are they a nice tan colour. While there out check if they spark a nice blue spark. Do a fuel sample. In a clear container . Remove fuel line from fuel pump. Use a primer bulb from an outboard to suck fuel from tank. Look for water or debris in fuel. That's a good start. Let us know what you found. Also do a compression test

I suspect that this is only happen when you shift. It's shift interrupt switch.

Hey thanks for the reply. The whole motor was rebuilt last year including the carb. I took it too a shop and they’ve said everything looks good and is running well. I took it out after they did a once over and it died right after I left the docks. Ranger pulled me back in took it home threw in my reserve battery and it started right up and ran. I put the other battery on my charger that way I have two batteries just in case. Well see how today goes on the water.