1971 eveinrude 18hp won’t start always flooded??

I bought a 71 18hp evinrude the beginning of spring old owner said he rebuilt the motor completely 2 years prior. Ran great until last month. Long story short I ended up researching the problem replaced the coils and spark plugs it ran great again until last week first time I started it not problems at all ran it for about 10 minutes got to my first fishing spot shut it down and it hasn’t started again since.. after a few pulls I noticed a abnormal amount of gas in the water thinking I flooded it I let it sit 20 minutes tried again without the choke and still same problem. It seems like a abnormal amount of gas even if it was flooded? I’ve let it sit 2 days tried again the other night and got a fair amount of gas floating in the tub almost like it’s leaking from somewhere? Anyone have any idea what it could be? I’m pretty new at trying to tinker on these old 2 strokes and I can’t seem to find anyone having the same problem online

My best guess is the flywheel key sheared. The gas in the water has gone through the engine unburnt because there is no spark at the right time to ignite it. When you assembled it, were the shaft and flywheel tapers clean and dry? Did you use a torque wrench to tighten the nut to 40-45 ft lbs?

Right On at least that gives me a starting point! The shaft and tapers were clean I honestly didn’t check to see if they were dry or not though they appeared to be. And I didn’t use a torque wrench as I didn’t have one on hand I just tried to snug it up as I did read over tightening would cause problems. Really don’t think I went past 45ft lbs however what would be a telling sign? if I pop the flywheel back off will the key be noticeably damaged?
thanks!

If the flywheel is loose (under-torqued), it will damage or completely shear the key. It can spread and crack the flywheel if over-torqued. Most often cause of over torqueing is using an impact wrench. Either situation is way too common, and unfortunate.

Ok right on I fear that may be the case then the first time I tried it after changing the coils the flywheel was a bit loose still. I’ve only used the motor twice since I snugged it up it’s possible I damaged it and didn’t notice. What’s the earliest repair route for that buy a new magneto plate? Or is the key seated under the plate and I’ve just buggered the motor lol

It all begins with removing the flywheel for inspection. All I can do is guess till then.

After removing the flywheel I didn’t notice any damage to the key however what your saying makes perfect sense as it seems to be pushing gas through and not igniting at the right time could it be damaged elsewhere? Unfortunately I can’t seem to upload a photo from my phone I’ll try from a computer later today.
thanks!

Check fuel pump diaphragm.