1972 Mercury 650 Thunderbolt 3 cyl. Fuel issue

I’ve got a 1972 Mercury 650 Thunderbolt with the 3 cylinder. Motor has ran just fine for the last 4 years. One day I ran it all day and accidentally ran out of gas. After this happened, now it just won’t run. I’ve looked at the diaphragm and it’s in great shape. I cleaned out the fuel filter. It was a little dirty but nothing concerning. And fuel is getting to the carburetors. It fires every time but won’t stay running after the initial fire.
I know that I’m probably dealing with a carburetor issue since it was running without an issue before running out of gas. It seems like a pain to get the carburetor out, so if anyone has any advice that would be much appreciated! Or if someone else thinks I should try something else, I’m open to any advice

I would start with a compression test on this motor.----Post the values here.----Have you installed a new water pump impeller recently ?

racerone said:

I would start with a compression test on this motor.----Post the values here.----Have you installed a new water pump impeller recently ?

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it had a new water pump impeller installed 4 years ago, but it was also working great before I ran out of gas. I’ll have to try and get ahold of a compression tester. It’s just weird to me how it was running 100% normal and then after running out of gas it now won’t run.

I suspect you somehow sucked dirt (old, rotted fuel lines?) into the carb(s).

I know they are a dog to work on, by yiu need to pull an rebuild them.

Jeff

Does anyone know what needs to be removed in order to pull the carburetors out? It looks like they’re tucked in there pretty tight.