1998 Evinrude 3cyl - 2 stroke - E25KLECA - potential misfire when put in gear

[jamwellman]

Hello all,
I was hesitant to make a post but after a month of trial and error and not finding my exact problem or solution on forums I decided to give it a shot. I will try to keep it as brief as possible so apologies if it's long winded. I want to provide as much info as possible.
When buying the boat, the previous owner started it instantly and it ran for several minutes (on muffs) so I thought it's all good, here's some money. The gas tank was practically empty FYI.
A few days later I put 50:1 and some stabil 360 in it. Premium no ethanol. Got it on the water and it started right up no problem. I got 5 minutes of cruising and WOT and it choked out and died on me. It started right up again and I got another 5 out of it before it did the same thing. Started up no problem but now when I put it in gear, it bogs down like it's misfiring or only running on 2 cylinders. I initially thought maybe it was running in SLOW mode but based off of reading and watching some videos of SLOW mode, I don't believe that is the issue. This is running much rougher than the SLOW videos I found. Like most people it runs great in the driveway and bogs down when on the lake. It spits water like a champ at all times so I don't think it's a water pump/heat issue though I have a rebuild kit in case. I've checked the bulb when this is happening and it's tight. Engine will not rev up when this is happening.
Batteries are good and less than 2 years old.
When running good on the driveway I started pulling wires to the coil from power pack. Cylinders 1 and 3 showed a change but cylinder 2 did not. Guess my problem is in cylinder 2 then. Here's what I've done so far:

Used a clean external fuel tank with different lines and different gas....same problem.
New fuel lines from tank to motor along with new connectors and new fuel filter.
Cleaned and rebuilt all 3 carbs with new rebuild kits...they were surprisingly clean. I did notice the main emulsifier jet on top carb was a LITTLE bent from center thought it was still open so able to suck fuel i'm guessing. The low speed screws are 7 turns out which seems like a lot to me.
New spark plugs and wires
Checked compression with an OLD unit and all 3 cylinders were right at 90.
Tested coils and all were in range but a mechanic told me that coils can and do fail under load. Put in a new coil and got another 10 minutes out of it before the problem came back
Have not taken the fuel pumps apart but that is next on the list. I have rebuild kits for those on their way.
Haven't checked timing but will also do that. The fact I've gotten it running well on the water a few times makes me think it's not timing.

Could it be a bad power pack causing cylinder 2 to misfire?
I'm going to test the fuel in the fuel tank with some putty that turns purple if there is water in the fuel.

So.....what are your thoughts and what am I missing? Any help is appreciated and if pictures or a video would help, I'm sure I can figure out how to make that happen. If it's not obvious, I am far from a mechanic and electrical problems are over my head at this point.
Thanks all.

 

[racerone]

Check all the pins where they plug into the powerpack.------Run with a timing light one cylinder at a time.----Observe spark behavior.-----How did you set the low speed mixture screws after your carburetor work ??

 

[jamwellman]

Pins look good and have decent grease in them. Hopefully borrowing a timing light tomorrow. I set the screws back to 7 but am about to turn them to 1.5 out and go try again. The first replacement coil was an Amazon cheapo but an oem just got put on. Thanks for the reply. I’ll report back

 

[jamwellman]

Forgot to mention in my first post that previous owner removed the oil can and from reading through forums it looks like he did it correctly.

 

[racerone]

The low speed needles are set with a measurement for initial setting.----I doubt it will run well at 1.5 turns out.

 

[jamwellman]

Yes 6-7 turns on the low speed screws seem to be the sweet spot. Problem still persisted. After changing coil there was a difference on each cylinder when the coil wires were pulled. I’m leaning back towards fuel again.

 

[jamwellman]

To close this thread out for any future readers, I put in a new "cheapo" aftermarket power pack and that solved the problem. We will see how long the power pack lasts. Still need to do some fine tuning on the carbs as it idles a little high but I'm happy to be on the water.

 

[bigtime_mcalpine]

I had some trouble with that same motor with a high idle. I was able to address only by screwing out the idle adjust L-shaped plastic bit until it was only just hanging by the last threads. Quietest motor I've ever come across though. it's worth the slight nuisances. BTW: mine DID go into SLOW and it turned out to simply be a defective temp switch on the head. Unplugged that and it ran like a champ.

 

[jamwellman]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that tonight. It's a great little motor so far.