OK so the joy of buying the boat is over and now a issue/s(minor or major, not sure). The motor won't stay running at idle (stalls) and very little power underway, not fast at all, barely gets on plane and with my wife and kids barely hit 10mph. When we lake tested it was fine now it's not(stalled a couple of times). Pretty sure boat has been sitting awhile, might need carbs cleaned but not gonna be my first option

Few things I noticed -

1. The fuel bulb won't stay hard, it should right?
2. seems like it's miss firing
3. a rubber line from the oil tank(engine mounted) has a 3way valve that isn't connected on one side, don't see any lines not connected, is that for vacuum?

Things done after issue - replaced fuel line from tank to bulb, replaced fuel filter, still stalls and now no water out the back even at WOT

Here's what I've got -
1997 Mercury 150XR6, with 3 carbs
compression on all cylinders are 130#
Plug wires check good, all fuel lines inside motor look good
will stay running as long as throttle is half way

Things I'm gonna do -
1. replace bulb and fuel line to engine (bulb should be hard and stay hard?)
2. check water pump again
3. check spark in all cylinders(not sure on how to do it, w/o getting shocked)

Here's after I replace fuel lines and bulb


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This after all changes, is water suppose to come out where the silver thing is(anode?)
ALL HELP APPRECIATED

fuel pump is what it sounds like on the fuel/running issue.
get the water pump changed before starting it again if you don't know how long its been since it was done.

just installed water pump this week, something didn't go right

Gonna get a rebuild kit for the fuel pump after I replace the bulb

I don't intend to offend, but (if equipped) you do have the gas tank breather valve(s) open, right?

When I first bought my boat (my first boat ever), I had the same sort of troubles. I didn't know any better, but finally got someone with boat knowledge to help me out. That was pretty much the first thing he checked and sure enough, everything was fine after he opened them up.

Another thing I had to do after buying my boat was clean the carbs real well. The low speed (idle) jet was gummed up. I wonder if this could be part of your problem as well (especially if it had been sitting a while).

No pee out of the motor is NOT good. If you can't get it to pee, I wouldn't run it. Have you put it on muffs? If so, are the symptoms the same? At the very least, keep it on muffs only until you can get a water stream.

not sure what is it and where would it be?

My boat is old and has metal tanks that I have to fill up directly in the bilge (i.e. No "filler cap"). On the tank caps, there are little screws. When unscrewed, it allows air into the tank to allow the fuel to flow through the lines. With then closed, little-to-no fuel will flow.

I'm not familiar with other boats, but I understand that some have vent lines. Unfortunately, I don't know how/where these sort of vent lines are ran or how to check if they are clear. Someone else should be able to fill in on where yours might be and how to check it.

That motor will not pee good untill the tstats open on the rpms get up. Sounds like you have a fuel delivery problem If its got good spark and compression

#1 first make sure you are pumping the bulb in a 12 oclock and 6 oclock with arrow pointing up, this will let the check valve in the bulb work. If it is an attwood bulb throw it away and get a Merc-Omc or Sierra primer bulb. #2 To check spark with out geting shocked is to have some plastic plyers, if you dont have them then remove spark plugs and then put plug back in the spark plug wire and lay it against the head, it will just dangle there just how you want it to. Do this with all six at the same time. have someone crank the engine and you wwhatch the plugs spark.#3 If you look at the side of the carbs either side you will see that each carb has a brass locking plug on the side of each bowl. a 7/16ths tool of choice will remove the plugs. remove the bottom one first because they will be the worst if a carb job is needed. If the inside dont look as clean as the brass on the outside, they need cleaned. Cary

OK thanks guys will give all the tip a shot until I fine something

while it won't help the bulb get hard, run a can of seafoam with 5 gal of fuel, this will clean the carbs and partially decarb the engine which are both good. this should help a little but you still have a fuel problem with the soft bulb.
check the fuel lines prior to the fuel pump for air leaks too.

So you're saying use an external can and a full can of seafoam?

Ok so here's a list of completed task -

1. fuel line from tank to bulb replaced
2. bulb replaced with a $30 bulb from west marine
3. fuel line from bulb to 3 way replaced
4. installed hose clamps and removed tie wraps that were leaking by

still stalls and bulb is soft while running, squeezing while running makes engine rpm increase a tad, next stop fuel pump i guess

fuel pump diaphram kit. it cost about $15.

did you change the fuel filter when they clog they act just like this.

yep just replaced with a plastic type filter, gonna put a glass filter on later on