Hi everyone, I'm hoping the mechanical experts here can help me out.

BackStory: I recently had a problem on the water when the screw at the bottom of the carb bowl came loose. I was able to hand tighten it that day to get back. Once home, I removed the screw, inspected the gasket on the end of it, and then put the screw back on and tightened it up. I also replaced the small hose going from the carb bowl to the choke solonoid at the same time. Primed everything up and had no leaks.

Problem: The first outing after this repair, I noticed that the motor was harder to start, but after a couple of tries, it would fire up and we were on our way to the next spot. This happened every-time I stopped and fished for a while. I also noticed that the motor would have a slight but noticeable hesitation after reaching WOT. You can feel boat hesitate for a split second, then return to normal. The GPS speed doesn't show a change in speed when the motor hesitates, and the tach will either show no change, or a very slight drop on the rpm needle.
On this trip, I notice the carb bowl gasket was leaking. I ordered a new gasket. But I went ahead a removed and check the carb bowl to make sure it wasn't something that caused it when I did the previous look. Primed and checked, everything seemed solid.

The second outing went a little worse. It took several tries and several minutes to get it fired up at the ramp. It did get going though. After fishing our first spot for a couple of hours, we went to move and the motor would not start at all. I took a look and noticed a some fuel equal to a couple of drops in the carb throat. Fished for another hour and tried it again. Would not start. Let it sit for a while longer and tried one more time out of desperation. After several tries, it started, but would only idle for a few seconds and then die. I ended up having to jam it into gear the moment it fired to keep it going. Hit WOT and everything seemed fine except for that intermittent hesitation.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? I will be run stator tests and compression tests today or tomorrow to rule those out, but I'm thinking the problem is fuel related.

Any help or advice at all is greatly appreciated.

we had a Force 40 on our pontoon years ago. we had constant trouble with the (stater, staighter) however you spell it. we replaced it 3 times.

I've heard that the original stators (black in color) were very troublesome, however the replacement stators (red in color) were alot better. I have a red stator.

Did you experience symptoms like mine?

Does the fuel bulb pump up and stay firm? I have seen problems with the manual fuel pump diaphragm on these motors too.

The bulb stays firm. I checked the fuel filter and it was clear. I replaced it anyway because it was old. I noticed the carb bowl gasket was leaking a little bit of gas. I'll replace that tonight as well as run compression test and update.

Did a compression test. The top cylinder showed 95psi and the bottom showed 110psi. That's pretty good for a 98 model engine isn't it?

I replaced the carb bowl gasket and measured the float. I adjusted it a little lower, which I thought would make fuel delivery a little leaner. I tested it out, and it fired almost immediately but only ran for a few seconds. I tried to start it a couple more times. It would sputter but not really start. I looked in the carb throat and there was fuel standing in it. So much so that it poured out for a good 2 seconds when I trimmed up the motor. I checked the inlet needle and it looks good...no wear, no dirt anything like that. The needle seat looked good as well.

if it has not been tried, drain old gasoline oil mix and put in fresh. gasoline with ethanol may be the problem.

You need to replace the manual fuel pump diaphragm. Will let raw fuel straight into motor.