Mud - what year is your Mercury? also at 34mph what does your Tach read?
Before you go use the boat anymore you need to do a few things.
1. compression test - compression on those 2.4L merc engines should be around 115 - 125PSI (compression should not vary more than 10%)
2. Fix the elecrical problem. Take off the cowling and find the black wires with a yellow stripes. The black/yellow wires allow your key switch to kill the spark to your engine. There are two that connect to the switch boxes . . . make sure that the black and yellow wires are bolted down tight.
3. Get a Merc Service Manual (Ebay) . . . but clymers is "ok" too.
4. Clean your fuel delivery system . . . rebuild fuel pumps and carbs. (Also add a fuel water seperator and even an inline fuel filter if you don't have one)
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Figure out which carbs you have: These are wh-20's
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The carbs have a stamp on them right near the top
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WH carbs aren't adjustable (at least mine aren't) and require rejetting to adjust the mix.
WMH carbs are adjustable.
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Good resources: for fixit stuff
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http://www.biggerhammer.net/mercury/
http://www.boatsetup.com
http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi
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more resources for tweaking your merc:
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http://www.screamandfly.com/home/engine_tech.htm
http://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...splay.php?f=20
http://www.byuboyz.com/forums/index....5b5ef0fe5&