Thanks for the input! OK, here's the history. Last summer (Aug?) we're out in the Gulf o M and a couple of times it idled rough and died. Then, 4 miles out, 5 miles from the pass, it doesn't fire at all I know there's no spark so I call towboatUS. My favorite mechanic gets it, says it's the stator, puts a new one in and it runs fine. Then the next trip or two it runs rough. I know the plugs are old and oily so I change them--runs fine.

Then end of May this yr it dies, runs only 3-4 sec then dies, finally it runs, blows oil like it's on 50:50 for a while, then runs OK, then skips like you turned off one cylinder, dropped from say, 4800 to 42 instantly. I thought it was electrical. Did cranking spark test-all ok. Did comp check, I got all 95-100, mech got 120 on all. He "rebuilt" carbs said there was something bad on a float needle/seat, etc. Now it runs fine at high speed but is bad at 1000 to 2000.

What about, when I rebuilt this motor, had #1 and #6 sleeved and upon the advice of the guy who sleeved it, up'ed the jet .004 on each of those. When I pulled the plugs (which were almost new) on that other problem, I noticed #1 had just a little crud on it, the others looked fine. Soooo, would you think maybe I should come back down .002 on #1? Could it be oil fouled until it opens up some? Sorry, I don't have my book with me, I think std was .074 and I went to .078. Is there a low speed jet?
Trollercoaster