Didn't know where else to post this:

Well, learned a couple lessons yesterday. Jackson (my oldest) and I ran out to Mullberry Fork to check a game camera and hang another. Supposed to be out and in, back by 2pm. Ran pretty far up river, did our stuff, then on the way back I decided to run some SeaFoam through my 70hp Yamaha 2-stroke since it’s been progressively harder to crank after sitting for a while. I'm not sure what possessed me to do this while on the river, but "it was at that moment he knew he had f'd up" as the saying goes. Gas tank had at least 3-4 gals of ethanol free 90 gas in it.

Was running pretty good then progressively started bogging down. Then died. We were well north of Thompson's Bend at this point and I had put in at Clevenger's. So, in goes the Garmin Force making our way back at about 3 mph. I changed out the spark plugs - no dice. Pulled them again and let the cylinders air out, while disconnecting the fuel line and purging it, etc. We made it south of Howton's fish camp and about a mile or so from Clevenger's before my trolling motor batteries went into the yellow. It was about 45 mins before dark at this point so I decided it was time to find some help. We had only seen 1 boat on the river since the engine died, so I was about to go knock on doors.

Flagged down a bass boat with a grandpa, his son, and grandson. They basically said we can't help you and left me and my boy there. Unbelievable. Luckily another guy in a Starcraft deep V-hull saw us and came over to see what was going on. He gave us a tow back to the launch and that was that. I can't believe there are people that will just leave someone stranded. I get it, it's not your fault, nor what you had in mind for your day; but, we help each other out.

So, with all that said I have no idea what's wrong. I'm going out of town for a few days, but I guess when I get back I'll tear into it. New plugs, check spark, purge fuel lines, new primer bulb, all that.

Any advice is welcome and sorry for the long rant.

First thing I'd do is rebuild the carb and put a new fuel pump on it and yes, that does suck about the bassholes.

Don't purge the fuel lines, replace. I almost guarantee that when you pull the fuel line loose from the nipples on the bulb or plug in adapter, it will be coming apart inside.

It will look like this.

And, if you find your fuel lines looking like this, you might as well pull and rebuild the carb...the inside of the hose will turn to goo and plug up a carb in a hearbeat. Don't forget fuel filter also.

No advise on the engine but that really sucks that this men left you stranded. Did they give you a reason they couldn’t help?

Fouled plugs. Seafoam is a decarboner…replace your plugs. Did the same to mine back several years ago.

Karma will get those A-holes who didn't tow y'all in.
Solid advice aboit the fuel line and carb rebuild.

Never used seafoam but when the old mercs got hard to crank it was usually the plugs.
Always kept a fresh set of NGKs and a wrench in the boat. I’ve needed help on the water
and I’ve given help many times. Only left one guy. He wanted a ten mile tow which I didn’t
have time for. Told him to tie his boat to a pier and I’d take him to his truck. He started cusing
me so I gave him the one finger salute and left him.

I’ve paddled a Jon boat from the back of coalbed creek on the river to my boathouse right next to the Franklin ferry bridge. There are not a lot people on the river in late fall or winter. It took me and my grandfather about 3-4 hours and he was in his 80’s at the time. I was sore the next day that’s for sure.

Your grandad probably fished the whole way back also lol

I know of no way to confirm this, but I have read man times that Seafoam is nothing more than pure Ethanol.

They are different. Sea foam is iso-propyl alcohol. They are different. It will absorb a small amount of water. It has its place. It's great for decarbing. I've used it a good bit. Crank the motor and spray it heavy in the intake and shut off. Let it set a few minutes. Crank back and it will smoke like crazy. Change out the spark plugs and rock on. There is a spray type. I've also takem carbs that were only giving slight problems, removed the drain plug and sprayed in until it squirts out, put the plug back in and let it set. Then drain, squeeze bulb to fill carbs. This works pretty well if you just have one carb slightly stopped up.

All, thanks for the advice. I'm anxious to get back to it so I can get it running again, but it'll have to wait until Friday or Saturday.

To answer the question about why the first group wouldn't tow me: they said "they thought" their Mercury (looked brand new) was running funny---but they were running about 60mph when I flagged them down, so I don't know. I think it was more of 1) I needed to go the opposite direction and 2) it was 45 mins or so until sunset. I'd like to think the young boy didn't take that as how you treat people. My almost 11yr old even had enough sense to comment as such.

Also, like Klay said, SeaFoam is Isopropanol. It's an alcohol, so it is definitely miscible with water and will absorb it (hygroscopic). It's also known by the common name petroleum Naptha. If you've ever taken an Organic Chemistry lab, it was probably the first organic solvent you ever isolated.

To Stripe's point: I had an extra set of NGKs on board (used) that I swapped and tried--- I will now be keeping a brand new set as suggested.

Make sure you have a inline filter between the primer bulb and the motor so that you can see what's going on. Really helps when trying to identify a fuel issue. Can't tell you how many outboards I have seen with no filter just straight from the tank to the motor.

not sure you can blame the seafoam for this if this is the first time you added it. Now if u have been running it beforehand, i can possibly see it.. Ive ran it for years and luckily never any issues..

Say what now?

Good info Klay

Those losers are setting a pathetic example for their son, grandkid. Can't believe they would just leave you stranded.

They prolly thought he was in a good spot and wanted to blue dot him.