So on Saturday I had a tournament and our spot was about 10 miles from the launch site. We run wot for about 9 miles and the motor starts acting like it is getting caught in some hydrilla or weeds so I start to bring the throttle back and the engine has stalled. When I try to start it it won't even turn over. I check the prop and there isn't anything on the prop and no damage to the prop. I thought the battery was dead. We fish for about 10 minutes and I try to start the motor again and barely turns over like the battery is dead. Wait about 45 minutes and try to start the motor again and it starts but sounds really bad. So I shut it down. Start it a little later and run it on a low idle for about 5 minutes and it dies. I shut it down for the rest of the day and get a tow back to the ramp. When I get it home I put it on the muffs and it starts fine then about a minute later it dies and the prop is turning a little in neutral. With the motor off it seems a little harder than it used to be to turn the prop in neutral. When I shift the motor in Forward and turn the prop it turns about a 1/4 turn then I feel some tension and then it clicks and turns about another 1/4 turn then clicks again. When in reverse it doesn't do this. Are my LU gears all messed up.

If this is difficult to understand let me know if you need me to clarify anything.

I have no idea about the motor; however, one thing that you posted concerns me. Motors are not designed to run on the cuff. It's hell on impellers and  the heat will creep up.

FYI, I never heard back from you on the Tilt/Trim shaft. We have it located. Let me know if you still need it.

Are you saying I shouldn't run the motor WOT. I have always run WOT on my other boat with a 78 Evinrude 35hp 2 stroke and never had any problems.

*sorry I thought I was waiting to hear from you about the tilt/trim shaft. I have been trying when I have time to get the tilt/trim unit off the boat but it is a very slow process.

I've been reading up on this some and I need someone to clarify for me. When the engine is engaged in forward gear which way does the prop turn when looking at the engine from behind the boat. Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise? Thank You.

Clockwise.

No I'm not saying not to run WOT. Just cut down on the time running it on the cuff in the driveway. Those things are not good if you just let it sit there and idle or run. they don't allow for enough water to correctly cool the engine. Not to mention it will wear out an impeller quickly.

If I run it on the muffs in the driveway it is always for less than 5 minutes and almost never rev the engine up past idle.

So if when the boat is in forward gear with the engine off and I turn the propellor clockwise it shouldn't rachet when moving past a 1/4 turn then rachet again after another 1/4 turn? Is this an indication of a dog gear and forward or something else. I'm pretty sure after reading some stuff on the iboats.com forum that it was dying because of something happening in the lower unit.

You shouldnt be trying to shift it into gear without the motor running for one thing. O/B are designed to shift in gear under power. That's why it feels "rough" to you. You can damage the gears and the shift linkages by shifting into gear with the motor off.

It doesn't feel rough at all when I try to shift into gear. It goes into gear just fine.

So, I defenitely have some water in my LU. I think it is coming from the prop, becuase I saw some of the LU oil leak out into the prop. Before I change the oil what do I need to do to stop the LU from leaking oil through the prop? How tight should my prop nut be? I just took the prop off and I was able to remove the prop nut by hand.

You would need the manual to see what the correct torque should be. You shouldn't be able to turn it by hand though, I would think that is too loose.