Battery.. can't help you there..

Exhaust - the exhaust shouldn't be getting all over the throttle pushrod, or near it.. There should be a good seal between the muffler and the engine (gasket) and the exhaust tube pointing out.. unless you have a smaller cox type engine with no MUFFLER (I first wrote throttle..)! In that case, check out the pushrod seals that people use to seal off radio equipment in watercraft:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXD589&P=7