thx for the response TCH.everything that you have mentioned i tried.the thing that gets me is it has always started very easy the first 3 times i have actually ran the boat.i had to wait a couple weeks since the last time, (i was waiting for a new grimracer prop,and the weather was bad),and ever since then,it has been a real pain.im thinking there might be a carb issue(blockage in low speed needle).as i was firing it up last night with the throttle closed,it wouldnt fire at all.as i started it with the throttle open,it seemed to fire intermittently (pop......pop.......pop...),so im thinking its not metering the fuel properly.any like i said previous,i removed the carb previous just to investigate the o-ring to see if it was not broken, it was ok,and i made sure the needles were set at factory recommendations.just wondering what to use for cleaning the carb,cuz you never know what could of got sucked in when running it.