3.0 merc intermittent stalling/not starting on 06 party hut

[jepperson]

Ok, got this figured out, but thought I would post my experience to hopefully help someone else out.
Symtoms:
Would run for about 25 minutes before stalling
Would start back up after about 25 minutes
Ran for a good 45 minutes in the driveway
Finally stalled and would not restart on the water (had to get towed back to the marina)

Actions:
Replaced - anti siphon valve, water seperator and cleaned out gas tank and put in new gas
Put gas directly into carb to see if it would start....no go
Put inline sparktester on distributor....no spark (ah hah!)
Put test light to coil....nothing (ah hah!)
Moved wires around on back of ignition switch (now it tries to start, but only when I let go of the key)
Jumped the back of the ignition switch with a wire from B - battery to I - ignition (started right up)
Repalced ignition switch - viola !!!! - ran for at least 55 minutes no issues.....

Evidently, when on the water, the ignition switch was shorting out due to the moving around....35 dollar part fixes the issue.......thankfully, as my wife was getting ready to make me have the service department at the marina fix it...about 200 just to take it out of the water and put it back and then they were talking about rebuilding the card and replacing the coils.....

see ya on the water!!!

[WaltF]

Love it when a plan comes together!!

Thanks for sharing!

[badmoonrising]

Ignition switches going bad is a very common problem most techs ignore. Have fun !