9.9 outboard stalled and won't start

I'm sorry if I'm submitting this in the wrong space. I didn't see any areas that seemed appropriate.

I went fishing today with my 2 stroke 9.9hp Mercury. It started right up and got us as far from the boat launch as it could before stalling. It would run for a couple seconds after that, but again...stall.

What I have done: checked the spark plugs----they are clean and they are sparking.


When I opened up the hood, I can see that every time I push the choke IN, a lever lets off of a small blue button and gas sprays out a pencil-lead sized hole in the carburetor (could possibly be the fuel pump...not honestly sure...). It sprays it into the engine compartment. That doesn't make sense to me. That can't be normal... right?

I have two guesses:
Guess #1. It's spraying this gas, the gas is not making it to the carburetor, so it's just stalling. Does that sound possible?

The only problem is that I'm used to a hose going over the male end of an assembly. The part that is leaking is a hole flush with the fuel pump?).


Guess #2. The kill switch on the arm/throttle has somehow been jammed into the "kill" position. I've tried pulling it out to see if it would make a difference, but it didn't. Is there a way to check it with a voltmeter or something?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry if this was unorganized and noon-like. I've never had to post in a forum for this before because it's always worked so well.


The pic is of the part that is leaking. A small hole might be visible down this front side, between the screws and just above the rubber diaphragm.

 

Welcome to the forum.

If the kill switch was stuck, it wouldn't start then shut of, it just wouldn't start.

The first thing you need to do is buy a shop manual for this particular engine, so you know what things are, who they attach and so you can go through the usual diagnosis procedures to figure out what's wrong. When an engine is working fine, then suddenly isn't it's usually contaminated fuel. In your case likely something has clogged an orifice once. Take the carb off and clean it out properly. Look for bits of grit and chunks of stuff. Ethanol fuel is famous for eating the inside of hoses, diaphragms, gaskets, letting little tiny bits of material travel around the fuel system, eventually clogging it. Also check the inlet side of the suction pump, where debris can plug up things once the system starts and suction comes up.