71' Evinrude 18 HP won't start

Had it running a few weeks ago. Went to start it yesterday with no luck. Got fresh fuel thats getting to the plugs. I believe its getting spark as it wil fire every now and than stop. Any suggestions? Gettin frustrated and thinking of throwing in towl and taking to mechanic.

Are the plugs wet like it just got flooded or ? Make sure spark will jump a 1/4'' gap on a spark checker with a nice blue snap. Whats the compression reading on each cylinder? Could be a broken flywheel key.

check your spark first, im thinking flywheel key though. if it just turns over and will not fire at all its probally the key. if it fires for a second but wont start im almost positive its not the key. actually wait to check spark, start at the fuel tank and check everything between there and the carb(ball,lines,pump etc...)

Have you done anything recently to the motor? If so, check that first.

If not, it is possible that you have a fuel, or spark issue. If fuel checks out, then check spark. I have just gone through a friends 73 and ended up having a bad coil, worked fine for a while then when it got hot it quit. Lots of little things on these motors can cause what you are experiencing so you just gotta start with the basic, compression, fuel spark. Points can slip, condenser wires can break, coils can go bad, carbs can get a slug of dirt in them, etc.

Dave