Here's an interesting one. So neighbor boy brings over his 25 HP electric start 4 stroke. Says it won't start. No battery hooked to it now but apparently one was on it. Since I'm an old geezer, I hook up my charged 12 volt battery and almost immediately notice the ground wire between the lower units and gearcase is beginning to do an electric light bulb imitation. (Getting hot and smoking) boy's say, never saw it do that but it was in the water, quickly disconnect and after examination, think we find the offending wire. After some pulling and curse words, the motor starts roughly. Took the carbs apart, dirty ..(ethanol use) decide to throw a carb rebuild kit at it because the rubber parts were pretty hard anyway. Still won't start. Both plugs show spark, but it looks a little weak to me. Could a rectifier going bad cause a weak spark? Checked ignition with gun, showing 10 to 11 degrees. ??? What should the ignition timing be? Could that be right? Could the electric brain be fried, or a trigger problem cause a weak spark? I work on 50' mercs and John rudes for fun mostly, need to hear from someone who knows. Help?