I think I got it for now... of course. the powerhead gasket was blown and another small piece was cracked, seemed to be causing it to foul the plugs on one of the cylinders. one plug would be extremely dry and the other extremely wet. now, both are equally moist. of course I changed the plugs, plug wires, rebuilt the carb, and changed a coil in the process of elimination. luckily a friend of mine who is a excellent boat mechanic (retired) advised me about the powerhead gasket and kinda helped us change it. Good experience, and now I am not too worried about tearing down the motor and stuff since we had to take the lower unit and all of that down to get the powerhead off. its always been my motto that if I am capable of doing the job I will do it myself as you just never know what you are getting into with a mechanic shop.