I had it in neutral. And, as per my original post, I already removed the power head and have it on a bench, ie, the lower unit is not attached to the power head. This is in no way a lower unit issue.
So where is the compression release mechanism on this motor? I don't see it. Not in the service manual, nor on the cam shaft. Where else to look? What do I look for? Does it even have one? How to fix? Etc. Those are my questions.
I understand that but the normal compression appears to have increased dramatically and is sometimes so hard the motor will tip over rather than the flywheel rotate. I think that is proof enough something is wrong.
A week ago I did not notice anything blowing out. Today nothing blows out. And it is easy to pull without the spark plug. It is hard to pull with the spark plug. Lots of resistance during part of the cycle.
Looking at another thread here on iboats (https://forums.iboats.com/threads/3-5-mercury.777945/#post-5966759), and doing research online I have discovered that this motor has a de-compressor? Where? How to fix? Mine is very hard to turn over. I originally thought it was a valve timing issue, but...
