UPDATE......
So, spoke to the local boatshop and the mechanic seemed to know exactly what the issue was. Asked him if the service parts for the primer pump came with the carb service kit. Nah he says, seperate kit and carb kit around $160 and the primer kit even more than that he says..yikes!
Started looking around and finally sourced from promptparts (Kev & Ians marine). $55.55. Managed to change the diaphram without taking the whole carb off and sadly no change. Did a looksee on Youtube and got a pretty good lesson on stripping the carb down for servicing. Decided to give it a try without a carb kit and reassess once opened up
Holy hell, the amount of gunk that came out and off the various parts. Gaskets, needle and jets looked pretty good so cleaned up and put back together. After a few Hail Marys I fired her up and perfect! Never heard it run so smooth and sweet
. So all up $55 for the primer kit and $15 for a can of carb cleaner....can only imagine what it would have cost for the boatshop to do it. Dont begrudge them charging for labour and a fair markup on parts but sometimes they seem to be pulling the rrrrr's out of it.
Thanks to all for advice and I think I only got the courage to tackle it because I knew I could get advice and support if I knacked anything up. Cheers