Opinions on Motor Issue Please - 2002 OX66 250hp

Last night my motor really started acting up. I think there were some signs that things were not right, but I did not know until now (after reading a bunch of threads on my motor http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif )

When I first start it up, it fires right up, but smokes like CRAZY. It has been doing this for as long as I can remember, and figured it was just part of the motor. Once I get up and going, there is almost 0 smoke.

Well, last night I go to leave the ramp, and the boat is really sluggish about getting on pad, and then tops out around 50 mph (usually run right at 70). While I'm running, I notice very faint surges in the power from time to time. It almost felt like I had a fouled plug, and it would fire once or twice and then foul again. Initially that is what I thought the issue was.

As the night wore on, the problem got worse and worse. It got to the point that the boat took almost a full min. to get on pad, and topped out at about 30 mph and the surging got more noticable. On the way back to the ramp, my overheat alarm went off in the middle of the lake, so I idled to the nearest bank (since it was dark and I didn't want to be putting down the middle of the lake and get hit). About the time I got the the bank (about 2 mins.) the overheat alarm cut off. I have never had an overhead cool that quickly, so that makes me think it was some type of electrical issue.

I decided to just fish the bank for a while, just in case the motor was hot. When I finally cranked it back up, it ran like a scaleded dog. I dropped my partner off at the dock and went for one more run while he was getting the truck and the sluggishness was back.

One of my buddies suggested the ECU was going out, but after reading here I think I may have bad fuel pumps and a dirty O2. The only problem that makes me wonder is the overheat alarm. I have yet to see anyone report that as a symptom of the fuel pumps going out/o2 being dirty.

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Chris