Mercruiser 470 needs priming to start/slow turning over

[IceWater]

Pardon me gentlemen for the questions, but I am new to boat repair.

My 1980 Mercruiser 470 needs to be primed to start when it's cold, once it gets going it runs fantastic and starts with a touch of the key, even after hours of use. Fuel pump?

Secondly, I have installed the alternator kit and had the starter professionally rebuilt, but it still turns over in spurts, it turns over good for 1 second then it's has a little trouble and turns good for another second. The wiring from the battery also gets hot if I turn it over for more than10 seconds. The starter doesn't have a built in solenoid, it has what looks like the old Ford starter relay, could that need replacing?

Any and all help is deeply appreciated.

 

[YeboGogo]

Re: Mercruiser 470 needs priming to start/slow turning over

sounds more like a choke issue.

Not sure id mess with it honestly.

Cant comment on the second issue. Id guess its going thru various compression stages causing different sounds from the starter

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Mercruiser 470 needs priming to start/slow turning over

Those starters in 470's have a long armature shaft and over time will sometimes bend or break. When that happens the windings in the armature will rub up against the field coils and do exactly what you are describing (happened to me). It doesn't take much of a bend and your rebuilder could have missed it. I went to a permanent magnet gear reduction starter (part# 2-2591-DR-2) for mine that works fine so far (and it is smaller). Good luck.

 

[nola mike]

Re: Mercruiser 470 needs priming to start/slow turning over

Pardon me gentlemen for the questions, but I am new to boat repair.

My 1980 Mercruiser 470 needs to be primed to start when it's cold, once it gets going it runs fantastic and starts with a touch of the key, even after hours of use. Fuel pump?

Any and all help is deeply appreciated.

what do you mean by "primed"? you do have to turn on the ignition, pump the throttle in neutral, and leave the handle at 1/4 forward or so while starting. that will close the choke and pump a bit of gas through the carb. if you're having a hard start prob when cold requiring a lot more fuel, i'd suspect the choke. pull the flame arrestor and make sure that the choke is closed when you're starting.

 

[IceWater]

Re: Mercruiser 470 needs priming to start/slow turning over

what do you mean by "primed"? you do have to turn on the ignition, pump the throttle in neutral, and leave the handle at 1/4 forward or so while starting. that will close the choke and pump a bit of gas through the carb. if you're having a hard start prob when cold requiring a lot more fuel, i'd suspect the choke. pull the flame arrestor and make sure that the choke is closed when you're starting.

Thanks, I was out today and it fired up just fine. I didn't do the exact method you described, but similar and it worked. Next time I will pump it and leave it at 1/4 throttle. Today I just had it at 1/4 throttle and it started just fine, like I said.