Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

[SnappingTurtle]

I have noticed if I transport my old 6HP Rude on it's side, it takes 10 to 30 pulls to start it.

If I make my girlfriend take the other car , and stand the motor up in the passenger area, it starts the first pull, whether it is cold or not, even without the choke pulled.

If I bring it home (laying down) and let it stand a day or two, and then try it in the tank, it is easier, but still takes awhile. After the first start, it will start day after day, first pull.

Am I getting water up the exhaust when transporting it, or is the carburetor float maybe sticking?

Anyone else ever experienced this?

The fix is easy, I just don't transport it on it's side anymore, but I was still wondering about this.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

Probably, the float bowl is draining into the crankcase, causing a flooding condition. When I transport my 6hp Johnson, I run the carb dry at an idle...just until the idling engine starts to speed up from leaning out. Never had a problem starting it later on.

Actually, I run the carb dry at the end of each outing, even if the outboard stays on the boat between trips.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

Thanks CATransplant.

I considered trying that, but I was a little worried about running it too lean at the end, just before it ran out of gas.

 

[BF]

Re: Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

ditto... I also run my small 2 strokes dry after every outing. I'd definitely do that if I was gonna take it off the boat and know that the carb bowl was gonna get dumped out. It's not like it's gonna run in a too leaned out situation... when it get's lean, it dies within a few rpm's. It's very different running it out of fuel at idle than running it WOT with clogged jets and over heating it.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

Thanks guys, I'll just add it to my list of things to do before heading home.

My girlfriend will be happy, she gets her honored place back in the car. She started to wonder, if I loved the motor more than I loved her. The, sorry babe, motors riding shotgun, gota catch another ride, was annoying her a little.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: Transporting small 2 stroke motors?

Thanks CATransplant.

I considered trying that, but I was a little worried about running it too lean at the end, just before it ran out of gas.

I wouldn't worry about it at idle. I keep my thumb on the kill button. The moment the idle speed picks up, I hit the switch. At the low speed, I'm sure there's still plenty of oil on the moving parts.

Now, if you had the throttle cracked open so it was running fairly fast, I could see being concerned. Typically, it takes just a minute at the dock. I busy myself for a bit hooking up my bungee cord stern line to the dock. By the time I'm done, the carb's about empty.