Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

[l008com]

I had a similar thread from last year but I think it's best to start fresh. So I tried to start my boat today for the first time this year, with no luck. I did empty the tank and fill it with fresh gas. The battery is brand new. I gave it a whole lot of cranking, with throttle, without throttle, with choke, without choke, but got nothing out of it. The only time I was able to get a hint of starting out of it, was when I took out the plugs to clean them. I cleaned them with starter fluid, so I gave each cylinder a quick squirt of the stuff before I put the plugs back in. When I cranked it, it definitely popped but it wasn't enough to get it running. After that I had no luck. Any other tricks I can try? Maybe spraying starter fluid into the air intake. Except I looked and couldn't find the air intake! Heh. I was letting it crank for probably 10 to 15 seconds at a go. I let it sit for a few minutes between each try. My motor is as far down as I can get it, which is almost totally level. Oh and of course I squeezed the ball in the fuel line to prime it up.

One thing I did was disconnect the fuel line on the engine side to make sure it wasn't clogged or anything. When I pushed the connector in and slightly squeezed the bulb to get some gas to come out... it came out very blue. Like it was a strong oil and gas mix coming out. But I just filled the tank with straight gas. Is this just a little bit of backflow coming from the mixer in the engine?

Tomorrow I plan on spending more time trying to get this motor running. Today I was only at it for about an hour. The plugs are new from last spring, and I barely used the boat because it developed a trim problem very early in the season. I can't imagine the plugs are bad already, but should I get a new set anyway?

 

[l008com]

Re: Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

So I spend another day working on the boat. Finished up all the electrical stuff but the engine still wouldn't start. It would start when I sprayed starter fluid into it, then it would die. The plugs looked good. General consensus is it's a fuel problem. Car guy suggested fuel pump. Two guys at west marine suggested carb problems. I tried taking off the air box to get to the carbs with no luck. Not that I'd know what to do with them anyway. But I could clearly see in from the air intakes, and they looked spotless. And all three butterflying moved no problem when you gave it gas. Here I'll even show you:

So any suggestions where to go from here? Besides bringing it to a mechanic (I already called one but while I wait for him to get back to me...). Is there a way to check and see if it's the fuel pump or carburetor? Engines aren't my strong suit. But turns out electrical is, all my electrical stuff is going very well and coming out great.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

If you have blue/bluegreen color in the fuel at that bayonet or anywhere else before the oil tank line comes in then you have a bad oil tank check valve. Yours maybe inline or it may be mounted on top of the fuel pump. Change it and odds are your starting problem will clear up. Check the parts list at www.crowleymarine.com to locate and order the correct part.

 

[l008com]

Re: Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

Where does the fuel come from in the carb? Does it enter in before the butterfly or is it on the other side? Because if it's supposed to mix in where you can see in the picture I posted... then that's the problem because when I cranked it with the box cover off, I saw no fuel at all.

 

[l008com]

Re: Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

In case anyone is curious, I brought the boat to my 'boat buy'. He put a new fuel filter in and cleaned all three carbs, and it started great since then. 2 of the three carbs were filled with lake water. Oops

 

[l008com]

Re: Trouble Starting ('89 90HP)

Same old **** just a different... year.
I tried starting up my motor for the first time this year. Not much happened. It cranked away, but it wouldn't run. I fogged the motor last fall and used up all the gas. The gas I'm using now is brand new. My spark plugs look new. I did a fair amount of cranking. What should I do next? It was starting great last year before I packed it away for the winter.