[lexus423]

Hey Everyone,

I just purchased my first boat sveral weeks ago and am having some problems getting the engine started. It is a 2002 Johnson 150 hp outboard. Every time the boat has been sitting for a few days it takes over ten minutes (sometimes more) to get the engine to start.
The starter cranks when i turn the key, but the engine will not turn over right away. Eventually the engine starts after many tries.

However once the engine has been warmed up I have no problem starting it right back up again when I am on the water. I was wondering if anyone has had similar problems or has any ideas into how I can fix this problem and spend less time trying to start this engine and more time fishing. Hope all is well.

Joe

 

[anony]

I used to have problems sometimes with a 125 merc outboard and i think in the beginning, I just wasnt giving it enough gas. I also had a small air leak into the fuel assembly (i think one of the hose clamps had loosened up) and when i changed all the hoses and clamps it was much better. The air leak was causing the fuel system to lose suction.

 

[MakoMike]

Is the choke working properly?

 

[unkleJ]

since it's your first boat, maybe it's your technique?

Is your engine fuel injected, or does it have carbs?

I haven't really run any of the newer EFI outboards, but with carbuerated engines, you have to use the choke correctly to get it to start. Not enough choke and it will take a long time to start, too much and you'll flood it. It takes a little getting used to with an engine that is new to you.

If yours is EFI, I'm not really sure what the right way to start it is.

Maybe someone will read this that has a similar engine and can comment?

Also, try pumping the fuel bulb before you try to start the engine. If it's hard before you pump it, it won't matter, but if it's soft, pumping the bulb a few times before you try to start it might help.

 

[Fishbust]

Starting...

unkleJ wrote:
since it's your first boat, maybe it's your technique?

Is your engine fuel injected, or does it have carbs?

I haven't really run any of the newer EFI outboards, but with carbuerated engines, you have to use the choke correctly to get it to start. Not enough choke and it will take a long time to start, too much and you'll flood it. It takes a little getting used to with an engine that is new to you.

If yours is EFI, I'm not really sure what the right way to start it is.

Maybe someone will read this that has a similar engine and can comment?

Also, try pumping the fuel bulb before you try to start the engine. If it's hard before you pump it, it won't matter, but if it's soft, pumping the bulb a few times before you try to start it might help.

The EFI will start right away. They self prime.

Lot's of carb motors have electric primer pumps, not really a choke, pushing in ignition switch activates primer to pump fuel into half the carb throats to get motor to fire. Not having valves, the 2 strokes need to be primed. Initially, after sitting a long time, there is no fuel to be pushed into the ports, that is the reason for the priming, to get that alternating pressure and vacuum cycle moving fuel/lubricant going.

 

[lexus423]

The engine is fuel injected and is a two stroke. It has the primer bulb which I make sure is hard before I start it.

Excuse my lack of knowledge but hwat exactly is a choke and what does it do?

Joe

 

[unkleJ]

Your engine has EFI, so you don?t have a ?choke?, so you don?t have to worry about it... The EFI system on your engine should do everything it needs to do to get the engine to start automatically, just like your car does ? just get in + turn the key.

So here is my understanding of chokes and how they work:

Old school carbureted engines have real ?choke valves?, while like Fishbust said, some newer carbureted engines may not actually have valves, they have sort of a primer pump that shoots a stream of fuel into the carb (like when you pump the gas pedal before you start a old carbureted car), which basically accomplishes the same thing as the choke valve. Some may have a combination of the two ? valve + pump.

The main reason for a choke of either type, is that as you are cranking the engine, trying to get it to start, the air moving through the carburetor is moving too slowly to generate enough of a pressure drop to draw enough fuel up from the float bowls, through the jets, and into the airstream entering the engine. Also, because the pressure drop is small, and the temperature in the engine is low, what little fuel is actually drawn into the engine has a hard time vaporizing quickly enough to burn when drawn into the cylinder. The result is an air/fuel mixture that is too lean to burn.

So, an old school choke valve is actually a butterfly, that looks a lot like the throttle butterfly in the carb, only its upstream of the throttle butterfly, near the opening to the carb. When you ?choke? the engine, you are closing this butterfly, which increases the pressure drop across the valve, decreasing pressure where the jets enter the airstream. This low pressure (vacuum) sucks the fuel from the float bowl up through the jets + into the engine.

Once the engine is running, the air is moving much faster through the carb, and the pressure drop is sufficient to draw the fuel in without using the choke valve.

For EFI engines, there are a bunch of sensors that are measuring things like air temperature, humidity, and pressure in the intake manifold, cooling water temperature, engine RPM, throttle setting, etc, and based on those readings while you are cranking the engine, the computer decides how much fuel the engine needs to get it to start. So it should all be done automatically.

I think that?s the gist of it, hopefully that explains it well enough for you. Do a google search if you want to learn more about carburetors.

 

[woodc12603]

Starting an EFI outboard

I have a 2000 Evinrude FICHT motor. The instructions for starting a cold engine are to turn the key on and wait until you hear the fuel pump stop running, or 20 seconds if you can't hear it. Then turn the key to start. Mine fires immediately, but sometimes it stalls the first time and I have to crank it again. It always keeps running after the second crank and the computer controls the idle speed/mixture and runs the motor at a faster idle until it warms up.

If your motor is not a FICHT or ETEC you probably need to push in on the key while cranking the cold engine. Pushing in on the key operates a switch that activates either a choke plate(unlikely) or an enrichment valve. Once the motor starts you release the key, but be prepared to push in on it briefly(without turning it) if the motor tries to stall for the first minute or so until it begins to warm up. Pushing in on the key while cranking is like pulling out the choke on a riding lawn mower. You have to do it to get the motor to fire when it is cold, but once it starts you don't need it anymore. Hope this helps.

 

[Capt. Marc]

Hi,

If the above fails to fix the problem, it may be a problem with the spark or plugs. Possibly a weak spark or bad plug failing to ignite a cold combustion chamber and the more you crank the more fuel and harder to start.

I would pull the plugs and see what they look like. They may have a bad gap or could be all fouled up. Check all the wires (not just spark wires) and make sure everything is connected well.

If they look clean and the gap is good. Try starting the engine at night with the cover off and have somone look for a short in the spark plug wires or somewhere.

If all the wires are ok. Get a spark plug tester and use it to check the spark at each plug (again easier to do at night).

If any of the sparks are yellow or weak, that may indicate a bad power pack or what ever produces the spark on your engine.

Marc

 

[bassman909]

I have been having the exact same problem on my Johnson 130 OB. It is a 1999, but the problem only started last late last year. I changed the plugs and it didn't help I've had the boat 9 years, and never had the problem before. I have the mechanic working on it today. I'll let you know.

I did notice one interseting thing last year. If I went to use the boat in the afternoon, after it had been sitting in the sun all day, she started fine. I really only had the problem when she was cold, especially early in the am.

Why???/