Hand starting a 50 HP engine

[March]

Any problems with flooding an engine?

This is what happened to us last year. We cranked and cranked until there was hardly any juice left in the battery. Finally, we radioed the marina guys to come to the rescue. By the time they were there, the gas had evaporated and the engine strarted immediately under the mechanic's fingers magic touch.

I was kind of leery to try pull starting it. In half an hour, the battery had recovered enough to start right off

[beene]

I have a '05 Merc 75 4s. When I read the manual and noted the cord for pull starting I called the Merc Customer service HQ and asked if I should try pull starting it to become familiar with the process. They said DO NOT TRY PULL STARING YOUR 1600CC MOTOR. They also said if you had a 50 or 60 Merc model, you should be OK to give it a go.

I do not have arms like that politician from California, and I prefer to keep what arms I have attached to my body, so I will stick with the manufacturers recommendation.

When the battery dies, I will be sailing her home. I have done it before, would do it again. Used furling jib, beam reach, 2 people, pulled up along side the dock, quickly furled the jib, we jumped off each holding a mooring line, tied her up, turned around to see several other boaters with stunned looks on their faces. What???

G

[Chinook]

I had to pull start my 50 hp Nissan TLDI in Alaska a couple of times summer before last. Charging problems had resulted in low voltage in the starting battery. I don't recall what the level was, but it could easily have been 12 V or slightly lower. The pull was very stiff. By turning the ignition switch on just when pulling, the little left in the battery helped break the inertia and I was able to get her started.

[Sloop John B]

Yeah, so my 6 yr old start battery slowly died. Thankfully, I'm in the back yard (flush with earmuffs), but after studying this thread I get out my handy dandy pull cord. Cowling unclamps and flywheel cover clicks up and off.

I give her a couple wraps, turn on the key, and it's like trying to pull a mule over a deep ditch. I can make the thing turn but no way am I going to get it started.

This surprised me because a guy at the marina said a 4 stroke was real simple to hand start.

The compression was too much. I didn't think of using the battery's last erg to try to turn faster. Would probably have had to had the Mate out there for that. BTW, she can’t even start a lawnmower.

The reason I was back there was because I stopped by a Yamaha shop and explained how hard it was to get my carburetored four stroke running initially. I asked if I should be able to hear a click or series of clicks with the electric choke. Apparently not. He says you ‘prime’ it to start (?). By that, he said to release the gear (push button in middle of throttle) and push the throttle forward three or four times to get gas in the intake manifold.

Ever hear of anything like this? I don’t think it was in my manual.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

John, I think your mechanic has confused your outboard with an auto carb which has an accelerator pump. I don't know much about EFI, but I know on my 2000 BF 50 with 4 carbs, there is no such pump. The throttle just opens the barrels up. I never have too much problem with starting my outboard, because the tank is higher than the motor, and you prime the hose first.

Now, my old jet boat with its 175HP Merc, that was a different story. Tank below the motor and I swear, all the gas must have evaporated out of the carbs after 2-3 weeks. If I had run it in the last couple days, it would start right up. But if it had been 3+ weeks, it would take forever to start...sometimes even killing the battery. To me, this is clearly an initial fuel delivery problem cause it ran fine once it got started.

[Catigale]

A lot of powerboat outboard have this 'pump the engine to prime' feature - where the throttle is the thing you pump.

If someone passes out advice without asking what kind of engine you have etc, Ive found said advice to be good about 50% of the time. I usually do better researching myself..

Sloop, if it isnt in your manual, its probably hoohey...