Trouble starting cold in the water

M

mla2ofus

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
571
I have a '98 Force 90 HP. Today I backed the tlr in the water and tried to start engine before releasing it from the tlr. It would try and then the starter bendix would kick out. After several of these tries I raised the motor up quite a ways w/ the T&T and then it started up fine. Once it warmed up, no more problem. It would start right up. It's never done this before and I'm wondering if someone has an answer for this?
TIA,
Mike
 
J

john from md

Commander
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
2,184
Re: Trouble starting cold in the water

Join the club.

My carbs, choke etc are all set up per the manual and I am a professional mechanic and it still doesn't start well when it is cold.

Force engines are notoriously cold blooded and seem to start better with the trottle in fast idle. I find, from leaving the engine tilted, that oil builds up in the intake. On the first start of the day, I usually start without the choke and it seems to start faster. It still kicks the starter out a time or two but that seems to be their nature.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

John
 
M

mla2ofus

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
571
Re: Trouble starting cold in the water

john from md said:
Join the club.

My carbs, choke etc are all set up per the manual and I am a professional mechanic and it still doesn't start well when it is cold.

Force engines are notoriously cold blooded and seem to start better with the trottle in fast idle. I find, from leaving the engine tilted, that oil builds up in the intake. On the first start of the day, I usually start without the choke and it seems to start faster. It still kicks the starter out a time or two but that seems to be their nature.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

John
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, John. As I said it's never done this before. It's always taken a lot of cranking to start cold before this. Last time I put it in the water I tried pumping up the squeeze bulb and that helped. Maybe I overdid it today. I'm starting to have doubts about the squeeze bulb because I had to change tanks today and it never did feel pressure build up so I couldn't squeeze it, but it started up just fine.
Thanks again,
Mike
 
J

john from md

Commander
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
2,184
Re: Trouble starting cold in the water

Mike,

There are also three check valves in the fuel pump housing. Some of the older valves have started to stick of late and we believe it may be the alcohol affecting the material of the valve.

The symptoms that you will get are that your engine will shut off at idle but will start right up again and the ball will be soft. If someone keeps pumping the ball, you can keep the engine running.

I figured I would mention it since you mentioned a soft ball.

Regards,

John
 
M

mla2ofus

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Dec 30, 2008
Messages
571
Re: Trouble starting cold in the water

Thanks for that info, John. The fuel pump must still be OK. It starts and runs fine after it's warmed up.
One thing a learned on the starter was it would crank like the batt was weak. I load tested batt and it was OK. Took starter off, disassembled it and greased the bushings and it spins the motor over like crazy now. Thought I'd pass this on for other Force owners.
Mike
 
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