First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

Ok so i purchased my first boat from a guy who said it sat all winter and was moving away so he had to sell. I didn't have him start it on site because it was in storage and i researched and didn't want to start it up dry. And now i get it home, siphoned all the old gas out and put oil in it and it wont start.(surprising right?) The boat is a 1969 glasspar classic and the engine is a 140hp mercruiser 4cyl, looks almost exactly like the one in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl838fRR2mQ sorry i cant get the model number and such but i swear it looks just like that. So when i try and start it it sounds like its about to start but just keeps making the same sound like its super close to starting. I pulled the fuel line out right when it gets to the carb and the fuel line has a grenade looking squeeze pump and when i squeeze that it comes out right. But when I put fuel line to carb and hit the throttle full blast gas just drips into instead of spraying like im told it should. I know there will probably be about 25 different things it could be, but I gotta start somewhere! sorry for the paragraph!

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

Welcome aboard.

Yes, the boat sat all winter, and that would be last winter, and probably the one before that and so on. . .

The gas in the carb has turned to varnish and solidified.The 'grenade' is the priming bulb and under the wrong circumstances can actually act more like a real grenage - so B careful.

My advise is to clean out the carb by either dis-assembling it and use solvents to clean things out. OR possibly you could get some starting fluid to run through the carb, as it is a wonderful solvent, BUT a lousey lubricant. So blow some fogging oil into the carb as well. Not exactly text book, but it may get you running.

It sounds like the entire fuel system is gummed up and will need a thorough cleaning and perhaps a re-build.

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

Rebuild the carb,do compression check, check the oil see what it looks like also check your points could have some corrosion if the cap had a crack check plugs make sure they're not.fowled out.

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

well i haven't the foggiest idea what im doing, somebody said try some seafoam, could that possible fix it? or at least help it get started?

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

well i haven't the foggiest idea what im doing,

Click to expand...

Ayuh,... That's gonna be yer Biggest hurtle.....

Head on up to the Adults Only section at the top of this forum, 'n spend a few hours Readin'....
There's literally TONS of info in there...

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

^^ agreed

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

well firstly i went to get some carb cleaner and decided to take the battery with me to get it tested, turns out its a bad battery. so i think ill start with a new battery. as you can tell im really trying to avoid having to rebuild my carburetor lol

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

seafoam won't really help at this stage. Your best bet may be to take the carb off and blast some starting fluid into the carb bowl and through the jets and passages. This would be less extensive than a rebuild and may get you running. You should get rid of what ever fuel was in the tank and use new fuel.

If you can get it running for a while, then you can do a compression test and things like that, just to see what the condition of the engine is., etc.

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

Don't put a carburetor together without NEW gaskets!!! If your gonna make it run, atleast try to do it right!

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

Justin562 said:

well firstly i went to get some carb cleaner and decided to take the battery with me to get it tested, turns out its a bad battery. so i think ill start with a new battery. as you can tell im really trying to avoid having to rebuild my carburetor lol

Click to expand...

listen i have learnt alot from this forum when they say clean your carb then clean your carb. i'm not a expert like most on this forum i rebuild inboards and outboards and right now i'm rebuilding a 1990 snowmobile and the most common problem for trying to start as motor that sat for a long period of time is a gummed up carb don't try to advoid it, the reason it's trickeling and not spraying out is because the system is gummed up i'm sure the primer ball is gummed also

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

yeah im going to have to clean it out, iv been reading and watching youtube vids on it and ill tackle it tomorrow hopefully. crossing my fingers thats the problem!

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

like someone mentioned check your points i'm sure there going to be alittle corroded

Re: First boat, wont start after bad winter storage

before you even pick up a tool, read post #5 again

check out the adults only sticky and give yourself some ammo in the way of knowledge before you think about what you need to look at

i guess this boat has been sitting for a while during winter months so first thing you need is to look at is the block and manifold, make sure there are no visible cracks, e.g. rusty lines running fore and aft (horizontal)

then check the engine oil, make sure it is "clean" i.e. no water, same goes for the drive, cracks and oil

next is the fuel system, you WILL need new filters

next you WILL need a new battery, you WILL need to clean the positive and negative connections on BOTH ends

if you are going to clean the carb, just rebuild it. no sense it taking it apart without replacing parts

you WILL need to perform a FULL tune-up, see here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=335302

once all that stuff is done and it still does not run, check back