2005 90 hp FourStroke. Would not start while tilted up?

[BigDfromTN]

Hello all,
Just curious if anyone can point me what to look for. We were out last weekend and pulled up on a beach. Tilted engine up a bit to avoid possible grounding but lower unit was still in water. When I went to fire up and go for a ride... Engine would only spit and "try" to run. It turned over great but would not run. I tilted the engine down level and it fired and run great. At first the bulb was not hard and tight. I pumped it up and same issue. It just would not run until tilted back level.

Anyone else had this happen and what seemed to fix it?
Anyone have an idea of what to look for and check?

We are 2 hours away from the river and I plan to go back this weekend and want to do a little checking it out. After that one incident, it ran fine the rest of the day Saturday and again on Sunday.

Thanks in advance,
Don

 

[Nathan Bond]

Don, most likely the tilted angle is causing the carb floats to shut off the flow of gas into the carbs. That would explain the behavior you saw.

 

[BigDfromTN]

Don, most likely the tilted angle is causing the carb floats to shut off the flow of gas into the carbs. That would explain the behavior you saw.

That makes good sense! Thanks,