starting it up?

Yesterday I hepled a friend load up his house into moving trucks to move to WV. When we were almost done he called me down stairs and told me he wanted me to have his 7.5 HP Gamefisher outboard since he didn't think he would be using it anymore. On one hand I was reluctant to take it in case his health improves and he is able to get some use out of it again, on the other if he really won't be able to use it anymore I was happy to give it a good home. But he insisted he wanted me to have it.

He told me is ran perfect when he put it away, but it hasn't been started in 3 yrs. He did get it out about a year and a half ago and cleaned the plug and fired it without letting it fully start.

I'm guessing that after not running for 3yrs the motor should recieve a little more tlc getting it started again than just dumping some fuel into it and yanking on the starter rope. However I don't have alot of experience with outboards so my questions are these...
1) what is the best way to get an out board going that has been sitting for a while?
2) Is this something I should expect to do on my own, or should I think about taking it to an outboard mechanic to get it started and tuned up?

I'm not compleatly incapable, but I'm not a mechanic either. Just looking for some feed back from some of you more experienced folks. Thanks in advance.

yep, what they said. If you think the carb is gummed up, you may want to try running a bunch of seafoam in with your gas mix to help clean it out. It will smoke a lot but that's what you want. Just follow the directions on the bottle for the "carb cleaning treatment." Then, use the "maintain" amount in every tank of gas and you should be good to go.

I just use muffs on my 15hp Johnson in the driveway every spring on the initial start-up. You definitely don't want the impeller breaking apart on you so you should probably change that out.

If you have trouble getting it started, you may want to pull off the cover and shoot a little starting fluid into the air intake to get it over the hump.

ORIGINAL: Erie Mako

ORIGINAL: eyesandgillz


If you have trouble getting it started, you may want to pull off the cover and shoot a little starting fluid into the air intake to get it over the hump.

Starting fluid is POISON to a 2 stroke engine!  

If choking it won't make it fire, squirt some mixed fuel into the carb throat with a squirt bottle.

As a very, very last resort you could pull a spark plug shoot a tiny squirt of starting fluid directly into the cylinder then put the plug back in.

Interesting, what will it harm, something on the carb? Knock on wood, I haven't had any problems over the last 7 yrs but that doesn't mean I am not doing damage. A little squirt in the spring and it's good to go. I don't overuse it and yes, if you use too much, you can blow up the engine or remove some of the lubrication in the cylinder. Again, just a quick shot of it to make the engine fire has never caused any harm that I know of. If the engine won't run on the gas then there is something wrong but sometimes cold starts (fishing on the river on a 20 deg. Nov. morning) or just the first start of the season is all I ever need it for. W/o an electric start, it can be a little touchy.

www.marineengine.com

Really helpful repair forum too...

ORIGINAL: fishinpreacher


Couple more questions...
Will the serial number on the motor contain the info I need to order the correct impeller?
Where would you suggest I order the parts from.
Do you know of any place on-line that might have a diagram and instructions of changing an impeller? (I've never done it before.)

Depending on the year of the outboard, it might have been built by Mercury, you could call these guys and find out.
http://store.oldmercs.com/Default.asp

or these guys, they have an extensive "lookup" section for finding out make and model of engines.
http://www.maxrules.com/
 
also here:
http://discount-marine-parts.com/ob_gamefisher.html

Agreed, overuse of it can hurt it bad. 1/2 second squirt, not so much. Besides, the older mechanic was probably used to the old starting fluid that was ether only.

I am using a brand (Thrust quick starting fluid) that has lubricating oil in it and it states right on the can "safe for all gasoline and diesel engines, including 2 stroke outboards." Even if it were ether only, a 1/2 second squirt won't wash away the oil (since I pull several times to try and start it before I use the starting fluid). Again, just my opinion and I'm not a mechanic but I haven't had any problems with it for several years now.

Glad to hear that everything work out for you!

Now go get out on the water and catch some fish!