Engine starting question

[Speedy]

This might be the dumbest question I’ve ever posted anywhere. I’m finally done restoring my 99 sport, I don’t have the owners manual and I’m having trouble starting the end. This will be my first time starting it since I winterized it in October and I wanted to run it on my driveway before heading to the lake. The family is inside the house waiting for me to get this baby running so we can head to the lake. By the way I also changed the fuel filter when I winterized it.

1 toggle the ignition switch button
2 press the button at the bottom of the throttle lever
3 pump the throttle a few times, since I have a carburetor
4 start the engine

Please let me know if I’m doing something wrong. I’ve on other boats but never a Nautique


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hal2814]

On the carbureted engine on my old boat, I made sure Perko switch was not off (had dual batteries), ignition breaker was pressed in, two throttle pumps and start. If it didn’t start right away (common on first start of the season) I’d pump one or two more times and try again making sure not to flood the engine.

[hal2814]

I wrote that fast since you were in a hurry but what problems are you experiencing? Does it try to turn over at all? Does it try to turn over but won’t run on its own? Does it start running then stop?

[NautiqueJeff]

On carbureted engines, I find that if they sit all winter, I have to pump the throttle MANY times to get fuel into the bowl. I probably pumped my 176 20 times before it finally started. I suggest pumping and then leaving the throttle handle almost all the way back to neutral, and then starting. As it starts to sputter, give it a little more gas. That's what works on my 176 after it sits a long time.

[Speedy]

OK I will continue pumping 20 to 30 times and bring it back to almost new job and try it again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speedy]

Nothing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speedy]

I wrote that fast since you were in a hurry but what problems are you experiencing? Does it try to turn over at all? Does it try to turn over but won’t run on its own? Does it start running then stop?

Engine spins but won’t fire up


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speedy]

The last time it ran was when I winterized it. I change the fuel filter after I winterized it. I just checked the fuel filter and it was empty. I filled it with some fuel before putting it back in and now I’m trying to start it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speedy]

I see progress. I see fuel spraying in the carb. It still spins but won’t start.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hal2814]

In that case it could just take a lot of pumps as Jeff suggested. The diaphragm on the accelerator pump is pretty small. You’re not pulling a whole lot per pump (by design). You may also check your safety switch to make sure it’s on right.

[Jonny Quest]

Neutral safety switch? Safety lanyard properly attached? You would be surprised at how often these 2 little devices have perplexed boat owners.

Also, “pumping” the throttle does NOT fill the carb float bowls with fuel. Only the fuel pump does that. Pumping the throttle simply activates the accelerator pump circuit to squirt fuel into the carburetor’s bore. If the bowls are empty, all the pumping in the world won’t help. Stay away from starting fluid. Try an in-line spark tester to see if you have spark.

JQ

[Speedy]

In that case it could just take a lot of pumps as Jeff suggested. The diaphragm on the accelerator pump is pretty small. You’re not pulling a whole lot per pump (by design). You may also check your safety switch to make sure it’s on right.

I have the safety switch pushed in. I will pump some more.
My wife and kids were happy to get the boat out for the first time this year. They’re all dressed and ready. I believe that if I can at least get this going today, we can head out tomorrow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[core-rider]

You need 3 things for the engine to start/run... Fuel, spark, and compression. We'll assume you have compression, so check for spark. This is easy to do by pulling off a sparkplug wire at the sparkplug and sticking a screwdriver in the end. Hold the shaft of the screwdriver close to spot on the engine (effectively a place for the spark to jump).

MAKE SURE YOU'RE NOT TOUCHING THE METAL OF THE SCREWDRIVER OR YOU WILL FIND OUT PAINFULLY IF THERE IS SPARK!!!

If you see a spark jumping the gap then you should be okay. If not you need to diagnose why you don't have spark.

Next check for fuel... Like said earlier all the pumping in the world will do nothing without fuel in the carburetor bowls. That fuel comes from the fuel pump as the engine is turning over. Sounds like you already found that pump wasn't priming and possibly fixed that, but check to make sure fuel is pumping into the carburetor. You can test this by removing the fuel line at the carb and turning over the engine. Make sure you have a container to catch the fuel as it should squirt out with some reasonable force. If that test is good, reattach the fuel line to the carb and clean up any spilled fuel.

After that you should be able to continue starting the engine and it should fire. You may need to pump the throttle while cranking to allow more fuel for first crank.

[Speedy]

Ok, update time... I followed all of your instructions I checked for compression, spark and fuel... I came to find out that I have plenty of fuel, I could see it spraying from the carburetor into the bowl. At this point I got frustrated and contacted Phil at White Lake Marine. Their mechanic “Dug” is his name, Got to the bottom of it and found a faulty kill switch. The boat is back to new again and my wife is happy again.
Those guys at White Lake Marine are awesome. They found the problem quickly and fixed it quickly. Also, I want to thank all of you Who walked me through every step I needed to take to get this baby running


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Speedy]

Dug at White Lake Marine found that there was no spark at the ignition coil, he then checked for power and ground at the coil terminals and found that there was ground but no power. That’s when he realize that the power comes from a close contact from the Kill switch. He then bypassed the kill switch and the engine started right up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk