starting trouble

I got a problem starting my 86 2001 wih 351.
after shuting off the boat (skier getting ready)and go to start it again it will not start unless I put it in n and move the throttle forward to give it some gas then back.It does not start by just turning key when in n. once it starts it idles fine I dont have to keep giving it gas. Is this the norm or a linkage problem?

well that makes me feel better. I was told by someone that I should not have to move the throttle forward that it should start up from n. thanks

HMMMM. For safety purposes the boat will only start in neutral. Almost sounds to me like the boat doesn't know it's in neutral till you play with the throttle a bit. Question. If you play with the throttle, and start it. Are you then able to shut it off and restart without playing with the throttle again? BKH

tsteele wrote: I put it in n and move the throttle forward to give it some gas then back.

BKH, I don't think he's engaging the transmission, just pumping the throttle with the pin out. We usually give it a pump to start as well.

When warm, a carbed boat should start right at the hit of the key, no throttle. My 90 had instantaneous hot starting capability.

My 77 mustang needs a pump when cold but after warmup it starts right up with a turn of the key and no throttle.(holley,with points)

               Farmer

i give mine a shot when it's cold but once warm it will usually start without any throttle.

Your problem may be the safety sencor inside the transmition.   I would have pronlems with mine 83 correct craft w/351 PCM.. I fixed the proble with cutting the wires to the sencer and bypassing them. I then wired the two together to complet the cercuict. the nud inside the trany wares out and thats wwhy I had to ro ck my throtle back and forth but. my bypass works but you have to keep in minde that the safety of being in gear when yo start. you can locate this sencore and its wires if you look at the were the kill buton is on the PCM plastic cover there are two whit wires that go to the transmition cut the then splice together

You probably have an old shift cable in the boat???

I know the one in mine is about a thousand hours old and it has quite a bit of flex in it which results in it not tripping the NSS (nuetral saftey switch).

Next time it happens pop the hood and take a look where your shift cable is on the tranny. I bet the detent and the ball is not seated, which trips the switch when you try to start it.

Policerob-

Go in the middle of the lake, put the throttle to the floor with it in gear while not running. Hit the starter. Imagine if that happens while at the dock??

For $15.00-21.50 you can replace the switch....www.skidim.com

I'm just asking. I'm not a carb expert. But couldn't it be a bad needle valve, incorrect float setting or bad power valves? Can you check to see if it's leaking gas down the manifold after shutting down when warm?
Mine has the same problem. I got a new kit from Skidim but haven't rebuilt it yet.

I didn't accept the nature of the beast reason when dealing with mine. It would have to be pumped alot and if it didn't fire then I would have to have WOT. This was due to the engine not firing then getting flooded. This is what I found...... I put a electronic ignition no change.I put a new carb on it after having the original rebuilt twice. It helped for the one season then it went back to the previous condition. I then started digging into the ignition voltage. I found that I had a very low voltage while cranking, keeping the ignition module from firing. The fix....place a larger gauge jumper wire from the empty stud on the starter solenoid to the hot side of the coil. This solved everything. I could reproduce the condition with the wire d/ced to the coil and when the engine cranks and doesn't fire I can touch the wire to the coil and it fires right off. I replaced the coil with a compatable one for the ignition and bypassed the ballist resistor. It starts fine in all conditions now. There was a increase in resistence to he wire harness causing weak spark.

I had a similar problem that nagged me for several seasons. I had the carb rebuit since the mechanic said that was the likely problem but the problem continued. It would start, but not reliably and this was very frustrating. This year I noticed my positive battery cable was very hot after trying to start the engine a while.

I took it to a new mechanic and he took the starter off. It was a rebuilt one installed several years ago and was pretty much shot. On examination he said that the paint on the starter was supposed to have been scraped off of the side of the starter where it contacts with the engine block since this serves to properly ground it. He said that the lack of grounding made the starter work harder and this wore out the starter ahead of its time.

Anyway, this is a 1980 Ski Nautique and with the new starter he installed, I turn the key and it immediately starts up like a new boat.   There are few better feelings than that.

Just so I'll know, has any one else heard about scraping the paint on the starter like he said should have been done? Is this true? Just checking and learning. Thanks to all.

I have similar problem... still working on it.

I have observed that my overflow line from my fuel pump when hot and ran for over an hour or two straight....

pumps out an oily looking substance into the carb.

When this starts happening the boat runs really hard at idle, and only runs at higher RPMS.

Any ideas?   Rebuild card or fuel pump issue only?

So, when the boat runs for a long period of time it seems to be either flooded or not getting enough fuel!


I didnt get towed back today!!!

jamie

Is the sight tube - the overflow tube that empties into the carb?... it's a little dark in color.

How would this effect the performance rather than a carb rebuild?

THANKS

The pump is mechanical powered off of the cam. If you have a failure in the mechanical side of the pump (bearing) then I would assume that it would allow cank oil to enter the pump side giving you what you see. Oil injected into the intake of the carb would enrichen the mixture causing a poor performance. In the reverse I could see that the fuel could get into the cank oil. Either way you need to replace the pump and change the oil. These engines cost too much to not replace 12 bucks worth of oil/filter.