Difficulty Starting

shierh wrote:    Make sure distributor is working properly

IE: the mechanical advance isn't rusted up preventing full movement.

Cy,
The choke should be almost closed when the engine is cold. Then, when you apply power to the choke, the bimetallic spring that's under the round cover starts to heat up. As it heats, the choke should start to open. This may take several minutes to fully open.

Off the top of my head Ken ... First boat was a carb'd Mercruiser that ended up with some carb issues after a tank full of terrible fuel. It was rebuild it or replace it so I did a bunch of research and ended up with the 1409, which ended up needing a few tweaks to work correctly with my engine, hence the extended research.
Mercury used their 'own' carb which was basically an off-the-shelf Webber with some of their own tweaks. Funny thing was Edelbrock did the exact same thing ... utilizing the exact same model of Webber for its platform. Go figure ....

Functionally the same and use the same base cast pieces but there are definite marine specifics. Generally they have a marine external coating that protects better in a marine (wet) environment and have a threaded fuel inlet, not a nipple for a hose w/ clamp connection. Also, you'll find the jets and metering rods are different from the automotive to marine versions and if memory serves, a different bowl venting system.

All together a marine rated carb will considerably lower chances of fire/ explosion due to leaks or gas venting and is set up (metering, etc.) for the different loads and stresses that are specific to boats and different than that of a car.

TurboZinke wrote: Thanks Ken.    Well darn. It says 1405. What's the difference?

Not being marine rated, some will say there's a potential

Thanks Ken.    Well darn. It says 1405. What's the difference?

Don't believe everything Pete just said

The 8867 is a casting number found on a whole bunch of different Edelbrock carburetors.

The model number is found on the front of the right front mounting ear.

Here's a picture of an Edelbrock with the location shown. The one in the picture is not a marine carburetor but shows where to look for the number.

You should find a number there that has 1409 or 1410 or 9910 as the first 4 digits.if it's marine.

If you find other numbers like 1405, 1406 etc then it's not marine.

My carb is an Edelbrock 8867. Is that the correct carb?

It's getting warmer and time to do some work on the old boat.

I have a 1987 Ski Nautique with 351w (of course.) I have a lot of trouble getting it started It runs well but I have to crank and crank to get it to start, especially after its warmed up. I'm assuming I have an automatic choke in the carburetor? Can that be adjusted?

Other than that the only thing that it does is hesitate to come off idle. If I give it too much gas too quickly it will die. Runs great under load. Idles great.

Thoughts?