Boat Engine Won't Start Troubleshooting Steps

Thanks for all of your videos, we are first time boat owners and have a 2002 Bayliner Capri-bought it used. I paid over a grand two wks ago to fix a leak and solenoid. yesterday, we were on the lake, fished a bit and it wouldn't start back up. Now I am going to try to look for the fuses, battery is fine and connected. It happened after we had already had it out on the lake for about an hour. Starting to not like being a boat owner...

my engine is not priming

shit happened to me today :(, so I had to fish the jettis

I have a 91 sunbird with a 4 cylinder ford engine. the engine will crank and run as long as I keep the key turned. As soon as I let go of the key to stop the starter from spinning the engine shuts off. Any suggestons would be helpful

yea you should feel stupid lol.. jks buddy..

hey Dave trying to start my 17ft Baja 85 Yamaha engine battery is charged I put red to positive black to neg.there's 3 more wires orange with a fuse and 2 black wires . one black wire has a blue tag other has a clear just not sure what wire go were.can you help please..... when I try to start boat no start... thanks anthony

Hi

Can you explain where the temperature alarm actually is

Regards

Hi
I have a Bayliner 285 sb 2006 model 350 mercury mag engine and when we are cruisng along at around 3000 revs and temp is 175 it occasionally makes two warning bleeps and then can be quiet for a while and then makes the two warning bleeps again any ideas

Regards and thanks for reading

David Bell

Gas starts to go bad after 30-60 days. Too many people put old gas stored from the previous year in their equipment and wonder why they have problems. After the season run the tool out of fuel. Use up the stored gas in your car rather than letting it sit in the garage and go bad. Always use stabil or Seafoam in the gas can to make the gas last a little longer. Do not buy more gas than you use in a season. Just because you have a 5 gallon gas can it does not mean you need to buy 5 gallons and let it sit in the garage till next year and get bad. If you only use 3 gallons a season then only buy 3 gallons.

Most small engine problems are due to gas going bad and not because of ethanol. Small engines have ALWAYS had problems with stale fuel gumming up the carburetor when left in for long periods of time.
When a small engine like a lawn mower, leaf blower, chain saw, is being put up for the winter run it out of fuel before putting it away.  In the spring when filling your gas can for the first time add some Sta-Bil or Seafoam to the gas to extend its life. Gas generally starts to go bad after 30 -60 days. By adding the fuel stabilizer it will extend its life. Do not buy more gas than you plan to use in 30-60 days. Just because you have a 5 gallon can to fill up your lawn mower that does not mean that you need to put 5 gallons in it if you only use 3 gallons over the summer. Only buy what you will use and when you put the mower away for the winter empty the gas can into your vehicle and use it up. That way you can start with fresh fuel next spring.

I have a 1986 Evinrude 70 hp that just cranks slow, batteries are brand new and full charged.  I put the boat in the water and flooded the motor and the motor cranked fast for a few minutes, spitted and sputtered a few times then the next crank was to slow to start the motor, any ideas?  Thanks in advance!

I have a Mercruiser 3.0 and this is my problem:
engine starts norma for the first time (cold starting) but after working for some minutes, i shut it off and when i tried to start it for the second time it will not start.
Fuel system is ok, Igition is ok. when i checked all spark plugs number 2 and 3 are found a littele bit wet.

No, thats not about it. One of the most common reasons why boaters cant start their engine is a FLOODED ENGINE. When you prime the engine and or pump the fuel ball too many times this can cause an engine to become flooded and thus not start. One should wait at least 20 min before trying to crank the engine again. And dont prime the engine.

We accidentally left the batteries on for a few weeks and when we went to go on it last week, we realized what we did.  The batteries were dead.  We charged all of the batteries and it is still not starting.  Any ideas?

What if the the engine turns couple times but then everything shutsdown? like dials go to zero etc...

thanks man, it was the reset button, saved me some money, thanks again, frank

Didn't know about this Red/Yellow Reset button on the 4.3 Merc?  Does anyone know anything more about this?

Great tip and nice place to be stuck :)

Don't forget the starter. I had to tap mine with the handle of a screwdriver to get it to turn over. Luckily we were stuck on an nice sandy lake beach for the 2 hours it took to remember this solution.

Woohoo! Good eyes :). Gotta love Bermuda!