starting problem

[Nbigger]

I am having a little trouble starting my sport nautique when I am lunching it. It turnes over fine but does not start. I turn my blower on before I start the boat then pull out the choke on the throttle and try to turn it over. When I purchased the boat it would turn right over I did find that the battery cable was loose and I fixed that issue but the boat acts almost like it is flooded? Is there any thing that I should look at that my fix this problem I don't know any thing about boats this is my first and it has been great once I get it started. I noticed the air cleaner on the top is kinda oil covered and I was thinking of replacing it but did not know if that is how they are normally. Any info would be great.

Thanks, Nick

[SquamInboards]

what year is the boat? Can you tell us anything more about the engine? The knob you're pulling out on the shifter/throttle is just allowing you to give the boat throttle in neutral, it's not a choke. The black stuff on the flame arrestor - is it oily or just black and kinda dusty? It's likely to be belt dust, which you should clean off / blow off with an air compressor... but that wouldn't really keep the boat from starting. A carbureted engine may need a little shot of fuel to start up, so try pulling out that knob, and giving the throttle a couple pumps toward reverse (it can travel further that direction) then turn it over. You may have to give it some throttle also while turning it over to get it to fire up, then back off and keep it around 1000 rpm to warm it up... trial and error sometimes is the best thing to get the feel for your particular engine... either way you'll find lots of help here!

[Nbigger]

It is a 1990 sport nautique with a PCM 351 it has a carb. The aircleaner has a oil on it I could rub it off but it is pretty dirty. I did not know where to go to get a new air cleaner or if it can just be cleaned.

[SquamInboards]

I'm sure you could clean that out some, but I would worry less about that, and more about plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc. Do some searches on here and you'll find out more about replacing some of these basic ignition components. I think you might just need a spring tune up... the above is just some ideas for getting the boat running as-is... a tune up would probably get you running much better.

[Nbigger]

Ok thanks, I took the air cleaner off and cleaned it off and I will do a search and see if I can find a tune up list. I think I left put that I have about 750 hours on the boat.

Thanks for all the help, Nick

[richard]

I'll start from Check the kill swith