Help for hard start (cold) 96 V4 130

I would appreciate any help from you guys. I have a 96 V4 130 on my 17 1/2 foot Key West that has recently developed a very hard starting problem when it is cold. Grinds and grinds away, may sputter and then starts. Sometimes several minutes until the battery seems to be running down. You even can smell the gas. Once it starts, it's fine. Will run all day without problems, never hesitates, and runs at 5300-5500 RPMs' without problems.

Couple of things:
Once it starts and runs for a minute you can cut it off and fire it back up immediately, and repeatedly.

I replaced the bulb and it gets tight, but I feel it is getting soft during the startup (grinding) phase.

New plugs didn't help

I had a bad problem with water in gas that even effected my Tahoe and boat from a station in SC during a redfish trip. I changed fuel/water seperator twice, and put down water remover and Seafoam in the boat. It didn't seem to start during this problem, but I think it has gotten worse.

Relatively new battery with good volts, and recently tested good amps at West Marine.

Buddy of mine thinks it's the stator ?. But reading other problems with that it seems you would have power problems throughout the RPM range, and not just at start up.

Fuel pump and why?

Thank you for my first post.

Cold starting in TN!

[jb123]

let your buddy pay for the stator.

try an auxillary tank, hose and ball hooked to motor filter to rule out a supply side issue.
if it were a lp pump it would run bad the whole time, but it SHOULD be replaced as gen maint.

not sure on your motor but if it has a quick disc at motor, delete it, just another place for an airleak.

replace all hoses and ball, thats the cheapest fix around and can cause many issues.

does it turn over normally or is it slower than average ? your batt could be great but a bad neg cable could cause issues, feel the cable ends after cranking for a minute.

and lastly have you cleaned/synced/rebuilt carbs in the last few yrs?????

[cyrillefrenchy]

v4 130 cold start

hello
what about the choke? does it makes a difference if you use it or not? can you hear the choke solenoid clicking when you push the ignition key in?
you have a manual choke on this engine, righ? did you try to use it?
cyrillefrenchy

thanks for inputs

choke..
it doesn't seem to make a difference one way or the other. I see the linkage work with the housing off, but I don't know about hearing the solenoid. Where on this engine would that be?

I like the aux. tank issue. I will try that this week.

Lost me. What is an lp pump?

Turns over normal until it has been going for several minutes and then drains the battery down. Instrument reading was 12.6 V today after a minute of cranking and OFF, then I noticed it reading 8 while trying to crank. I will check the negative cable after trying to start and check for the ground.

CArbs....I took it to an independant/retired boat mechanic (with good references) and he checked the carbs and said they were clean. The way he got it to start later on was to push the throttle to full and then turn the key. I thought that was a little excessive so I have not tried starting it that way. He thought it might be the gas situation (water and all the additives) i had put in it. I have since run about a half a tank of clean on top of the additive so I am not so sure of that.

I really do appreciate this. I love this old boat. It had been dry docked for the last 4-5 years and before that about a year down at Sanibel and quote "not used much" there. My friend and I continue to try and restore the neglect from the previous owner, but this has me scratching my head. Thanks again for the suggestions.

working through the process

Gentlemen,
Thanks again for your reply.

I tried starting again today on a cold engine. Again hard to start. One small sputter and I move the throttle to almost full and she fired on next turn of the key.

I also checked the negative ground and the cable felt warm but not the positive. I didn't check the ends. Forgot the ENDS in your post, but the cable was warm to touch. ???

I should mention I replaced the line bulb (pump) when I first starting working through this problem. I pumped it up prior to starting and it seemed to hold pressure throughout although lost a little while cranking.

Once again, after I started it I shut it off and it immediately started back up without hesitation.

Thanks again.

[jb123]

when cold, pump ball till firm, choke and set throttle at say 30% and turn over.....and let us know what happens.

"Gump, your a dadgum genious!"

JB,
A favorite movie line of mine..

I did as you said. Pumped the ball firm, throttle to 1/3, and turned key. It turned over a second or two, and then I hit the choke switch below and it started in about 15 seconds after sputtering once!

So am I the moron or what is going on? Before it has been extremely hard to crank. Could this be because I left the engine in down position for several days, instead of raising it were it is typically stored.. Can gas drain out of a carb and is it positional?

I will try again tomorrow on a cold engine.

Thank you JB123

It's the tilt!!!!!!

OK I got the symptoms figured out, now will you guys help diagnose the problem.

I started the engine cold Sat. and Sunday without problems. Almost right away it fired and ran great. The engine was in the down position the entire time from when I started it on Friday.

Yesterday after I started it and cut it off, I put the engine back up on full tilt, like you would have it to travel with. I lowered it down and TODAY it's back to it's old hard starting self!!!

Is fuel draining out of the carbs, line? I pumped the bulb today as always when I started it. Throttle to 1/3 as suggested.

Thank you,
Phil

[boats.net]

Try using the manual choke instead of elect choke, next to where cables and harness goes into cowling pull out on square plastic knob.

Manual choke....did not help

NO help with the manual choke..

Lots of turning over, briefly started with pushing the throttle to full , but did not continue to run.

Negative battery cable was HOT after a few minutes of trying to start it

Thank you for your help and patience.

A dozen saltwater flies to the guy that can help me figure this out!!!! Not kidding!

[boats.net]

It's hard to say. Could be a little low on compression, bad oil seal on crank, bad intake gasket or reed valve. Could even be a starter dragging and not turning engine over fast enough.

[BQUICK]

What is the voltage threshold for the CDI to fire?

[boats.net]

It should have
160 peak voltage from low speed charge coil
45 peak voltage from high speed charge coil
2.5 peak voltage from pulsor coils
125 peak voltage from CDI output to coils

Whew, over my head!

These all sound good but I have no idea about measuring voltage other than battery....sorry pretty dumb about some things.

But let me ask on a common sense question. Don't you find it interesting that once the engine fires and runs (and it will run all day once started, and
restart easily) then restart EASILY when it has been down even for 2 days.....BUT, when the engine has been tilted back up for storage or towing etc...then we are back to the hard starting?

Can fuel from say the carb bowls drain backwards and /or out of the bowls while it is TILTED be the problem?

And what was the deal when someone ask about the negative/ground wire getting hot when the motor is trying to crank.

Thank you for your patience and help.

[boats.net]

A hard to start when eng. is cold problem is usually a choke issue.
Carbs can drain when tilted but pumping primer bulb will fill carbs back up with fuel so that normally is not a big issue, oil can puddle when tilted but engine will smoke excessive when started.
Hot ground wire means heavy current draw or resistance in wiring which would lead to starter dragging.