Carberated F60 hard to start

[croton]

I have a 2002 F60TLRA that has become very hard to start when cold. Pulled off the carb set and removed the prime start assemblies. Following the shop manual test instruction, I connected each of them to a 12V power supply for 5 minutes and they extended to 1". Per the manual they test good. I connected them back to the power wires on the engine and turned the key to ON and nothing happened, they did not extend any. Checked voltage at the connectors and it read 10.48V. Don't know if this is right or not, manual did not say. The main power connections from the battery at the motor read 11.99V, so there is a voltage drop somewhere, but it maybe its supposed to be. I also took the prime start bodies and soaked them in carb cleaner and blew them out good. I don't have the ethanol issues, don't use the stuff so that ain't it. What else could this be? This motor started great up until six months ago ?????? Thanks in advance.

[boats.net]

Dirty carbs is the most common hard start problem, make sure passages to prime starter from carbs are clean. The prime starter only recieves voltage when engine is running.