What brand of outboard and what size?
I'm going to take a couple of logical guesses, but brand and HP matters.
First you have to understand, when it comes to 2 strokes, engines are like people--they all have their preferred starting ritual. The combination of prime, choke, throttle setting, number of pulls with choke on, then off, etc. Find the right ritual and do it every time, and they'll fire in 2-3 pulls. Don't have the ritual right? You'll be pulling until your arm falls off. When you start the engine, note exactly HOW you did it and the sequence in which you did these things.
If it's hard starting here's what I'd try:
- I'm assuming your fuel is good and hasn't been sitting in the tank for years. If you don't know this for a fact, I'd personally drain the tank, run the fuel through a chamois filter, then put it aside and burn it in something else and get a full tank of fresh fuel and oil.
BTW, 2 stroke engines LOVE preimum fuel. Yeah, you can run them on regular no-lead, but preimum runs so much better that to me it's worth the extra few bucks per tank for small outboards.
- Assuming an external fuel tank, are you pumping up the primer bulb on the hose between the fuel tank and the engine before you attempt to start the motor? If not, you need to squeeze that bulb until it's hard to get fuel pressure built up in the line or you'll be pulling until your arm falls off.
Then if the engine doesn't fire in 3-5 pulls, pump this bulb again because you may have moved enough fuel to depressurize the line.
Personally, given what you described, this is my leading contender for what might be the problem. You're either not pumping this bulb at all, or not pumping it hard enough.
- Does your engine have a primer on the controls or built into the choke lever? Some (not all) engines have this second primer to give the engine a shot right into the carb.
With some Johnsons and Evinrudes, the choke lever had a primer pump, so moving the lever back and forth delivers a shot of fuel into the carb. If so, give the engine two shots of primer, then pull 5 times, then choke off and pull 5 more, then choke on, 2 more shots of primer, etc.
The owners manual will tell you about this stuff, it's not always obvious. For example on my 25 HP Johnson, you'd never know the choke lever and the primer control are one in the same. It's not obvious and if you know it, it starts in 3 pulls. If you don't know the primer is there, you can pull forever.
Beyond this, it's hard to say without knowing exactly what you have for an engine.
Personally, on every new-to-me outboard, I'd dump a few ounces of Sea Foam fuel system cleaner in the tank and then when you get it started, drive it like you stole it for about half an hour. No joking, give that thing the old Italian tune-up by winding it up for a couple of full throttle trips around the lake, do a few idle/WOT/idle/WOT hole shots, and really wring her out to get the sh!t out of carb and fuel system.
Most outboard suffer from neglect more than they actually need repairs. The best running outboards are the ones that get run 3 times a week or more.
Grouse
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