Honda 9.9 doesn't start easily like last year

[Rick Macdonald]

Well, I confess I don't know anything about outboard maintenance.When I bought my '95 23.5 with an electric start Honda 9.9 a year ago, the motor was serviced and checked out by Honda. It started and ran smooth all last season. I drained out the water for the winter and stored it in my partially heated garage where it would have dipped below freezing at times over the winter.Now it starts easily but runs very rough and stalls no matter how I fiddle the choke. One thing that works is to get it into forward or reverse before it stalls and then increase the revs a bit to keep it going until warmed up. I do this while still tied up at the dock but the motor is only a bit above idle speed. Once warmed up it seems to run smooth and restarts OK after sailing for a few hours and returning to the marina.What might need to be done?

 

[Steve O.]

gas conditioner?

Did you put some gas conditioner in the tank before last winter? If not, the gas may have gummed up the carb and it could need to be cleeaned.

 

[bryan]

run it out

We had the same problem. We took it to an engine guy and he said, make sure you disconnect the fuel and run it all out of the engine. If you don't then the fuel oil mix will gum up the lines, the carb, and the exhaust area. He cleaned it and it ran great after that and us running the fuel out of the engine before shut down. Can take a good 5 minutes after the hose is disconnected.Good luck!

 

[Rick Macdonald]

Even overnight?

I just used the gas that was in the tank from last year. I haven't used any conditioner.It's a 4-stroke so there is no oil in the gas. Does the comment about running out the gas line apply to 4-stroke's too?Bryan - do you run out the gas line on a daily basis after each sail?I guess I'll look at the thread about carb cleaning from a week or two ago. I suppose that means pulling the boat out of the water so I don't drop any pieces into the lake?If the throttle could be advanced while in neutral it wouldn't be such a problem, but it won't advance until put into gear. This surprises me. Running it while in gear at the dock is no problem but it has to be running smoothly enough to not stall when put into gear. Catch-22!

 

[Bob]

Try Sea Foam

RickBefore you haul your boat and tear into the carb, try FRESH good grade gas and some Sea Foam. I don’t recall the ratio, but whatever it says on the can I’d go double for initial cleaning. And go out of a long motor sail and see what happens. The Sea Foam is also a great gas conditioner / stabilizer. I’ve used sea foam for years to condition the fuel in my motorcycle for winter storage with excellent results. Bob SV Miss Lisa

 

[Steve Dion]

Try some carb cleaner.

Rick:Try some carb cleaner. Just remove the hood from the engine. Start her up and get it warm. You will need to run the engine at a higher RPM range and then spray the cleaner into the air intake. This may take a couple of cans of the stuff.Also you should add some additive to the fuel to clean the entire system. Be sure to run all the fuel out of the carb after each use. Gasoline leaves varnish in the system and clogs the jet, venturi and other parts of the fuel system.