2005 Moomba Outback - won't start

[orlando moomba]

I have a 2005 Moomba Outback and it won't start. I turn the key and it cranks, it just wont catch and actually run. The wheels & belts spin but it won't run. It's had the issues since I purchased it a couple months ago. I had the boat shipped from the state of Washington to Orlando. The previous owner said he had no problems starting it. The first time, I filled up the gas and then took the engine cover off, blew into the top and it started. The second time, I pushed in the button on the bottom of the throttle lever and pushed it forward back and forth. Then it started. This time neither will work. And ive also left the direct drive cover off for a half hour, ran the blower, and still wont work. What do you think the problem is?

I read somewhere about vapor lock and putting cold water on the fuel pump. Where is the fuel pump? Can someone take a picture of it if you think that's the problem. Also, someone said to check the fuel filter but I can't find it. Not sure what the problem is. It is a carb engine. Please help.

[moombadaze]

need a little info.

its spinning over-so the battery is ok, starter is ok.

now, do you have spark?

and how about a kill cord-once happened to me it looked like it was ok but I killed a battery trying to start a boat one time only to have my wife push it all the way on and she started right up and ran perfect


and is it carb or efi?

at this point its really not that hot out to cause vapor lock

[orlando moomba]

Yes, the battery seems to be working and the belts spin. The starter cranks. Not sure about a spark. Where would I look for that? I checked the safety switch. I pulled it off and on. That doesn't seem to be the problem. It is a carb NOT EFI.

[Stazi]

Take a spark plug lead off one of the plug, insert a nail or other long thin metal object (a spare spark plug is the best) into the spark plug boot so it touches the contact inside the boot, then hold the boot with the nail or whatever about 1/2" away from the intake manifold near some bare metal and have someone try and start the engine - you should see a bright blue spark jump from the nail to the engine.

If this works, I suggest you do the following.
(First reconnect the spark plug boot to the plug you removed it from of course!)
1) crank the engine over for about 10 secs with no input into the throttle. Do this 2-3 times, just to make sure the engine isn't flooded from prior attempts.
2) next, press in the drive disconnect button in the pivot base of the throttle and give it 3 full strokes from vertical to forward, this will pump some gas from the accelerator pump of the carb into the engine. Leave the throttle in the forward position about 1/3rd of the way froward (with the drive buttoon still in - disconnected) and then try cranking the engine again for 10 seconds.

If this doesn't work, proceed to step 3.
3) go buy some engine starting fluid (spray can) - take of the engine cover and remove the air cleaner - spray a 3 second burst into the main butterflies wwhile someone tries to crank the engine over - again with the drive disconnected.

If none of this works - then it's going to be hard to diagnose the issue from over the internet.

Was the boat sitting for a long time before you bought it or was the seller using it right up until he sold it?

[orlando moomba]

Ok, i'll try these suggestions. When I push in the disconnect I still have to pull the release on the throttle to get it to move. That is fine, right?

I believe the boat was in storage but used about a month before they sold it to me to make sure everything was working. The owner's son went to college so it wasn't being used much. It was sitting for 3 weeks before I tried starting it at my house yesterday.

[Stazi]

Yes, you ALWAYS have to pull up on the collar. That's a safety feature.

[orlando moomba]

Wow! I had a mechanic come over and take a look at the boat. At first it looked like the battery might not be giving a full charge. It was at around 10.5 volts. Then, he checked the distributor cap. He cleaned the connections a bit by scraping the connections with a flathead screwdriver. Then, he checked the fuel and noticed no fuel was coming out of the fuel pump. So, he checked another area, still no gas. Then he thought it might be the sock on the back of the boat that wasn't letting gas get through so he took out the floor boards in the rear of the boat under the sun deck. He checked a little metal piece in the back middle under the floorboards. That metal piece had a small metal ball in it. When he separated the fuel line from the metal piece, gas immediately leaked out. That ball in the metal piece was clogging the line. He pushed the ball pack in the piece so it wasn't clogged anymore and everything worked fine after that. Gas then flowed from the fuel pump. He said he loged the ball back so it wouldn't happen again.

I can't believe they would make a boat part like that. It's a pain to get to and seems like this could happen again. He said that piece was created to stop water from mixing with the gas but it's easy for that ball to get stuck.

[LakePerson1952]

... He checked a little metal piece in the back middle under the floorboards. That metal piece had a small metal ball in it. When he separated the fuel line from the metal piece, gas immediately leaked out. That ball in the metal piece was clogging the line. He pushed the ball pack in the piece so it wasn't clogged anymore and everything worked fine after that. Gas then flowed from the fuel pump. He said he loged the ball back so it wouldn't happen again....

Are you sure that piece of metal with a ball in it wasn't the anti-backflow valve? I haven't looked on my Outback but my cruiser has the valves on both tanks - basically they are supposed to prevent a fire from getting to the tank if you're unfortunate enough to have a fire onboard. If your mechanic "lodged" the ball out of the way, and if it was a faulty ABF valve then you may have a non-functional but required and critically important valve.