Need some advice <hard starting engine intermittently>

[Charlotte Pelfrey]

Hello. We have a 2008 232 Limited Yamaha. We have had it for three years with no problems. We went boating two weeks ago and on the first day when we put the boat in the water One of the motors would turn over but it did not fire for about 10 minutes. After the engine turned on we boated for about six hours with no issues. The next day we put the boat back in the water and the engines turned on immediately. We boated first about 10 hours that day and no issues. Yesterday after sitting in storage for two weeks, we took the boat for a test run and the same problem occurred but the engine started after about four minutes. When we went boating two weeks ago there was about a 15 hour period where it rained really hard and the boat was outside. We have it covered with a trailering cover. Does anyone have any suggestions on what this could be? My husband seems to think maybe there was some moisture in there. We started up the boat Today and both engines started up right away. Thank you for your help in advance.

 

[ZGhost]

Any engine starting needs 3 basic things, fuel, ignition spark, and air supply. Making sure those 3 items are looked at would be a good place to start. When was the last time you changed spark plugs? Is the air filter in good shape? Fuel is fresh and getting to the engine?

 

[Beachbummer]

X2...When did you last replace spark plugs?

That would be my first check.

 

[Charlotte Pelfrey]

Any engine starting needs 3 basic things, fuel, ignition spark, and air supply. Making sure those 3 items are looked at would be a good place to start. When was the last time you changed spark plugs? Is the air filter in good shape? Fuel is fresh and getting to the engine?
Change spark plugs (1000 mile spark plugs) last year, air filter looks good and used marine gas last time we filled it. It runs fine with no problems after these two times that it didn’t start right away.

X2...When did you last replace spark plugs?

That would be my first check.

last season.

 

[ZGhost]

Where they gapped correctly? Worth checking before moving on to next item.

 

[Charlotte Pelfrey]

Where they gapped correctly? Worth checking before moving on to next item.

My husband says the spark plugs are high performance plugs so they don’t have any gapping.

 

[tdonoughue]

Well, the first answer (as others have indicated) on these boats with any starting or rough running issue (non-cavitation) is to change the plugs. I would not do high performance plugs--those generally just have longer life, which is not really needed when you are changing them annually or so. Grab a new set of plugs and throw those in and see if you still have issues.

If you do continue to have issues, I would think that I would be looking at the fuel pump in that situation... But start with the plugs and see what that does for you. There are really very many problems that are normally solved by changing those, including hard starting.

 

[Dixemon]

Fuel pressure bleed down in your lines maybe? Bad check valve. That would explain the need for the extended crank cycles to get your pressure up. Good luck