Motor shut off and priming difficulty

[sailnaked6842]

Hey guys, I just rebuilt a motor that dropped a pin, sorted out the problems with the starter a few weeks ago, and now that the ice broke it was in the water running yesterday. Which leads me to 2 things. First of all it was insanely hard to get it started because the line wouldn't prime. The gas tank is about 12~14 feet of fuel line away from the motor but no way no how could I get the motor to prime. But after about 15 minutes of cranking and sputtering on and off it finally started and stayed running. It appears that when the motor has gas it appears to fire up pretty easily, but getting the gas through the lines and too the motor is a large pain. Do the primers just not work very well, or is it hard for the primer to suck the gas from the tank over that length? If I disconnect the motor fuel line I can squeeze the bulb and put my finger on it the end to draw gas up in a few pumps, just doesn't work that well with the motor attached.

Secondly, and slightly more importantly, the motor was running for about 25 minutes on the trailer under load at idle and just above idle. I brought the motor up to about 950 rpm for a second or so and then it just died. Tried to hit the starter but the starter wouldn't even make a noise. Checked the battery, it was hanging out at 12.3 volts which should be more than plenty, and also the tilt and trim motor worked, so a battery problem is not likely. This leads me to think it is a problem in the ignition or electrical at the motor. I'll try checking the ignition when I get home but is there anything in the electrical that might cause this problem? Maybe a fuse or other electrical component?

Also is it normal for these motors to shake after being rebuilt? It shook for about 5 minutes and then seemed to calm down, although the power output (after it stopped shaking) didn't feel smooth sitting on the trailer.

[Slimm]

Before anyone of the really smart guys on here can begin to help you they are going to need some more information, such as but not limited to:
inboard or outboard
Year and make / model of engine
Year, make and model of boat

these details will allow some of the smarter folks to help you along the way.

Slimm

[Dave Strong]

New primer ball when priming make sure the outlet is pointed up. OMC or Merc only the rest suck. 15min of cranking could have hurt the starter or burnt an electrical connection some place, start at the batt and work your way to the starter and clean all connections and grounds.

Dave

[mn808gade]

when pulling fuel a long distance use two evinrude primer bulbs about two feet apart.new Merc bulbs donot pump the same AMOUNT as EVENRUDE or are they as easy to squeeze.as said before,point arrows UP.if long run I install electric pump.electric on motor PRIMER is to enrichin mixture for cold starts.-th

[sailnaked6842]

Alright, embarrassingly enough I found out the reason why I couldn't start it after it had died at the dock was...wait for it...because it was in gear. Stupid me. Saw it the next day when I looked at it, took it out of gear and hit the ignition and it turned right over. Oh well, at least one thing out of the way.

As for the year/manufacturer it is a 98 Johnson Venom 200. Should be a fun motor but it's in the middle of the break in process so it's only a little bit of fun. When I took it to the dock I did as you guys suggested with the primer and lo and behold it worked great, thank you guys for that. MN what kind of pump do you use? I looked at electric pumps but they all seem to put out too much pressure for me to feel comfortable. The guy who the boat before I bought it put an electric pump on that put out 5 psi and I believe that blew the diaphragm in the vacuum switch which fried a piston.

As for breaking in a powerhead is it normal that the motor stalls out when it's in gear at the dock? It would stall out every 10 minutes or so if idling in gear sitting on the trailer, but once it got moving it only seemed to stall out twice in an hour and a half going from part throttle down to idle.

[Dave Strong]

Why you letting a new motor idle in gear for long periods of time?? Run it and vary speed and load.

Dave

[sailnaked6842]

Sorry, should mention that I idled it in gear for a few minutes to warm it up and then start varying the throttle. I would go up to about 800 or 900 rpm for about 15 seconds and then drop back down to idle for about 15 to 20 seconds. Every so often coming back down to idle it would idle for a little and then die.

[Dave Strong]

Drive it get it on plane keep it on plane and vary the rpm and keep it under 3500 for the first hour then go to quick easy bursts to a max of 4000 . Loaded rpm 900-1200 is no way to break in a motor. After some time link and sync and get the idle speed set, then your good to go.

Dave