boat not starting after sitting all winter...battery is fully charged

by Beth Harris
(Hickman Nebraska)

I have a 1995 maxum 3.0L that doesn't want to start. Battery is fully charged...what other things do I need to look at...I'm a new boat owner as of last year..it ran fine last summer. How do I know if fuel line is clogged?

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Jan 04, 2021
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START PROBLEMS
by: MARTIN JAY

Excellent advise...these folks are pros...helped me with my mariner 30 ..2 stroke... hard start post 5 yrs on pontoon boat... will try advise this week.. wish me luck..

Jun 19, 2014
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95 maxum not starting
by: Bruce

Disconnect the fuel line at the carburetor and you will see a screen inside look and see if it is plugged up. If the screen is plugged up with little black specs it may be your fuel line deteriorating and should be replaced.
Check and see if you have a blue spark for your plugs. If not replace the coil. How long has it been since the distributor cap and rotor have been replaced? Check the gap on your spark plugs or if they look fowled replace them.
With the fuel line disconnected from the carburetor put a hose over the end of the fuel line and put the other end into a container of your choice and try starting the motor to see if your fuel pump is pumping any gas.
Take your throttle and push it forward and have someone look down into the carburetor and see if gas is squirting down into the carburetor. If you see no gas check and make sure you have fuel in your fuel tank. If the gas is old siphon it out of the gas tank and replace it with new gas.
Don't let the gas sit in the boat during the off-season with no gas stabilizer in it.
When the engine starts it will sit there and shake for a little bit until it warms up. That is not a sign of the engine misfiring it is just trying to burn off the extra raw gas pumped into the engine to get the engine to start. When the air in fuel mixture returns to normal the engine will smooth out and not shake. The colder it is outside the more the engine will shake that is just a characteristic of that motor.
I know these things because I own a 19 foot 98 Maxum 3 L inboard outboard.
How long has it been since the impeller has been changed on your water pump? If you do not change the impeller every couple years you will suffer many headaches from pieces breaking off and plugging up your Cooling system. Now you will have to dismantle your cooling system and find all those pieces.
Do you know how to replace the alternator belt when it breaks when you are out on the lake?
The easiest way to find out is to practice when the boat is in the driveway. It is not like changing an alternator belt on the car.
Put a small scissor jack underneath the oil pan to support the motor so it does not move on you when changing the alternator belt.
Looking at the front of the motor you'll see a bracket that is attached to the front of the motor with four bolts on the left and right side. Remove the two bolts on the port side and now you will see there is a piece from the bracket you can remove to get the alternator belt in behind that bracket. There is a piece now that you can take out so you can get the alternator belt in behind the front motor bracket. Now you will find out that you cannot get the alternator belt off because the pulley is too close to the bolt that bolts the front of the enginebracket to the front engine mount.
I took a file and filed just enough of that shive off that pulley to give me enough clearance to get the alternator belt off. I did that on the lake so I would not be using the water from the garden hose. Put some newspaper down underneath your work area in the bilge to catch the little metal filings so you will not create a mess in the bilge. Or spend 50 bucks and get a single shive pulley or spend a few bucks and buy a file.
Buy a wood handle for the file so you don't have that file shoved into your hand as that would be very painful.
While you have the two bolts out of the engine mounting bracket put a spare belt in behind the bracket secured with zip ties so it's not rubbing on anything so when the other belt breaks when you are on the lake it will be a lot easier to put the spare belt on without having to remove any bolts on the bracket or fiddling with the Jack. It will be a lot easier when you get home to put the jack under the motor and replace the spare belt again without having to deal with a rocking boat on the lake or storm or whatever you get caught in.
This is my first outdrive boat.
I have outdrive oil leaking from my sensor with no sign anywhere of where the oil is going. I get to remove the outdrive and replace it and figure out where the oil is going. I believe it is leaking inside the large billows and it seems like a simple fix.

Jun 13, 2014
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fuel
by:

All you half to do is with wrench remove the gas line from the carb ,if you have a carb or follow it from the fuel to where it conecet to the motor, and then crank to motor a couple times to see if gas is coming out . If it is put the line back on . if it's not check the fuel punp to see it it's working.
Don