2010 hard starting 3.5 hp

My 2010 3.5 four stroke wont start with the throttle on the start
position it seems when i advance the throttle a little past the
restart position after severl pulls on the starting cord it will
start.
After it starts it runs and idles well and has good power
to move my 17' sailboat.
Ed

Re: hard starting 3.5

Is the idle adjusted correctly? If it's too low, it may not start well. Those motors should start on a couple of pulls. If not, something is a bit out of whack.

Of course, they are choke-sensitive... depending on how warm they are, you will need some choke, which in fact increases idle, as there is a high-idle cam on the carb that engages the idle stop when choking.

They do indeed require a fairly fast in-neutral idle, to overcome going into gear without stalling. That's because there is so little mass to the small single piston.

Re: hard starting 3.5

Thanks for your reply Paul I dont have a tachometer but the idle
dozent seem to be up to 1200 rpm.
I will try setting it up after I get it started and warmed up.
Ed

Re: hard starting 3.5

A dealer should be able to take care of that for you under warranty.

Re: hard starting 3.5

I borrowed a tach and reset the idle as u suggested.
The motor now starts cold on just 2 pulls .
I now have a new problem as the boat speed is much to fast when in gear
getting in and out of my slip at the marina.
with a cross wind I must keep a slight amount of power on as not to side slip.
With the throttle set back to idle im still going about 3 mph.
Any thoughts on going slower and keeping the good starting ?
My sailboat is only 950 lbs loaded.
Thank you
Regrds Ed

Re: hard starting 3.5

Ed,

I would suggest that you set the idle down a little, (and throttle up a hair when starting), and/or get a shallower-pitch prop. Remember that idle is set when warm, and there are two numbers to read: in neutral, and in gear. The in-gear idle is the most important in your case. Factory prop pitches range from a stout 7 to a mild 4.5. On a boat a light as yours, small differences in thrust will have a big effect.

Re: hard starting 3.5

Paul
Thank you for your reply .
I ordered a prop one size down ( 7.4 x 5.7 part # 309641060m ).
Ill let you know how it works out.
I dont want to mess with the idle speed unless I have to as it starts
ok now but I will if the prop change dozent work out
Regards Ed

Re: hard starting 3.5

Hi Paul
Just wanted to send you a update upon installing
the smaller pitch prop.
Big difference in boat speed entering and leaving my
slip at the marina.
I also set the idle down a little but I must keep it up
to where the motor will start on 2 pulls.
Im trying to get used to the fact that when engaging
the shift into gear its quite hard (in my mind) on
the motor.
Im spoiled after 10 years with my Nissan 2 cly 2 stroke.
Thank you very much for your time, patience, and knowlege.
Best Regards
Ed

Re: hard starting 3.5

Keep in mind that the mass of this 1-lung 3.5 is very small, and if you idle it down too low, it will stall when going into gear. Yes, to those of us accustomed to multicylinder 2-strokes, it does seem a bit harsh when engaging forward gear. The old 2-cylinder 2-strokes had a lot more moving mass, and were not as succeptible to "tripping" when going into gear. Just be sure that you're not idling faster than factory spec when shifting into gear. As an alternative, you could set the idle down lower (as it was when you started out), but then you would have to throttle up a notch to start.