Cold Start,,,keeps flooding out

BF5A,,2006 with less than 35 total hours..
COLD START:
If no start by the 3rd pull,engine floods,spark plug wet...If it does start by 3rd pull engine very rough,kicking like a bronko,soon dies, blue smoke.Usually by the third time I remove and dry spark plug it will start and 1/2 the time I can keep it running until it warms up enough to close Choke..PS:if I open the choke to soon engine dies.

After it warms up starting is no problem. What am I doing wrong? I follow the owners manual to the letter.

Any suggestions would help...

a, Clean tank /New Gas
b. Fuel system clear, filter clear.
c. Spark plug -new

Hi,
I know how aggravating this can be. I used to have an old Chrysler 2 stroke on my first sailboat. It started just like this. It turned out to be a blessing for me though because it was such a pain to start that I finally just took it off the transom and stowed it below. I learned to anchor, dock and slip pretty much any mooring under sail or with a "warp" and ended up becoming a MUCH better sailor and boat handler. I only pulled that motor out and started it a couple of times more the rest of time that I owned it.

But, back to your problem. It sounds as if it is just TOO MUCH choke. Have you experimented with trying to start it without the choke or the choke on "partially"? The choke is there to "give it more gas" but maybe it doesn't need so much.

If it's not that, then it could be a bit of a weak spark. Try opening up the gap on your plug an additional .002" or .003" and see if that makes a difference. An increased gap will force the coil to generate a "hotter" spark to jump to the electrode.

I hope you haven't been using synthetic oil. Syn oil is a bit "slipperier" than petroleum based oils and that can make it harder for the rings to "seat" properly. It is possible that, with those low hours, the rings have not fully seated yet anyway even if you use regular oil. That might explain the blue smoke you see right after start up.

However, the blue smoke can also be from having too much gasoline go in the cylinder and "wash" the oil off of the cylinder wall thus lowering compression. That brings us full circle back to too much choke and too much fuel at initial start. If you haven't experimented with that already, try this:

First two pulls...NO CHOKE.
3rd pull....1/4 to 1/2 choke.
If it doesn't hit a lick, cough or sputter, go to full choke for one pull. If it doesn't cough and try by then, look at the plug to see if it is wet.
If wet, widen the gap a bit and repeat.

I feel like you should be able to come up with a modified procedure that can work. If you feel the engine has flooded, pull the choke completely off and open the throttle all the way and give it 3 or 4 pulls to clear the flood. Sometimes they start when clearing the flood so be ready to close the throttle as the engine will go to max rpm.

If none of that works then you may want to try some settings of your own or start troubleshooting by checking compression and valve settings.

We'll be on the side waiting to see what, if anything, you come up with.

Best of luck.

Me again,
After re reading your post, it dawns on me that you COULD just have a dirty carb. Have you let the outboard sit for extended periods without draining the float chamber? These little carbs MUST be drained COMPLETELY if the engine is not going to be used for more than a few days. Running the engine out of gas does NOT get all the fuel out of the chamber and not fully draining the bowl will allow deposits and scale to develop and cause issues.
You may be able to make it better with a good, heavy, dose of Sea-Foam in the fuel but sometimes the only sure thing is a good carb cleaning.

I don't know a lot about these small outboards, but over the last year or so I have recommended the Sea Foam treatment to several sailing neighbors and they all reported marvelous improvement. HOWEVER, all of them were able to start their engines prior to the Sea Foam treatment that would let the mixture circulate. Most of them put some in a spray bottle and simply sprayed into the carburetor while running. Shut down. Waited 15 minutes. Restarted, then repeated 2 or 3 times.

Thanks for your reply. Yes the engine sat idle for years. Like I said its a 2006 with less that 36 total running hourse.Sounds like dirty carb so I will do the Sea-Foam next.

Thanks for your reply,too.Yes the engine sat idle for years. Like I said its a 2006 with less that 36 total running hours.Sounds like dirty carb so I will do the Sea-Foam next. Then spark gap.etc.

I have since discovered if I get it to start- that by manually increasing the throttle bypassing the throttle stick. I can keep it running enough to allow the choke to be opened. So I am making progress?