Fixing an old motor

Hey all,

My name is Greg and I am new to the site. I recently purchased a 1996 SeaArk with a 48 johnson and had a few questions about prepping/fixing the motor. I bought the boat from a family friend who was moving and needed to sell it. I tried searching first and couldn't find any similar threads but I apologize if this was a topic previously discussed. Before purchasing the boat, I was unable to run the motor (lack of battery) but from what the guy was telling me, the motor ran fine the last time the boat was taken out (August of 2013 - the guy is a pretty good family friend so I feel safe in trusting him). My question is what should I do to prep the boat to get it ready to take out? Also the boat was not properly winterized so I'm sure that is an issue as well. Obviously I will need to replace the spark plugs and wires but I was wondering what other steps I needed to take to check the engine and fix in order to get it in proper running order. I've been around boats all my life and pretty familiar with outboards but we usually had our outboards serviced by our local marina and the boats were properly winterized so I just want to make sure I'm taking every appropriate step with this outboard since I feel like it was neglected a little. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Change gear oil and change the water pump impeller.----Mix gas and oil at 50:1 and start it up.----No need to run out and get new plugs and wires unless there is an issue.

Yeah I know I should've run the engine before buying but I got a good deal on the boat (basically just paid for the hull and trailer) since the guy needed to sell it quick before he moved so hopefully if I can get the engine running, that will be a plus. The model # is J48ESLEDC I believe (a few of the letters are worn out on the cover but it looks like that is what the model # is). Assuming I can get it running, I would assume the next step would be to check the compression on the motor?

Thanks for all the info, it is definitely appreciated. I figured just to be safe, I would go ahead and replace the impeller since I will already have housing off and that way I know it is working properly. So for the initial start, I should put it in like a 55 gal barrell instead of just using like the rabbit ears to provide a source of water? I'm sure the gas has been sitting so I will definitely replace that before starting.

Good ideas about the gear oil and impeller change. You said the fuel had been sitting for a while, Is it a 2 or 4 stroke. If its a two stroke the carb bowls should at least be drained but I would give them a good cleaning knowing it has been sitting. The good thing about two strokes is there isnt much to winterize them. You can run the fuel out and spray a fogging oil in it and thats about it. Another good thing about an outboard is the water that cools the engine is easily drained out of the engine after its not running...Gravity. Good luck, happy boating!

Thank you! That makes sense about the bowl. I used to run a landscaping company and when your small engines (weed whackers, blowers, etc) would start to bog down, a lot of times the carb bowl just needed to be cleaned. I will definitely take the carb bowl off and clean it.

The float valve is usually culprit when the bulb doesnt fill with fuel. If you remove the float and the liitle needle valve (I used a small needle to run through the orifices) then finish it off with a air compressor (not too much psi!) or even carb cleaner with the little tube attachement. I was able to leave the bowl off and blow on the fuel inlet nipple with my mouth...you should hear air coming out, then push up on the float and it should stop. That is the quickest way to find out if your carb will get fuel in it.