What year.

Gday all,look I just picked up a brown band 90hp merc for free,old mate said it turns over and has spark,that's all he gave me.other then part it out has anyone got any suggestions what I should check/DO ,WHAT IM TRYING TO SAY IS I DONT KNOW THE MOTOR WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE TRYING TO START IT,and what year would it be,my guess 84/85.thanks for your time.sn a701661

I`m putting it as 1985 be sure you have fresh fuel mix in the tank and pump the carbs full until the bulb gets hard. Put it in a barrel of water at least 5 inches above the cavitation plate above the prop. Then give it a whirl. I am concerned you said he gave it to you rather than part it out, why would he part out a running motor. A compression test would be in order.

His wife is the boss.poor bugger.but I omitted to say it dont run.would the fuel mix be 25:1,thanks for your help

Mix is 50:1 on those.---------The actual mixture has nothing to do with whether it will fire up / run.

Thank you for that,but mix is important if I get running

Mix is very important for long life of the motor.-----------The motor will start and run on 16:1 and it would start on straight gas too.-------------At 50:1 you will get many more years of service.

How do I get off this site,I didn't come on hear to be treated like a idiot, racerone your the idiot.

24:1 will work for the initial fireup it lubes the inners up good but you want to run 50:1. If it has been sitting a long time get a can of fogging oil and spray it in the carbs as you crank on the starter to lube the seals and bearings. Other than just trying to establish if it runs first you need to check the compression and do a spark gap test with a open air spark gap tester. It must jump a gap of at least 7/16 inch brite blue snap on all the plug wires. Until we see compression numbers and the spark is acceptable there is nothing more to say. For sure needs a impeller you can remove the gearbox and try and start the motor without it and do your diagnostic without water do not start it without water to the impeller.

Thank you very much kimcrwbr1 that is very helpful, ill let you know about compression and spark later,one thing I know is that I'll have to clean carbs out as they are dry as and dirty,

If the compression and spark are good just get some carb kits and rebuild them properly. Cleaning carbs is a waste of time in my opinion just count of putting a rebuild kit whenever you pull the carbs. Allways replace the fuel lines and putting a kit in the fuel pump is also highly recommended. That way your not stuffing alot of crap in the rebuilt carbs.

Very good idea,thanks again kimcrwbr1, do it right the first time