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engine starts and dies right away - first startup this spring

A

afreeman

New member
1992 evinrude 40HP. E40TLENJ oil injection setup.
purchased boat over the winter. it was properly winterized.
today: charged battery, new spark plugs, mixed half tank old gas/stabil with half tank of new regular unleaded gas. new oil.
tried to start it up, took a couple tries and it started, but died right away. did this several times. keeps dying within a few seconds. fuel bulb needs to be primed between each run. I suspect air in the fuel line maybe? no visible fuel leaks between the tank and the engine. the fuel filter (I think its the fuel filter assembly, plastic tank looking thing that I can see gas in) seems to be the culprit for why the bulb needs to be primed each time trying to start it - it is about 1/4 full, prime the bulb a couple times to fill it up and get the bulb to feel full/hard again.
started maybe 4-5 times today but dies right away, within a second or two - I tried priming the bulb while it was running to keep it running and that is when it ran the longest, maybe 5-10 seconds.
Now it won't actually start, cranks and cranks but doesn't seem to catch and actually start up.
stuck on what to try next, could it be the fuel pump? that was my next thought but now it won't turn over and actually start.
really wanted to get it on the water this weekend, first nice weekend we've had this year!
 
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Sounds like you have an air leak. Check every hose conection. Replace any hose that is old, cracked, hardened or looks at you funny. Modern fuels and older hoses are not the best room mates. If you can get the fuel filter to be purged of air, but then it has air back in it, I would start at that area. Hoses, fittings, seals & pumps. They should hold steady.
 
It is totally normal for the bulb to go soft once a motor starts.----Are you pushing the key in and holding it in while cranking ?---And are you raising throttle only lever for starting ?----Are you pushing key in as needed when motor falters during warm-up ?----Perhaps other trouble shooting needs to be done.---Did you hear the motor run before handing over the beer tokens for the boat ??-----I would start with a compression test.----It is the recognized first step in trouble shooting !!
 
Pumping the squeezer bulb fills the carburetors so it can start and run. Once started and running, it should continue to run at least until the gas is consumed from the carburetors---working fuel pump or not. So dying almost instantly is most likely not a fuel pump problem.

EDIT: I guess I should expand on that theory. Holding the key in does activate the primer valve, which does get it's gas from the fuel pump and/or squeezer bulb.
 
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