Used Boat 1984 stingray

Question

I bought it yesterday 8/3/08 The lady bought it from previous owner the beginning of 2007 and it ran great. They took it out a few times and then had it winterized at a shop NOV 2007. It has not been on water since Sep 2007 and now I bought it. I tried to crank it 8/4/08 and it turns over and tries to crank but wont fully crank? Is this normal should it be that hard to crank or is there something speacail I need to do to unwinterize it..Or is not cranking a sign that I should get my money back? I'm new to boats

Answer 1

depending on how well they winterized it the carbs are probably gummed up I would dump all the gas in the tanks put fresh gas in dont forget to put 2 cycle oil in the gas then make sure that you are geting gas to the carbs pump the bulb till it gets firm then look at the carbs and see if you can see gas in them if so good sign try turning it over if it dosnt start try some quick start starting fluid if you get it running it may run ruff for a little wile till the carbs clean themselfs if it wount start you could pull the spark plugs clean and reinstall also try removing the drain plugs on the carb then reinstall if this dosnt work your carbs need to be cleaned most shops will want to rebuild them but that should be all that is wrong.

Answer 2

Outboard or inboard? Did you prime the carburetor? If it has an external gas tank and a standard fuel hose you need to pump the bulb on the fuel hose a few times. Also check the spark plugs and clean them. Sometimes they foul out. Boats can be touchy. It's probably something simple like that.

Answer 3

On most boats, the winterizing process includes putting tape around the flame-arrester.  If it has a Merc, it might be under the plastic cover and you can't see it.  Also look at the fuel line at the tank, it might have a fuel cut-off that's been turned off.  In some cases, the mechanic or shop will disable the ign, so that the boat can't be accidentily started, but that's much more rare.  I'd bet on taped flame arrester.