That hole is for the start button.
Ok, back on my external wiring…pictures below. The external rubber sheath is pretty much shot. The internal wires are marine grade and the connector is good. My plan is to remove the rest of the old sheath, carefully inspect the wires and replace sheath with a new vinyl sheath seen the picture. I’ll make everything water tight with shrink tubing and then cover cable with a ribbed pvc cable protector. Any thoughts/critiques on this plan are appreciated.
Got all of the external harness work done. Turned out pretty good and should last another 20 years.
Update: Before I take the carb off, I wanted to check things out again and make some notes. I checked each of plugs for spark…both are good. I took the low speed needle valve out to about 2-1/2 turns from a soft seat. Tried to start the engine: no start, not even a kick. Pulled both plugs. Both were wet. Turned the engine over with plugs out to evacuate cylinder. Replaced plugs and returned the needle valve to 1 turn open. Tried to start.. not a hit. Opened the needle valve in 1/4 turn increments up to 2-1/2 turns and tried to start at each increment… still no start.
Thanks, been thinking some more about my situation. I’ve got compression ( around 115 both cylinders), I’ve got spark ( l checked with both a tester 3/8-1/2” gap, and with the actual plugs gapped at .030”). And I’ve got fuel getting to the cylinders, but I don’t know that it is good fuel. I cleaned my tank, rinsed with straight gas and filled with 2 gallons of 50:1 mix. All fuel hoses in the engine were replaced a week or so prior to the start attempt. What I did not purge was the tank to the motor hose and bulb. Now, I just purged the hose and bulb…looks good with no water or contaminants. So tomorrow, before I pull the carb, I’m going to drain the bowl and motor fuel lines to be sure there is no water or contaminants that were present in hose and bulb during my initial start up tries. I’ll let you know how it goes. This has got it to be something simple.
buy a cheap spray bottle and squirt a little gas into carb, it should fire if you have spark, sometimes that will get the pump and everything going right after sitting. Don't ask me why but it does.
I might add that upon rare occasion I have had a fuel inlet needle and seat stick together (viton tip) preventing fuel from actually getting in the fuel bowl of the carburetor after cleaning and or overhaul. The primer bulb will pump up against the stuck needle and seat but no fuel gets into the fuel bowl. It will start and run briefly on a small squirt of fuel as recommended but cannot continue due to the lack of fuel in fuel bowl. I now add a tiny dab of Vaseline, Transgel or similar assembly lube to tip of viton needle. The all metal needles don't seem to stick to seat unless exposed to old fuel mix for extended periods. (varnish) I think that both types work very well otherwise so I would not avoid the viton tip needles for any reason. Additionally I do not recommend the caveman practice of tapping or banging on the carburetor to free the needle and seat.
Thanks Pappy. The carburetor kit I installed was OEM from MarineEngines.com. Everything seemed to go together as expected. The plugs were wet , but not overly so. With what, I could not confirm. This morning I did drain the carburetor bowl into a small container. Something did not look right. The sample looked dark and a little murky. I compared it to fuel that was in the tank which was clear and a little reddish color… owing to the mix oil color. I used the bulb to pump fuel from the tank through to the carburetor bowl and out the bowl drain. After about a pint of fuel, the fuel out of the bowl drain cleared. I put the drain plug back in and gave the bulb a few more squeezes till I could feel resistance. The first start attempt with choke yielded nothing. I tried 3 more times…still no hit. I then tried a short squirt of starting fluid and got a couple of hits. I had checked the spark a day or two ago and saw at least 1/4” on both cylinders. I’ll check again and report back. I’m leaning toward bad fuel or a deteriorated bulb and line ( it sat unused for 25 years, but seemed ok when I tested it ) at this point that may have plugged some passage in the carb. I’m a little flummoxed and looking to systematically identify the problem. Pappy, I will confirm the spark gap…I’ll start at 1/4” and incrementally increase the gap til it won’t jump.
