How to Start an Outboard Motor on a Boat

Electric or rope-start, it's more skill than art.

In 1911, when the outboard motor was patented, starting an outboard motor was an art. The manual choke, used for starting a cold engine by changing the fuel and air mixture, required precise trial-and-error adjustment and pulling the rope to start the mechanical monster was slapstick comedy. Today, while electric starters are available, the rope-start outboard is still being produced. Starting either model, without injury or embarrassment to yourself or others, has become more skill than art.

Instructions

Electric Start

1. Insert the key in the ignition switch. For motors that have been idle long enough to cool below their normal operating range and that are not equipped with a fully automatic choke, push the ignition switch inward, until it locks. Models without an electric fuel pump require that you squeeze a "primer bulb," located on the fuel line between the tank and the engine, until the bulb is full of fuel and stiff to the touch.

2. Turn the ignition key counterclockwise, as you would a car. The starter will engage. Crank the motor for no more than 10 seconds. Release the key when the engine starts. If the engine does not start with the initial attempt, wait one minute before attempting to start the motor again. After one minute, squeeze the primer bulb until it is stiff and crank for no more than 10 seconds. Repeat as necessary.

3. Release the key once the motor starts. The key will return to the "On" position and the motor will operate normally. As the motor's temperature increases toward the normal operating range, the choke will be released.

Rope Start

1. Seat yourself facing the motor. Squeeze the primer bulb located on the fuel line between the tank and the engine, until the bulb is full of fuel and stiff to the touch. Pull the choke knob out (away from the motor).

2. Grasp the T-handle located at the end of the rope atop the motor and place one hand on the face of the motor's top cover. Sit erect and flat footed in the boat. Sharply draw the hand with which you grasped the T-handle away from the motor, using your other hand -- leaning on the motor cover, to brace yourself.

3. Push the choke knob in, slowly, as the motor warms; the motor will begin to sputter when the choke is no longer need, but if you push the choke in and the sputtering increases, return the choke knob to its previous position.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not stand to pull-start the motor. A fall in the boat could occur and you could be injured. A fall over the side could also occur and, while others might be amused by your plight, you might drown.

References

• MIT: Inventor of the Week--Ole Evinrude