Been 7 months since a start

[Justbass11]

 OK, it’s been 7 months since I started my XR6 Mercury 150 hp outboard.  I’m thinking it’s not gonna start up right away would anybody agree with that assessment?  Is there anything that I should be concerned about? I will say I just put in a brand new battery Sunday any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[MN Fisher]

Before you 'stored' it, did you disconnect the fuel hose, run the motor out of gas and 'dump' the remaining in the tank into your car/truck; and have you filled the tank with fresh gas.

 

Gas left alone without something like Stay-bil will start to 'decompose', the plug(s) will get a thin sheath of a varnish type material and so will the fuel filter and valves.

[tander]

Fire that sucker up !!!!

[Justbass11]

Nope, didn’t do any of that MN Fisher. But I will say that I just put 23 gal of gas in it and it hold 25 I think. Plus I did put some sea foam in it, I’ll try starting it up again tomorrow 

[Flatrock]

I see no issue, it is just a motor.  Fire it up and let'r fly

[Jig Man]

The concern that I would have if it were mine would be the condition of the impeller.  If it has any age on it, it will most likely be in pretty bad  shape after setting in one position for that long.  Keep an eye on the water pressure.

[Justbass11]

I just had the impeller replace a yr ago so I’m hoping that will be still good

[Scott F]

I often don’t run my boat from October to May. I only started using Stabil a few years ago but I haven’t had any issues on the motor that’s 25 years old. It takes a few minutes to warm on the first start of the year.  The impeller I replaced that was 15 years old was still in excellent shape. 

[WRB]

If the OB has carbs in lieu of injectors you may have an issue starting. 

Put the engine lower unit  in water or water ears and try it.

Tom

[Way north bass guy]

10 hours ago, WRB said:

 

Put the engine lower unit  in water or water ears and try it.

Tom

I agree, get some muffs for it, it’s way easier to try to fire it up in the driveway hooked up to the garden hose with all your tools handy, rather than at the launch with others waiting to launch behind you while you work on the motor ( much less of a chance to get dirty looks at home than on the ramp ?).

[Way2slow]

Should not be a problem starting and running it on a hose "BUT" I would not run that old gas in it at the lake.  This crud we have for gasoline now does not store well and may cause you some serious engine damage.  Had a fuel stabilizer, like SeaFoam or Stabil" been added as soon as you put the gas in the tank, if might have helped, but 6 months after the fact does no good.  I would not even run it had it been stabilized but I won't run even gas that's two months old with stabilizer in it.

Since most people don't realize the problems old gas can cause, and have a hard time discarding $75 worth of it, they run it, but the first time running old gas bites you in the butt, you will learn.

Actually, the motors built between the mid 80's through late 90's handle it a bit better because the manufactures dropped the compression so much to make room for lower octane gas.  However, because of EPA and fuel economy, the new electronically controlled ignitions leave very little room running old gas