# Outboard won't start in morning; runs perfect otherwise



## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

No matter what I try my outboard will not turn over at all before 9:00am; its a 2 stroke 9.9 mid 90's mercury. It has always been very dependable and never had issues beside the occasional only running on 1 cylinder right at start up but that immediately goes away as you accelerate a bit. I emptied the gas tank and refilled with fresh gas- replaced fuel line and bulb- cleaned and rebuilt carb but nothing is helping. Once the sun comes out and the outboard warms up a bit and condensation on cowling dries it will fire up first pull like nothing was ever wrong and run all day long without a hiccup. Any clues? I'm assuming electrical component or shorting issue that resolves itself once things warm up. I like to fish sunrise so this has been killing my fishing schedule. 
thanks


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

When was the last time you replaced the spark plugs?


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

yes just replaced plugs also


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## damthemainstream (Apr 11, 2017)

I'm guessing that the condensation is causing a short somewhere in your ignition system. I would start by cleaning every connector you can find and treating them with dielectric grease.


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## krash (Jan 9, 2007)

Check the choke... will it start with a squirt of starting fluid ?


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

choke is fully operational, and squirts the shot of fuel when engaged. I checked the plugs after trying to start for awhile and they have evidence of gas(not flooded though). I tried starting fluid as a last resort yesterday morning and still nothing; few hours later after the sun came up started second pull and sounded great. Must be losing spark somehow in the mornings. I'm gonna spray every electrical component with wd40 and try wrapping outboard with blanket to prevent condensation and see if it helps anything.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Check for spark. Gas, air and ignition is all that is needed. Miss one and no start.

You have gas and air - leaves spark.

Did you check your emergency shut off?


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

I've already narrowed it down to no spark but why only in the morning? This outboard will start cold in the afternoon on a half pull but you could crank all morning and get nothing. Emergency shut off is fine and operational, tried bypassing both kill switches with no change in behavior.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Sorry man, just reread the original post.



sbridewell1 said:


> my outboard will not turn over at all before 9:00am


I think the previous owner was a female.


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## MariettaMike (Jun 14, 2012)

sbridewell1 said:


> I've already narrowed it down to no spark but why only in the morning?


Check your stator by measuring coil resistance and wiring resistance to ground.

OR put a 60 watt drop light under the cowling and leave it on over night.


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## RunningOnEmpty (Jun 20, 2015)

Disconnect the kill switch wires when it's not firing just to test.


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

Just a quick update; went fishing yesterday evening. Outboard started first pull everytime and ran great. Tried to start it this morning and had nothing; so weird.


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## Mike C (Feb 27, 2017)

Here's an off topic issue I had that might relate to your problem. 
Bought a new 05 Ford 500. After about 6 months of ownership it wouldn't shift properly on cold mornings. 
As soon as it warmed, the problem would go away. 
This went on for about a month before I was able to get it to the dealer. 
I drove it there and sat in the line without putting it in park. (I knew if I did that, the problem would disappear)
They finally got it on the code reader and it showed a ground fault in the tranny. 
Put it in park and it went away. Back into drive, still no problem. 

Long story short, it was being caused by a harness on the tranny shortening (and shorting) itself with the cold. As the car temp and the outside air temp increased, the harness expanded and moved away from the case. This temporarily eliminated the grounding short. 

This sounds like the exact type of problem you have with your engine. 
Look at every wire on your motor. If you have any that are closer than 1/4" to the case, move them and put a wrap of tape to act as a chafing pad. 
One area to pay very close attention to, is where wires run through clamps. 
Open the clamps and look at each wire, you might find your problem.
You might even have two wires chafing on each other, especially if it parallels the kill switch wiring. 
Spend an hour on the wiring and you should be able to eliminate hours of aggravation in the future


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

sbridewell1 said:


> I've already narrowed it down to no spark but why only in the morning? This outboard will start cold in the afternoon on a half pull but you could crank all morning and get nothing. Emergency shut off is fine and operational, tried bypassing both kill switches with no change in behavior.


Did you verify no spark or is this your assumption?


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## Mike C (Feb 27, 2017)

bryson said:


> Did you verify no spark or is this your assumption?


Agree. OP doesn't state how no spark condition was tested or verified. 
A simple in-line spark tester is about $7.00. 
Some tools pay for themselves with the first use. 
I'm quite lazy, but choosing between working to find a problem vs pulling and pulling to start a motor, I'll take the reliable motor every time. 
Honestly, it would really take 20 minutes to find the problem. Not really many wires on a 15hp motor. 
If nothing is found on the wiring, then I would see if the coil pack had a small crack in it. They get over tightened a lot. Not hard to break the outer casing. Add humidity...


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

No spark in morning was assumed (air/gas/spark is all i need; i have verified 2 of three so assume spark is the cause); I have inspected all the wiring and haven't seen anything suspect but will look again and reposition and tape as needed. Coils look to be in good shape with no cracking. I'm sure its something simple but sometimes those simple problems are the hardest to diagnose.


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## bryson (Jun 22, 2015)

I would verify spark for sure -- if you know you are getting fuel and you know that you have compression (safe to assume you have compression since it runs well at other times), start at the plug and work backward until you find a signal. You can start with an inline tester or the good old screwdriver in the plug wire trick.

I can't imagine condensation causing any problems with the electrical system, unless you're seeing moisture on the engine itself, under the cowling. I feel like temperature dependent problems are often fuel related, and most electrical components tend to fail when they get warmer, not when they are cold. Have you replaced the fuel pump diaphragm?

That being said, it could definitely still be electrical. Number one is to verify without doubt that you don't have spark, and let us know how far "upstream" the electric system you are able to test.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Here is an old shade tree mechanic trick: you will need a spray bottle.
Find the darkest location you can. Try to start the engine and at the same time spray it with the squirt bottle filled with water. If there is a crack in a wire it will be visible as a blue light.


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

Thanks for the help guys, I ordered a inline spark tester and plan to mess with it this week. I'll let you know how it goes


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

Okay just messed with it this morning for a bit; using the inline spark checker I wasn't getting any spark to either cylinder to start with. I rearranged and checked all the wires but didn't see much of anything concerning. Next I sprayed every electrical connection with wd40 including dosing under the flywheel pretty good. Let is drip dry and watched tons of gunk wash away. With cowling off I gave her 3 pulls and she fired right up and idled great. After letting it run for about 10 mins I pulled the gas line and put the hood on. Within about 10 secs I heard the rpms drop and the motor started to struggle. I immediately plugged gas back in to check again and pulled cover off; within the 5 sec the rpms stabilized again. I let it idle for a few mins and then put cowl back on and it started to struggle again and then died. Im even more perplexed now?? Im thinking the cover is pushing on a wire or spark plug/ coil boot causing it to short out


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## damthemainstream (Apr 11, 2017)

A motor that will only run with the cowling off could be a sign of an exhaust leak under the cowling. I would rule out the electrical stuff first though, since the motor had the ability to run previously, aside from the starting issue.


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

scratch the cowling issue; checked my gas and it was way way to rich. got some fresh mix and it runs fine with the cowling on now.


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## Adam w (Aug 11, 2017)

Might be the trigger or the black box


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

sbridewell1 said:


> scratch the cowling issue; checked my gas and it was way way to rich. got some fresh mix and it runs fine with the cowling on now.


OK. I will be the devils advocate here. I will step out on the limb and say I don't believe fresh gas was the cure for a perfectly running motor in the afternoon but a cranky SOB in the morning. Has to be something else.

On the other hand, I am glad you got it going again.


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## sbridewell1 (Oct 17, 2014)

you are correct it only solved the not starting with the cowling on issue but the morning issue has persisted, I may just sell the motor as is and buy a new Suzuki 20hp when I get my tax return. The 9.9 is a dog with 2 people in the boat.


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

DuckNut said:


> Check for spark. Gas, air and ignition is all that is needed. Miss one and no start.
> 
> You have gas and air - leaves spark.
> 
> Did you check your emergency shut off?


That is a great thought. It, the switch, is out in the air and humidity at night could affect it most. This also leads me to consider any key switch as well. Usually, those kill switches are normally open, which means, you may be able to just unplug or disconnect it inside of the cowl to test this theory.


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

sbridewell1 said:


> Okay just messed with it this morning for a bit; using the inline spark checker I wasn't getting any spark to either cylinder to start with. I rearranged and checked all the wires but didn't see much of anything concerning. Next I sprayed every electrical connection with wd40 including dosing under the flywheel pretty good. Let is drip dry and watched tons of gunk wash away. With cowling off I gave her 3 pulls and she fired right up and idled great. After letting it run for about 10 mins I pulled the gas line and put the hood on. Within about 10 secs I heard the rpms drop and the motor started to struggle. I immediately plugged gas back in to check again and pulled cover off; within the 5 sec the rpms stabilized again. I let it idle for a few mins and then put cowl back on and it started to struggle again and then died. Im even more perplexed now?? Im thinking the cover is pushing on a wire or spark plug/ coil boot causing it to short out


 I suppose if the inside of a cowl was wet and dirty and a wire was jumping a spark to it and to ground. It would not run, then run when it was warm and dry.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Hmmmmm Change the spark plug wires. 

A friend of mine got a BIG promotion while working for an oil company. As a junior engineer, he was assigned the job of figuring out why some Texas pumps weren't working every morning. 

All sorts of tests were done. Much like you, he was perplexed. 

Then, somehow, he decided that, just maybe, the morning condensation was getting through the insulation on the old spark plug wires on the generator. Changed the wires. Solved the problem. Got the promotion!

richg99


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

richg99 said:


> Hmmmmm Change the spark plug wires.
> 
> A friend of mine got a BIG promotion while working for an oil company. As a junior engineer, he was assigned the job of figuring out why some Texas pumps weren't working every morning.
> 
> ...


Yes, was headed in that direction and got side tracked with a roast I am cooking for dinner tonight. Those wires when cool or damp could be shorting to ground. Next I would give those coils a hard look too along with the wires leading to them.


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

He also said he had sprayed everything with wd40. That as a solvent probably cleaned them, but a Dawn or de-greaser and warm water wash and a good drying then wire spray after would have sealed them. Me, I would just replace them if I were not stranded or out for the weekend.


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## richg99 (Nov 28, 2009)

Yeah, when I read about spraying with WD 40, I thought that WD 40 is a better conductor than it is an insulator. I might be wrong, of course.


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

Was not my first choice either. If a high tension spark plug wire or boot lets go, there is not much you can do other than change it out. Possibly a good wrap of black tape or wire shrink wrap might get you home in a pinch, but change it out before you go again. There is a lot of voltage there, possibly in the tens of thousands of volts. It is going to find a way home somehow and hopefully it is through the spark plug.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Jim Lenfest said:


> I suppose if the inside of a cowl was wet and dirty and a wire was jumping a spark to it and to ground. It would not run, then run when it was warm and dry.


A crack in a plug wire allowing spark to jump can be seen in the dark. Take it to a dark area when it is dry and runs. Take the cowl off, start it and start misting it with a hand spray bottle until you find the issue. If it is the plug wire you will see the blue spark flash.


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## Jim Lenfest (Jul 20, 2016)

I never think of the obvious right away. Even a darkened garage. Just don't run that motor long with no ventilation. Well, unless you want to solve all your boat problems.


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