I have trouble sometimes starting as my 260,it has so much compression it floods very easily! Is it best to pull thru with finger over venturi until wet or just prime with primer bulb on carb. or both??? from what I have read here most just use their finger to choke so what good is the primer bulb if one chokes with finger???? never been able to start it with primer bulb alone!I have seen the new handles being made now to bolt to the engine for starting,but only on deep vees??? what about the riggers????I have nowhere to hold down everthing!I jerk it all over the stand sometimes trying to hold and start....I usually use a towel with my left fingers cupped around the starter housing while pulling with right hand ( nowhere else to hold onto without getting cut,burned or bruised!)How do you guys address this??????????LOL

The PRIMER bulb ONLY primes the carbs internal fuel pump circuit, it DOES NOT prime the engine for starting !

Best way to start is pump primer until it discharges fuel, Then with finger over carb intake pull over slowly a few times until your finger gets wet from fuel ... NO MORE !
Open throttle to 50% or more and crank it over quickly, it should catch and run within a few pulls. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

okay that is basically what I have been doing,I didn't know that the primer bulb did not actually prime the engine,well I learned something here today!(no wonder i could never start using primer bulb only)I am looking to design some light weight handle to bolt to the engine for starting. The ones I have seen so far is okay for a big deep vee but would really look akward on a hydro....wonder if anyone has came up with such a handle yet for hydro installations???? maybe turn the handle into the wind rather than broadside as they are now in a deep vee configuration LOL!

just hold the hand you arent starting with down on the cooling cap (without being ON the spark plug wire...)...no need for anything else hangin off the motor...just my preference though.


No need to open throttle to 50% to start up. My motors always start within a couple pulls and i keep my carb at idle setting with isnt open much...

when i first got in to gas boating the frist gas boat i got was a shockwave 55 i could not get it to start some one told me to choke it ,i could not find the choke lever.not knowing about the finger deal i did take the spark plug out and poured a couble of dropes in the cyl.and it fired up and ran.its a pain to do but it does work

Everyone's suggestions have always worked for me. If I prime with the bulb (only one boat I have has a bulb) and choke with my finger, pulling on the handle slowly until it gets wet, I can usually get started in a couple of pulls. If an engine is a little harder to get running, I'll have someone blip the throttle for me; although I only have to do that the first time starting for the day. After that, its usually ok. It gets easier, your arm gets used to it, and you develop your own system for starting, which is usually based on all of the things mentioned in this thread. Another trick I learned from this site last year; if you just cant get it started, put a drop of low % nitro in the cylinder, makes starting quick. You shouldnt need to do this; but maybe once in a while. I agree with Will, you shouldnt need a handle, put your free hand over the water jacket, splitting the spark plug with your fingers. It doesnt hurt to have someone help you by holding the boat while you start and launch it for you, especially a rigger if you're having a hard time! JMO

I appreciate all the suggestions fellas as I am a newbie to gas boats so bear with me!The prime of nitro in the cylinder seems like a pretty good idea on a cold start and removing the spark plug is not too much a hassel as it is certainly easy enough to get too.How about a shot of ether(starting fluid) in the venturi? or will this cause some engine damage!? like a hydraulic lock?resulting in some bent parts as in a con-rod???

skyray wrote:
Pat Mulvany squirts a shot of 10% or so nitro in his motors before a heat so they will start first pull. Ive done it as well... just dont use alot and make sure its already primed a bit.

Belt start systems really help. There are several manufacturers of start pulleys, and any 24 volt nitro starting motor will crank the engine. I use commercial rubber belts because the belts used to start nitro engines don't hold up well.

Lohring Miller

I agree with Loring, the belt starter is the only way to go for me and a few others in the 50 & 60 age group!! I dont bother with dewatering unless the motor is hydrolocked, just start cranking, usually 10 seconds or less it will fire up wet or not.
The rubber belts I just started using and they wear like iron! I even use them on the dyno and start the engine under load, the same belt still shows minimal wear.

mike sr