Tohatsu outboard - starting puzzle

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Remove the kill switch key while doing this, to ensure there's no chance of a backfire.

That’s a good point. Most of the OB’s I fix predate kill switches but that’s redundant and therefore safer. I turn the throttle way down to prevent ignition.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

A marine pro buddy of mine once told me the best way to keep the carb in a 2 stroke clean is to shut the motor off by way of separate fuel shut off valve and not by the motor's shut off knob. He said that 90% of non starts were caused by the gunk left over time as unburned gas in the carb evaporates. With the separate shut off valve all gas is burned leaving practically no gunk to accumulate. I tend to follow his advice as he has 50 years of marine industry experience and in fact grew up on an island and had to attend school via small dinghy with an outboard from age 7 to 15 when they finally built a bridge to the island he lived on in the middle of the river disecting his town in the old country.

Take care leaning out a two stroke, they need the fuel/oil mix for lubrication and can nip up a piston with the extra heat and lack of oil.