Problems with boat starting

[SargeRX8]

Hey guys,

We just got our boat which we have been restoring for some time now(cosmetically and some engine related stuff). Anyway at first the boat would run fine in the yard test with the hose. First cold starts took abit more cranking but after the first cough it would usually start then start in about second after consecutive shutdowns and startups. We decided to take it out for a test run. It wouldn't start. The motor was trimmed into the water and it just wouldn't start. We loaded it back on the trailer then gave it one last crank and it started first pop. Switched it off and on and it started again so we lowered it back into the water and this time it started. It was sucking plenty of water, sounded like it was running fine until a ferry came past(we weren't off the ramp/trailer yet, still warming it up). As the wave came towards us and the water pulled away from the motor it shut off. I started it up again just fine. After unloading it off the trailer, the motor shut off and that was it, wouldn't start anymore and the battery died from too many cranks.

Took it home and charged it up and got it to start eventually but its taking longer than usual. I done the basic stuff, cleaning terminals, new spark plugs. Now I don't know what else to check or do. It just cranks and cranks, sometimes starts for a couple seconds then switches off even with the warm up thing lifted all the way up. We put fresh fuel in it(e10 fuel, don't know if this has any effect), always has water being fed to it and the correct oil ratio.

I don't know anything about the motor apart from the fact it says Johnson VRO 90hp 4 cylinder. I am pretty good when it comes to motor mechanics and in a car there are many ways to injectors for fuel and spark. I can check the boat for spark but I don't think the issue is with spark. We all know a motor needs 3 things to run, fuel, spark and air. The chokes work fine, the valves open and close when the right button or lever is pressed or pulled. I don't know where to go from here. I was about to whip out a can of start ya bastard and spray it into the carby to see if it helps but rather than a cheating way of starting, I want to fix it right.

Anyone have any ideas? I fully charged the battery today got it to start for about 3 seconds before it conked out. I ensure the ball is pumped with fuel, I ensure the fuel tank breather valve is opened. Ive taken off the fuel filter and its just a little crappy wire mesh which didn't have any dirt. I don't know where else to look. Ive got carby cleaner but it requires the engine to be running before it can be sprayed in.

Which way should I go with this? Ive tried looking at the fuel nozzles to see if they are squirting fuel but can't see anything. I don't know if its noticeable or what. I can smell fuel when its cranking but can't get it to pop and fire. Ive tried full choke, no choke, warm up all the way up, no warm up and nothing seems to be working. When we do get it to finally run it generally stays on until we shut it off but its not always the same so there is no way I will want to be caught on the water with an unreliable boat.

Cheers guys.

[Day's Fishin]

Sounds like you have covered the fuel side so it comes back to electrical. Book it into Huey and let them figure it out, Save yourself buying parts you don't need or breaking down at the worst possible time.

Jeff

[Testlab]

The way it's dying after firing, or not firing, it could be a myriad of problems from weak coils to low fuel pressure. Are you able to undertake step by step diagnosis with confidence? If not it is going to be much easier to have Craig at Huets look at it, at least he'll give the straight dope on what's going on.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Testlab

[Nolongeramember]

To check if its a fuel problem, when its not starting squirt a bit of fuel down each carby and then crank it over and see if it starts. That way you can cover that possibility.

[Geoff]

To check if its a fuel problem, when its not starting squirt a bit of fuel down each carby and then crank it over and see if it starts. That way you can cover that possibility.

Sarge. I had a similar problem some years ago with my Yamaha 2S & it was fuel. I did all the things you have done & it still would not go.

Off to the mechnic who removed the filter & the housing to find the filter was OK but the inlet spiggot into the filter blocked.

To compond the problem they discovered the hose between the tank & filter was not correct & was sucking air.

Perhaps there is an air leak some where in your fuel system

To take Roylo suggestion one step further & to determine if it's fuel or electrical , connect a hose directly to the fuel pump & the other into the top of the tank , ie , by passing ever thing in between.

As there will be no priming bulb , the pump may take a minuite or so to suck the fuel through so if , the fuel tank is some distance away , then fill a small container with fuel & have it close to the motor so the hose is as short as possible.

If the motor runs OK then it is a process of elimation where the problem lies in the fuel feed system.

Geoff

[a boat]

Hi, a bit hard to answer without knowing if it is a 60 degree or 90 degree V4, but make sure the basics are there first like good even compression, good fresh fuel and 4 strong spark with correct spark plugs. Once all this is confirmed DO NOT raise the cold start lever until the engine is running, if at all. If you press and hold the key in to choke it, which I am guessing is working, that introduces more fuel to a cold engine but if raise the cold start lever at the same time, therefore introducing more air, you have just cancelled the choke. 9 times out of 10 it is operator error and once you know how to start an outboard it is easy. Some engines have a certain way of cold starting.

Cheers,

Huey.

[Geoff]

Sarge. I've just noticed you used E10 fuel. It's unlikely this is causing your current problem but I understand on some outboard brands or models it can cause problems by perishing parts of the fuel hoses or gaskets.

Also , E10 attracts moisture from the air & over a period of time can add water to the tank.

This is not a problem with cars which have a fuel system designed to use E10 & that most cars are filled with fresh fuel on a weekly basis or so.

For boats which can be parked for months at a time the water build up becomes an issue.

Suggest you only use Unleaded , if that's not available then use Premium.

One other thought , do you have any of the clear reinforced plastic hose between the tank & the motor.??

If so , this becomes hard over a period of time & the seal between the hose & the fitting allows air in.

Geoff

[SargeRX8]

Sarge. I had a similar problem some years ago with my Yamaha 2S & it was fuel. I did all the things you have done & it still would not go.

Off to the mechnic who removed the filter & the housing to find the filter was OK but the inlet spiggot into the filter blocked.

To compond the problem they discovered the hose between the tank & filter was not correct & was sucking air.

Perhaps there is an air leak some where in your fuel system

To take Roylo suggestion one step further & to determine if it's fuel or electrical , connect a hose directly to the fuel pump & the other into the top of the tank , ie , by passing ever thing in between.

As there will be no priming bulb , the pump may take a minuite or so to suck the fuel through so if , the fuel tank is some distance away , then fill a small container with fuel & have it close to the motor so the hose is as short as possible.

If the motor runs OK then it is a process of elimation where the problem lies in the fuel feed system.

Geoff

Hey Geoff cheers for the reply. I just got back from work. Prior to leaving for work I tried some methods to test the fuel system. The pump Ive got uses crank case pressure to pull and push fuel. I removed the filter and primed the bulb and fuel came through. The next step was to remove the line after the pump and crank the engine and on each crank fuel should squid out as the crank case pressure pushes the vacuum port on the fuel pump. I did something wrong at this point, I primed the bubble and fuel went everywhere and since that I was cautious to crank since there was fuel everywhere. I'm going to retest this again tomorrow and if the engine pushes fuel, I think its safe to assume the pre carb jets fuel system is working fine. I understand what you are suggesting is to bypass the bulb and run a short line straight to the fuel pump. I'll try this if the test tomorrow fails but so far I think the bulb is fine.

Hi, a bit hard to answer without knowing if it is a 60 degree or 90 degree V4, but make sure the basics are there first like good even compression, good fresh fuel and 4 strong spark with correct spark plugs. Once all this is confirmed DO NOT raise the cold start lever until the engine is running, if at all. If you press and hold the key in to choke it, which I am guessing is working, that introduces more fuel to a cold engine but if raise the cold start lever at the same time, therefore introducing more air, you have just cancelled the choke. 9 times out of 10 it is operator error and once you know how to start an outboard it is easy. Some engines have a certain way of cold starting.

Cheers,

Huey.

Hi Huey, cheers for the reply and there is some good info here which goes against my current starting methods. Ive been trying to fire the boat with the warm up lever all the way up so the valve was slightly open. I tested compression today and got 90 across all cylinders. Fuel is fresh, from a few days ago with 50:1 oil premix. I used brand new champion spark plugs to replace the old ones which were in there. They are the correct marine plugs for the motor. At the moment I have not done any testing on the ignition side but I will take into account the coughs that the engine has produced as an indication that there is spark and will continue testing the fuel system until I can confirm it is not at fault. The choke is working correctly. At first i had to close it manually but fixed it up and works on request via the toggle.

Sarge. I've just noticed you used E10 fuel. It's unlikely this is causing your current problem but I understand on some outboard brands or models it can cause problems by perishing parts of the fuel hoses or gaskets.

Also , E10 attracts moisture from the air & over a period of time can add water to the tank.

This is not a problem with cars which have a fuel system designed to use E10 & that most cars are filled with fresh fuel on a weekly basis or so.

For boats which can be parked for months at a time the water build up becomes an issue.

Suggest you only use Unleaded , if that's not available then use Premium.

One other thought , do you have any of the clear reinforced plastic hose between the tank & the motor.??

If so , this becomes hard over a period of time & the seal between the hose & the fitting allows air in.

Geoff

Yeah the E10 was a concern for me. The petrol station down the road doesn't stock regular unleaded and my dad suggested just go with the E10. I am not sure what the boat was running prior to this and I know of the evidence of E10 wearing components. Considering though the engine has only seen E10 for the most part of two days, I don't think the components would have perished in that time but none the less it is a concern and I won't be running E10 in the boat anymore. All fuel lines are proper fuel lines, they are showing age(hard around hose clamps, hair line cracks in outer surface) but aren't showing any fault signs yet.

I have considered taking it to a shop but since I do know a fair bit about motor mechanics in vehicles, I want to apply what I know here to see if I can fix it my self or pinpoint the problem. I can usually come to a conclusion of where a fault lies but since a carby engine and an outboard are somewhat different to the EFI and ECU controlled motors I'm used to, I require assistance which you have all provided.

Thanks heaps for the input this far guys, tomorrow I'll test the fuel system further, after I try to start it as per suggested above. I'll keep you all posted.

[Geoff]

I understand what you are suggesting is to bypass the bulb and run a short line straight to the fuel pump. I'll try this if the test tomorrow fails but so far I think the bulb is fine.

Sarge. From what you say , the bulb is OK when manually operated. Whilst it is unlikely , the internal valve may be sticking when relying on the fuel pump to suck fuel through , also if there is an air leak some where in the fuel line it won't show up when manually priming the bulb.

Just to clarify my suggestion , the test is to by pass every thing from the tank to the pump , ie fuel lines, filter , primer bulb , fittings etc

You have not mentioned it earlier but have the carbys been drained to ensure there is no water in the bowls

If the fuel by pass test does not isolate the problem , ie , it's electrical not fuel, check with Huey if your motor has a cut out function connected on or near the thermostat that shuts the motor down if over heating occurs.

I know from your earlier comments the motor is not actually overheating but these sensors have been know malfunction & send faulse signals which can turn off the ignition

Geoff

[REBSS]

When i first started boating i was having problems starting the motor, sometimes it would start, othertimes it wouldnt.

luckily someone told me how to start an outboard. As Huey said - no cold start lever and push the key in a few times which forces fuel into the carbs.

Now i can start my motor lol

[SargeRX8]

I understand what you are suggesting is to bypass the bulb and run a short line straight to the fuel pump. I'll try this if the test to fails but so far I think the bulb is fine.

Sarge. From what you say , the bulb is OK when manually operated. Whilst it is unlikely , the internal valve may be sticking when relying on the fuel pump to suck fuel through , also if there is an air leak some in the fuel line it won't show up when manually priming the bulb.

Just to clarify my suggestion , the test is to by pass every thing from the tank to the pump , ie fuel lines, filter , primer bulb , fittings etc

You have not mentioned it earlier but have the carbys been drained to ensure there is no water in the bowls

If the fuel by pass test does not isolate the problem , ie , it's electrical not fuel, check with Huey if your motor has a cut out function connected on or near the thermostat that shuts the motor down if over heating occurs.

I know from your earlier comments the motor is not actually overheating but these sensors have been know malfunction & send faulse signals which can turn off the ignition

Geoff

I think I'll try your method of testing now as I just tried the fuel pump test again and got no result. I removed the fuel line from the pump to the carb and then fitted a short line to a container. When priming with the bulb fuel comes out. When cranking the engine, no fuel comes out, at all. Afaik I don't need spark plugs in as the crank is independent from cylinder pressure, so I removed the plugs to make the cranking easier and still got no fuel coming out. This is really tedious. If I want to test using the method you described, I will only be bypassing the prime bulb as the filter is built into the fuel pump. I have no idea what is involved in draining the carbys. I'm just going with the easy stuff for now lol.

When i first started boating i was having problems starting the motor, sometimes it would start, othertimes it wouldnt.

luckily someone told me how to start an outboard. As Huey said - no cold start lever and push the key in a few times which forces fuel into the carbs.

Now i can start my motor lol

Yeah we still have no idea if were starting it right haha. I cant give starting it another go yet since the battery has no balls to even turn the engine once when the spark plugs are in. Gotta charge it up again.

I need to confirm if this is the correct method of testing a vacuum pump. I pulled off the vacuum line and connected another line to it. I then blew into the line but almost blew my own gasket. I couldnt get any air threw and fuel did not budge. I can use the air compressor to shoot some air into it but before i try that need to know if this is the right way to test it without cranking and also if it is possible to get fuel through by blowing through the vacuum port my self. Its just the basic omc 3 port vacuum pump. The crank case is creating the pulsing pressure as needed.

Edited March 1, 2013 by SargeRX8

[Testlab]

I would not be putting compressed air anywhere near that pump and blowing/sucking it won't tell you anything. Usually the engine has to be running for the pump to work, I don't think cranking without plugs in is going to produce enough crankcase pressure. The pump diaphragm has to move in to draw fuel past the inlet valve and the pressure pulse ejects it. So you need both vacuum and pressure and quite a bit of both.

As suggested connect the fuel line direct to the carby inlet line (pump outlet) and use the primer bulb to feed fuel to the carbs. Use Huey's start procedure and see how it goes. Crook pump diaphragms are not uncommon but those pumps are also very reliable. Blocked filters in the pump inlet are very common.

E10 is bad news for its hygroscopic properties.

[Nolongeramember]

To check if its a fuel problem, when its not starting squirt a bit of fuel down each carby and then crank it over and see if it starts. That way you can cover that possibility.

I wouldnt muck around with bypassing, looking at fuel pumps or attaching any hoses to the carby or bulbs or anything just yet cos' if the carbys are blocked its not going to tell you anything anyway. Just leave everything as it is and squirt a small amount of fuel down the throat of each carby while the butterfies are open and when they are all done try start it. It will fire/start straight away if your problem is fuel starvation. Then you can search for the cause. If it doesnt start then you most likely have a non fuel related problem.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Roylo

[Nolongeramember]

. At the moment I have not done any testing on the ignition side but I will take into account the coughs that the engine has produced as an indication that there is spark and will continue testing the fuel system until I can confirm it is not at fault.

Hi, check if each cylinder has spark is very easy and quick. Take each plug out, connect the spark lead to it, sit it somewhere where the thread part can touch the head or some metal part of the engine and get someone to crank over the engine while you watch to see if the plug 'sparks'. Check all of them and you will then know if your problem is spark related or not. Ofcourse you need to do these tests at the time when your engine wont start not when it is running ok. Also a warning, DO NOT hold or touch the plug or leads while the engine is being cranked over or running. You will get a massive jolt lol but alteast you will know you got good spark there hahaha.

Edited March 1, 2013 by Roylo

[SargeRX8]

After some work and the help of my dads friend, we got the boat started. From what I saw, the carburetor seemed like it was flooded. The guy used an air compressor to shoot air through some opening in the carb and fuel came gushing out. After that he opened up some other thing and said the float looked stuck. He gave it a few taps and the boat started. It ran just fine. A few cut n kills later it seemed like everything was going well. We let it run for a little more and it started to either misfire or lean pop. Prior to this I did test for spark and there was spark but something is telling me there may be an issue.

Cylinder 1 and cylinder 3 are both fueling and firing fine. Cylinder 2 and cylinder 4 may not be. With the engine running, I was able to disconnect cylinder 2 spark lead and it had no effect on the engines running condition. I plugged it back in and disconnected number 4, again absolutely no change in the way the engine was running. Sounded the same with or without it plugged in. If I disconnect any of the other two leads, 1 or 3, the engine dies. I recall when doing work on my car, that if even one spark plug was not firing the exhaust note would change noticeably and the engine would kick around alot more.

When ever the engine does its pop or cough, it also puffs out alot of smoke. This generally does indicate a misfire. What I intend to do is swap the coil packs around and see if the problem will swap from the cylinders. If I do the swap and I can shutdown the engine by pulling the plug on the cylinders which weren't firing, I believe it would be safe to say the coil is potentially dead or too weak. If the problem does not swap over, it opens up a few other potential problems, which could be the switch box, the stator, leaning issue etc.

As a note, the engine also gets hot on the starboard side(cylinder 1 and cylinder 3) but stays very cool on the port side(2 and 4). Like any combustion engine, the internal combustion pressure and burning of fuel produces heat, this is telling me that the port side is not burning fuel and not getting hot. After 5 mins of running, the spark plugs on starboard were really hot to touch while port side was considerably cooler and could be held in the hand no problem.

How should I proceed with this.

[Nolongeramember]

Hi mate. From what you said- your dads mate fiddled and blew out 2 of the carbys and that got it going. Sounds kind of like they were blocked rather than flooded I think. I would be checking all four carbys. Take the float bowls off and blow out all orfices and jet holes. Look through the jet holes and see they are clear. The jets are like pin holes and it doesnt take much to block them.

Check the general condition for anything obvious and check the float is working correctly. Maybe you could do one of the ones that look like its not firing first, then do your test again taking off the leads and seeing what difference it makes. This will tell you if your on the right track. If you find blocked passages your definitly on the right track...

[SargeRX8]

Yeah we gotta change the fuel line one of them had little tiny particles coming off it. To do everything you said, do I need a new seal kit for the carb? From what I can see it looks like the whole carburetor has to be pulled off the motor. I don't know how to differentiate between parts of the carby. How do I ID the bowls? I tried to find manuals online but couldn't find any and the ones off eBay, I'm not sure if they're for my boat. I made a mistake, the motor we have is a 85hp johnson motor.

One very obvious thing I noticed is two of the 4 coils are cracked. One which is cracked is working though.

[Nolongeramember]

Im not an expert on outboards either just know engines in general and have seen blocked carbys many times on boat engines. Alarm bells rang when you said the filter was a little crappy thing and it was all clean! Which could mean dirt was getting past it. No you dont need any kits to clean out the carbys and I would think you would have four carbys on that engine seeing its a four cylinder. If your not familiar with carbys and you dont have a detailed manual I would suggest taking it to a shop to check it out man. You dont want to make things worse. It may not even be the cause for you problems.

A good way to learn this stuff is to watch someone who knows do it first.

Plug tips tell alot about an engine. How do the plugs from the cylinders that you think are firing look compared to the ones that dont? Dry, oily, wet with fuel smell, browny, black? Any water droplets? Hope not lol. Check that all out...

[SargeRX8]

Yeah, see if this was a Nissan motor, I'd know my way inside out lol. I really do not want to make anything worse. The original plugs I took out all looked worn and crap. The new ones on the firing side look much more dry than the ones on the not firing side. The ones on the firing side were wet, had black oily shit on them but still white. They are only about 30 mins old.

[Nolongeramember]

Yeah I dunno Sarge. Sounds like it could be your carbs but I just now realised that is a very old engine and sounds like it hasnt ran well for a long time. Could be a combination of problems. Unless anyone here has any other suggestions Id say the best thing is to get a mechanic to look at it. But its your engine and if your like me and you like to fiddle with your own things then keep at it. Make sure you get back here, dig up this thread and tell us what it turns out to be cos' most people dont...

Good luck.

[SargeRX8]

We spoke to a boat mechanic today who is local and he told us to bring it in on Sunday but damn I can't wait that long just to have it looked at. He kind of laughed when we told him what motor it was and he said at its age it could be something small to something major but recons in a hour he can tell us whats wrong with it and if its worth fixing or not.

Last night though, we took it out. Got to the ramp dropped it into the water and started it up. Took a couple attempts to start it up but she fired and sounded to run fine. Let it idle and warm up for about 5 minutes, it was drinking and spitting water, sounded like it was running smooth so we headed off probably 2km from the ramp, wanted to stay close incase anything went bad. Got to a random spot and decided to anchor up. As we slowed down to little to no throttle the engine cut off. We mucked around fishing a bit and what not. An hour or two pass and we decide to head back home. Wouldn't start. Crank crank crank wouldn't start. Tapped the carburetor, wouldn't start. Sprayed some start ya bastard into it, it kicked over spluttered then died off. Yelled out to another near by boat who was happy to tow us back to the wharf. We loaded it back up on the trailer got it home, washed it down and tried to start it. Nothing. I got the air compressor and blew air into the top port of the carburetor which pushed out all the fuel in the bowl, re-primed the bulb and it started first go. Revved it high, held fine, lowered revs, held fine. It seemed hesitant in the lower revs and did cut out a couple times on us but did start often.

I am the type who likes to fiddle with things my self, pull things apart, and try what I can to get something running but my dad refuses to let me on this one. I really want to get that carburetor off and take a good look at the insides. I know the fuel lines need changing as they are extremely old and crap comes out of the tube but this can't be done unless the carburetor is off. Are the gaskets in these things reusable if they're not broken? I have no idea which gasket kit this thing needs. I found some on eBay which look identical, one covers the year and hp range of my motor and one doesn't. Problem is the one which does is in the US and it might take a fair while. I'm keen to get this thing cleaned up and running hence why I can't wait until Sunday and can't wait a few weeks for parts from the US. Gah its frustrating as shit. I'm positive that there are fueling issues and almost positive there is an ignition fault. When I comp tested it, it was even across the board, they were low, but still even.

The only bit of ID I can grab off the motor is 1976 85HP which runs a 26 degree advanced timing. The cover was wrong so its not the VRO 90 as I first thought. Ill attach a photo of the carburetor.

Edited March 5, 2013 by SargeRX8

[Nolongeramember]

Thats old lookin alright...Never seen something that old before. The gaskets can be used again if there not damaged when you remove parts. Depends how crusted on they are and how long theyve been there. You might find rubber seals between parts aswell.

Did you say the fuel hoses that connect directly to the carby have crap coming out of them? Like what? lol thats not good and definitly atleast one of your issues would be junk in the carbys. Even if you clean them out you will need to sort out the hoses and put a good inline filter in there aswell before you run fuel through the system.

[a boat]

Hi, if I was you I would just service those carbies with new gasket kits and needle/seats. Check and clean all passages and make sure the float height is right. Also service the fuel pump and make sure the boats fuel system is good. Of course as I mentioned earlier first make sure compression is even and you have four good sparks. You mentioned earlier about having some problems with saprk, do you have four good sparks and correct plugs in it. We would be able to supply all the parts and at a guess aboutless than $200 would be what the carby kits, fuel pump kit and plugs would cost.

Cheers,

Huey.

[SargeRX8]

Thats old lookin alright...Never seen something that old before. The gaskets can be used again if there not damaged when you remove parts. Depends how crusted on they are and how long theyve been there. You might find rubber seals between parts aswell.

Did you say the fuel hoses that connect directly to the carby have crap coming out of them? Like what? lol thats not good and definitly atleast one of your issues would be junk in the carbys. Even if you clean them out you will need to sort out the hoses and put a good inline filter in there aswell before you run fuel through the system.

Yeah it took a while to pick off all the sediment and dinosaur fossil it was encrusted in. Yeah the rubber in the fuel line is kind of deteriorating when I had a look at it. I cleaned it and pushed fuel through it but its probably a happening while its running and causing issues. Problem is this cant be changed until the carby is off, so its gonna be a all off and do everything over, just need to organise the kit.

Hi, if I was you I would just service those carbies with new gasket kits and needle/seats. Check and clean all passages and make sure the float height is right. Also service the fuel pump and make sure the boats fuel system is good. Of course as I mentioned earlier first make sure compression is even and you have four good sparks. You mentioned earlier about having some problems with saprk, do you have four good sparks and correct plugs in it. We would be able to supply all the parts and at a guess aboutless than $200 would be what the carby kits, fuel pump kit and plugs would cost.

Cheers,

Huey.

Hi Huey,

The spark plugs Ive got in there are the correct plugs for the motor, champion marine L77 or something or rather. They are brand new. I think the issue is with the coils. One of them is giving an open loop when I try to test its resistance while the others all give 1300~ ohm. I'll strip off the carburetor hopefully in the next couple of days and shoot you a PM.

Compression is kind of low but even across the board.

[Guest Aussie007]

craig is on the money your carbs need rebuilding your engine is flooding do u by any chance have the fuel hose going up over the back of your boat which is higher than the engine/carbys? if so the extra fuel in the hose might be gravity feeding into the carby with a bad needle and seat than flowing into the engine

a good way of checking a flooded engine is to place the old dry spark plugs back into the head and crank the engine over for 3-5 seconds remove the plugs if they are wet your engine is flooded or remove your plugs and crank the engine over u should see the excess fuel spraying a mist out of the spark plug holes u will sometimes see the fuel/oil mix leaking out of the spark plug hole

u said u have a cracked coil? replace it this could be why one side is running hotter than the other also use a flushing bucket or drum under the engine when running the engine some of these old engines dont have pee streams to tell u its pumping water they only have the two exhaust ports on the back and the exhaust thru the prop which water should come out of each of those when running , u also said the spark plugs were white on the hot side of the engine this is running lean rebuild your carbys and it should be fixed this should also fix the hot issue

and as someone has already mentioned dont use the compressed air on your engine u would be blowing seals in the carby for sure when people say "clean the carby with compressed air" they mean the carby is disassembled and ready to be cleaned

the way i start my old engine (cold engine)

turn the key while the engine is cranking over push the key in than let it out instantly if the engine stays running yay happy camper

if the engine starts than stalls lift the fast idle lever half way than turn the key (without pushing it in) untill the engine starts

hot start

lift the fast idle lever than turn the key untill the engine starts (do not push the key in)