Recently aquired a boat with an '88 2.3l OMC sterndrive. The engine is hard to start most of the time. I have put new plugs, plug wires and a 1000cca marine starting battery along w/ fresh 92 octane fuel. I have a coil and distributor cap on order and will be picking up tonight. When it is running it runs extremely well. I just seem to have to tinker with it to get it to go. I am trying to avoid getting to the launch and having a no-start issue. I seem to get it to start at home w/ the water muffs. Spark seem to be good. What else should I look at? All parts have been OMC dealer parts that I have replaced.

What tinkering do you have to do to get it to start?

marine_man

Does this problem happen with cold starts only?

I'm guessing you have a carb. Along with that is a choke that needs to be set by pushing the throttle to full then back off to high idle. That step must be done in order for the choke(butterfly) to close. Depending on the temperament of the engine, it might want a shot of gas as well to start. A carb has an accelerator pump. Each time you give throttle a short burst of gas is given directly into the throat of the carb. When the engine is running and you go to give throttle the accelerator pump again gives a short burst of gas. If the pump is weak you'll get hesitation or flat spot till the engine can pull gas through its jets. So if your doing the above and still having problems then here are some other things to do.

I'd guess that on the drive to the landing the gas inside the carbs bowl is lost. The extra cranking that it takes is the fuel pump filling up the carbs bowl. If it excessive I'd replace the fuel filters. There is one on the carb and possibly an inline filter and or a water/fuel separator.

When it starts hard I have been trying to prime it w/ gas. I do not smell excessive gas like you would if it's flooding. It is a carbureted engine(rochester 2 jet) I have to finish my tune up kit install(would have been done but a screw fell in the distributor and had to be removed) I have also picked up a fuel filter/water seperator that I will install. I've been told by the dealer that the fuel filter by the carb is a stone filter and therefore should not need to be changed. New coil is in so Ignition wise I should be fine. I will be leaning more to fuel related issues if nothing else changes with what I've done.

Just what I thought. Your having to prime it on cold starts.
With a generation of fuel injection car owners, there are those that are not familiar with proper starting procedures for carbed autos and inboard engines.
Do as I said above, that is how you set the choke and prime a carb.