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The new to me 13 whaler has a 1987 Johnson outboard that hasn't been started in about 5 years. Today I installed a battery and turned the motor over just to see if the starter worked. So far so good. Should I pull the plugs and squirt oil in the cylinders ? Anything else before I try to start her ?

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i would drain the lower unit, and replace the water pump before you started it up. last thing you want is to start it up and have the water pump and the impeller go all to pieces.

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I usually hear spray good oil in the cylinders. Maybe trim it all the way up so the oil runs down on the rings. Making sure the rings are free I believe is the main reason for doing this. I would also strongly consider an impeller change before heading out to the water. And some may recommend a carb rebuild. I am not sure if your motor is oil injected but if it is you may want to check all those lines for oil that is coagulated. Oil injected or not I would double oil the first tank of gas. And bottle of marvel mystery oil in the first tank too.

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Yes, oil in the cylinders through the spark plug holes is a good idea.

I'd plan on replacing the water pump impeller at any rate but if you want to see if it starts, go ahead. Just watch the tell tale to be sure it is pumping water. Shut it down if it does not.

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Yes I will replace the water pump impellar but I want to make sure the motor has a chance of running before putting more money into her. I'll also replace lower unit gear oil. I just want to hear her fire a little for peace of mind.

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Once you get the cylinders lubed up, maybe try fogging oil, Check compression ,check for spark. fresh fuel and oil and let her rip

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I bought an old Whaler with a pair of Johnson 70's that had not been run in 30 years (really). Even though the engines had less tha 200 hours on them, I didn't know what I had. So I took the boat to an Evinrude dealership to start them, check them out and do necessary service.

The first thing they did was remove the plugs, and turn the engine over by hand, using the flywheel. Everything worked freely, and the original fogging oil was still working. Then they did a compression test, and found all cylinders factory original specs, so we knew the rings were good.

Then they fired each up on the hose, bleching smoke, and to see if they were getting fuel. On one, they quickly determined only one cylinder was getting fuel, so they shut it down. Both engines had gunked up carbs, which had to be cleaned and rebuilt. They also installed new water pump kits, new gear oil, and the engines were good to go, practically like new. Cost was $500/engine.

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I just went through this on a Merc 135 that sat for 12 years. The starter was spinning freely but wouldn't always engage and was a little slow. It's rebuilt now. I used starting fluid or the first copule of fire then it got to a point where it didn't need it. I also ran premixed fuel on top of the oil injection system. I'm currently rebuilding the carbs and plan on replacing all fuel and vacume lines.

I't a huge thrill when it fires for the first time, good luck