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Hello,

I am finally ready to start this thing up after buying my 17' Super Sport a month ago and have some questions. I put the battery in it this morning and bumped the starter to make sure I had everything wired up correctly. The starter gear was jammed mis-engaged with the other teeth on the flywheel and it wouldn't turn over. I pushed the spring loaded starter gear down and bumped it again and everything turned over as it should. Is the jamming something that is common, it's an easy fix but don't want to damage something? Freak occurence? Should the flywheel have grease on it, because right now it is somewhat corroded and dry? Second question is a little more involved. This will be the first time I've started this engine and will be doing it in the driveway with muffs and water hooked to it. It has a VRO hooked to it right now, should I trust it will work and just put gas in the tank and crank it or should I disconnect the VRO and premix it? How do I disconnect the VRO? When starting the motor how do I choke it? I know you push the key in and that is the choke but do you hold it down, seems inconvenient? Are there any other suggestions that anybody has that will make this as painless as possible, I'm very anxious and just don't want to damage this old girl before she ever even gets in the water.

-Kurt

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Kurt,
I just push my key in a few times to choke it, kind of like I would if I was priming my lawn mower. Then turn the key, I usually dont get it to start first time, but repeat again and bang its running. I have seen some threads on disconnecting vro here so you should be able to find something.

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It sounds like the starter bendix gear is sticking.
Clean it with WD4-40 or something similar and then us a light grease. It should move up and down freely.

I would not disconnect the VRO. However, when is the last time this engine has been used?

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Joe asks a good question, when was the last time the engine was used and was it winterized properly? As cheap insurance you could pull the plugs and spray some fogger in each cyl while turning the flywheel by hand, before starting , to "prelube" the cyl walls just in case.

As far as the VRO, you could premix the first couple of tanks of gas as you keep an eye on the VRO oil tank level to make sure it's going down, meaning the system is working. Again, cheap insurance. Once you verify everything's working ok, just keep oil in the VRO tank and enjoy the boat!

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I have the same motor - an 86.

I had to spray a little WD40 on the starter gear/spring on mine when I first got it a year ago. My flywheel has no grease.

As far as VRO - my no oil alarm would occasionally chirp if i didnt squeeze the oil primer about every 10 minutes. My mechanic disconnected it free of charge when he did my water pump, as he is a huge critic of VRO pumps. You'll get varying opinions here.

Starting. As with any 2-stroke, they don't like to sit. The more I use it, the better it starts. My starting procedure is this - 1. connect the fuel tank and squeeze the primer a half dozen times. 2. Pull the throttle out to allow throttle control without being in gear and push it down half way or so. 3. Push in the key/choke and hit it - no more than about 5 seconds. Usually 2nd or 3rd or 4th try(with a few expletives) mine fires, but will die unless i bump the choke in a few more times, then throttle back to let it warm up.

These seem to be good motors. As mentioned, I had the water pump, VRO disconnected and prop seals done. I change the lower unit oil every 3-4 months. I have changed plugs twice. Other than that I run good quality regular 87 octane gasoline with Evinrude XD50 semi-synthetic oil and Startron additive.

Good luck -

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Thanks for all of the responses. I honestly don't know when it was on the water and ran but when I went and looked at the boat it was started and ran but only for a moment before it konked out and the battery was dead.

I will probably disconnect the VRO just because it would be one more thing to worry about on the water. Seems like a waste to dump the oil tank and lines but thats how it goes. The engine looks to be very clean but that ultimately means nothing as to whats going on inside the motor. I plan to pull the plugs and fog the cylinders, I'll inspect the plugs at that time. I think I'm more nervous because I've never ran an outboard 2 stroke of this vintage. I've always owned Yamaha jetskis and they are relatively bombproof. I have been curious to the reliability of this particular Johnson. I've heard good things so far but I would like to hear more opinions from people who have actually lived with this motor.

I'm not overly concerned with the starter engagement. I believe if it had a light grease on it, it would slip together easier and this was more of a symptom of being so dry.