Are you kidding? Shirley, she knows better.

You'll glaze the impeller. Not horrible.

This^

keep in mind that even when you back your boat into the water or hook up muffs to the engine,it still takes a few seconds for the impeller to suck water up into the pump housing...so in effect every time you crank your engine,you are cranking it up dry and really not any different than if you crank it on dry land but instantly shut it off as soon as the engine fires....obviously you can't let it run for over a second or two or you will damage the impeller but most of us who dry crank are just making sure the engine will crank before we block the ramp...

I disagree. There is no absolute airlock, and the air in the midsection will be gone in a fraction of a second - less time than it takes for the ignition to get the engine running, I would imagine. Want to not block the ramp? Fire it up when the lower unit is submerged, but before it floats off the trailer. I've seen too many boats slide off the trailer at the ramp, so I don't unlatch the bow until the boat's wet. I unhook while it idles. If it did not start, I can get pulled right back out without tying up a ramp.

Whatever works best for the indavidual. My way works best for me.

it wont hurt it to pop it off. Everyone does it. If you start the motor on a water hose you are doing it.

At any rate, they need to be changed every other season.

Makes no sense to dry fire. I think people do it because it's just a habit but it's terrible and no one wants to see/hear that on the ramp. Get in the boat, unstrap, launch and fire it up as the truck and trailer are pulling out to go park. Should take 20 seconds to launch a boat. If you don't have enough faith in your boat to start on the ramp, why the hell are you taking it out in the first place.

You know, I never thought of it that way.
What you say seems logical to me. If i was going to do a test fire like that, id be sure to have the motor trimmed down and the bulb squeezed the normal amount. I think the point would be if “sunny beach no pop pop” at the top of the hill, fairly good chance it won’t do it in the water.

I never dry start mine on purpose, I see no need to. I do however have a brain fart once or twice a year and start it up before I tilt it into the water. I have never had any detrimental effects from that. This reminds me of old men at the airport cringing when someone starts a plane and it revs up for a second before it returns to idle.

Correct. It’s not instantaneous that the impeller is wet, and water starts flowing.

I still don’t do it dry on purpose, but he is correct.

If you start it on a water hose, where there is even pressure pushing water into the impeller intake, this is somehow the same as starting the engine dry? What school of logic did you NOT attend?

I've known two life-long excellent mechanics in my time, both whom I respected, and they advised against it. The heat build-up without the water as a lubricant and coolant is virtually instantaneous.

It does not take "a few seconds" to get water into the impeller. I would imagine that happens in less than a second. The reference was also made about water hose muffs. Heck, when I I've hooked mine up, water begins to flow out the tell-tale streamer before I ever turn the engine over! How is that not getting the impeller wet?

Its the school of water doesn't piss for 1-2 min, after cranking.