i have a 93 200 Johnson,runs like a top,but is HELL to start, i always prime the bubble til i hear fuel entering the carbs,then push in choke on key for 5-10 seconds before starting,and normally it takes 3-4 minutes to get her going(aggravates the .... out of me). but once she starts she runs great,and never has a problem rest of the day.any suggestions on a quicker 1st start?

trim the motor all the way down, this help with gravity feeding the eng. have u tried starting without priming it, just a thought

Here what i do and it starts right up most of the time, prime bulb until hard before doing any these steps

1. Turn key to the ON position
2. Then press key in for 5-10 seconds
3. With key STILL preassed in, turn to START
4. Repeat if necessary

Good luck

When was the last time you had the carbuerators serviced?

air leak in fuel line, fuel pump goin bad. my 175 johnson did similar and it was the fuel line at the engine connection lettin air in the system.
I also put on an electric fuel pump and now it starts first time every time with no primer.

thanks for the suggestions!

check the red manual lever on the primer solenoid valve. they are VERY prone to cracking. u have to remove it to chech it. sometimes u will smell gas or see gas if u are cranking the engine over and priming at the same time. cracks in these valve levers are hard to see. hope this helps

Your not pumping the bulb up enough. Pump untill bulb firm.

i pump the bulb til it is hard as it can be and til i hear fuel entering the carbs,how much more am i supposed to pump it?

jsut till its hard, I think its a fuel line letting air into the system.

Hard to say what it is...try pushing choke in for 3 seconds release and then try to start...

I have an 88 Rude that does the same thing. Been putting Stabil in the gas, but putting Seafoam in my gas now seems to have made it start much quicker lately. Could have nothing to do with it, but seems to work for me the last few times.

Everyone probably has an opinion on this but I was told by a marine tech not to use Stabil. If you use Stabil, you are adding alcohol to alcohol which is bad especially if you have an older motor not designed to run on "new fuel". He suggested I use Startron which does alot of the things Stabil does only it dries up the water that ethanol accumulates. I havent had a fuel/water problem since then. Yesterday I ran Seafoam in my tank and was pretty surprised how much easier it started and how much smoother it ran.

If your hearing fuel go into the carbs, its not completely pumped up.