First steps to take on a "good" motor that hasn't been run in years?

Hi all,

I purchased an older gentleman's jonboat and it came with this Johnson 9.9

According to the seller it ran well the last time it was used, apart from a finicky electric starter.

Unfortunately, the "last time it was used" was about 2.5 years ago.

Motor has been on the boat the entire time exposed to the Illinois elements.

I finally got off my bum and made a motor stand this morning so I can work on this thing.

I've got room underneath the prop for a tub of water. Now it's time to decide what to do next.

Based on my searching of this forum, I've gathered the following tips and suggestions:

• change the spark plugs
• change the impeller in the lower unit
• change the lower unit oil
• get a new gas tank and fuel lines and mix 50:1 with non-ethanol low octane fuel
• drain the carb bowl(s) <-- I have no idea what this means #-o
• give each cylinder a few drops of oil and rotate the flywheel by hand to lubricate both cylinders

Are there any mistakes above? Is there anything else I should do before trying to start the motor?

I have the S# and model year written down at home. I'm posting from the office.

Yeah your on point with what you need to do before the initial start up.. except the octane.. try and find high octane with no ethanol. After that initial service it should be a good motor.

And in regards to the electric starter.. spray some lube on the shaft above the gear on the starter motor ( there will probably be a spring there) and check all the electrical connections for anything loose or corroded.

Me?

I just squirt fuel down the carb and fire them up.

After an initial run (I flip them for profit/hobby) I’ll do a compression check and a carb clean/spark check depending on how the motor runs.

The only time I do any real “prep” is if it has knows issues or is stuck.

Just a prime with pre-mix to see if it fires off, if it does, then I will hook up the fuel system and see if it will run without a prime.

I don't mess with the water pump right off, there's no sense in spending money on it if the motor has other hidden issues.

Check the pump first..ya don't want to pump rotten rubber into the powerhead..If the motor passes the recoil pull compression test do the pump next. If ya plug the powerhead with rotten rubber....