Starting a cold 321 in a 3 minute gun

[DtwSailor]

This past week at Jesup, I had the opportunity to race my new 321 in the 300SSH Winter Nationals. A special thanks to Dana Holt for roping his little arms off, but i never made it out for the start. My learning lesson should help anyone else. Because of the baffles in the shield, you can not tickle the carb as their is no access hole, and no place to drill one. The spray shield has latches as well as the wing nuts, so it can't be removed quickly.

What we found that works is the following sequence with a cold motor in a timely fashion:

Open the enricher (choke) till it pops.
Close choke
Full Throttle, lift out of the water, pull, let it clear, go have fun!
Not sure if anyone else had issues getting the 321 going, I never did last year when testing one, but then again, I always beached fired and warmed her up.

If you are under a minute form the white and still roping, try that sequence.

[JBM]

I've been using the (choke) to start all my Yamato engines. The key is to leave the throttle closed and give it one or two good pulls.
Don't forget to push the chocke lever back in before taking off..

[jeff55v]

The key is to leave the throttle closed and give it one or two good pulls.

Yes! That's a trick Mike Ross taught me a few years back when I was trying to start my Tohatsu. With the butterfly fully closed, pulling the engine over creates a vacuum that will suck fuel from the idle circuit to prime the engine.
👍🏼

[hoosier]

You probably should have dry fired it before putting the prop on instead of dinking around with your capacino machine .

[DtwSailor]

and what was your top speed on the next heat? That espresso gave me a boost, and better yet a chance to run side by side for a full race with 100S. at least my lodging had a separate shower...

[hoosier]

Yah , but mine had full length mirrors , yah baby !!!

[mercsami]

I have never seen a 321 spray shield,so I don't know if this will work. According to the tech rules you are allowed to drill a 1 3/8 in hole in the shield.Can this be placed to allow an access hole to "tickle" the carb?

[Hutch06]

Not sure on this one for a 321 spray shield due to baffles in the new shield.

[Team B&H]

Not to state the obvious but before this with Yamatos, what did you think the enrichment function was for?

[DtwSailor]

Not to state the obvious but before this with Yamatos, what did you think the enrichment function was for?

Most Yamatos that I have run , 80, 102 and 302, allowed the starter to tickle the carb by pushing down on the float, the 321 does not have this option, or the ability to drill a hole because of the baffles. I had a 1US driver roping for me, who also forgot about this, so yes while it's obvious, when you are trying to get out for a nationals race, sometimes it's good to remember. Also, many new drivers to the 300SSH have never run this type of motor before, so hence the reason or the post.

By the way, I did use the enricher once on a very wet cold day in constant MI a few years ago. Forgot to push it back it and well, killed a ton of mosquitos on the way and got lapped.

[PRO-MOTIONRACING]

Just a thought. While I know it is common in boat racing to close the idle mixture screw to prevent idling as a safety measure, are the mixture screws on the 321 being closed thus leading to hard starting?

[ricochet112]

While I know it is common in boat racing to close the idle mixture screw to prevent idling as a safety measure

I have never heard of this; is it something new? We always set it to give us the best acceleration from a fast idle (like a slow trolling start) to full throttle with quickest response.

On topic, always, always warm your engine, and they always start easier....

[daveracerdsh]

I have had several issues with my Tohatsu D stock motor starting...and I have electric start on the thing that should make it easier. Last year at Eatonville I had to to an alki start with the thing....it would start but then die when I gave it throttle. A friend and former racer, Steve Peterson, took a hard look at things and discovered one of the fuel lines between the carbs had a small crack in it, allowing air into the system. Sometimes another set of eyes sure helps! My motor does not have a choke on it, so what I did was drill a small hole in the cowl in front of number 2 carb (Tohatsu's have three carbs) and then I put a piece of flat rubber over the hole that can be move up allowing gas to be squirted in.....works fantastic! I have also found on the Tohatsu that you fire the thing with zero throttle....the vacumm pulls the gas into all of the cynlinders. I always idle the boat out for 100 feet or so before I start getting on the throttle....but I am curious if other racers have had issues starting the 321? Dave

[Racerkyle20]

Anyone having issues of over heating with the 321?

[Lee Sutter]

Yes! I plan on fixing mine and writing a proposal the SORC. It's a serious and expensive pain in the butt that no stock outboard racer needs.
28-R

[Matt Dagostino]

What is the issue?? Why does Lee think the 321 is overheating at 1/2 and 3/4 height????

[daveracerdsh]

Joe Johnson did Sunday running 300ssh....

[tim king]

Dave Biagi at Bakersfield said he did.

[DtwSailor]

I did running it in 20 but that was at 1/2 inch and not 3/4. During 300ssh no issues whatso ever. Not with my motor this year or the SORC test motor last year.

[daveracerdsh]

Tim....Dave Biagi was running 300SSH and he had cooling issues? Do you have contact info for him....would like to chat....

[halestorm]

Dave -- it wasn't hot like steaming, like you see in 20SSH when you run at 1/2 inch. He had a temperature sensor mounted to the head and he thought it was reading hot. I don't remember the value it was reading, but he didn't like it.