Starts hard, shuts right down.

[Charliethetuna]

2001 115 2 stroke. TXRZ. Bought from out of state so we pretty much did startup and run on video. So I took the cover off last week and tried to start it up. Pulled up on the warmup lever, pumped the bulb (never got hard) and cranked her over. Took a while but finally fired up. High RPM and shut right down. Didn’t run for half a second. Tried the same and after cranking for a few seconds, same thing happened. Tried a 3rd time. This time, it just cranked and ran the batteries down. Maybe 15-20 seconds. When I first squeezed bulb, I got a whiff of gas. Couldn’t really see anything but I’ll look again this weekend. After cranking, had a gas sheen running out with the water. I’ve since hooked up a charger and I’m waiting for decent weather (hopefully) this weekend. Any helpful input is appreciated. If you’re an outboard mechanic in southern nassau county and feeling charitable, egg McMuffins are on me.
HELP?!?

[99yam40]

bulb never gets hard is a sign something is not letting pressure build up,
so if bulb is pumping fuel you need to find out where that fuel is going

[Charliethetuna]

But would that cause the condition I described?

[99yam40]

could be fuel bowls are overflowing, or fuel pump leaking into the crankcase,
even carb bowls with not enough fuel in them because it is leaking somewhere else and not letting them fill up
did you choke the motor when trying to start?
did you flood the cylinders by choking too much?
fast idle lever too far open?
was it not open far enough?
if it is leaking gas and it catches on fire, will you be able to put it out without it destroying something or someone?
find out what the fuel smell is before finding out the hard way

[Charliethetuna]

A lot of these questions I can’t answer yet. This is my first outboard. I’ve always been an I/O guy. I may have over choked as the water pumping through gave a pretty good sheen. I didn’t know you could open the warm up lever too far. My plan is to start replacing parts, beginning with cheapest and working my way up from there. If the weather holds out, tomorrow is fuel line day. If it doesn’t, I’m gonna take my wife out to lunch and try to grab a remote tank.
and if it does catch fire…. My plan of action is to stop, drop and roll, not necessarily in that order.

[panasonic]

Keep the cowl off that thing when trying to start it until you sure you have the fuel leak sorted out. Gasoline fumes in enclosed spaces with spark plugs can go boom in a hurry.

[99yam40]

pull the cowling off and pump the primer bulb to see if you can see any fuel leaking out of anything

[Charliethetuna]

Ok, I think I pinpointed the leak. I pulled the airbox and when I primed the bulb, gas was coming out of the bottom carb. I’m assuming I can just take it apart and blast it with carb cleaner and cross my fingers? Will I need a gasket kit?