This is the second season I have taken my Yamaha T9.9 out of storage
and had problems getting it to run properly. I took extra pains to put it away
properly
last year. I used Stabil in the last tank of gas. I also ran some Sea Foam
through it. The engine was run out until it would not start. I fogged the
engine at
the end and opened a drain plug on the carb to empty any remaining gas. The
engine would
barely start this week and would die when put into gear. I cleaned the jets,
but
missed the jet for mid-range running that was hidden under a plastic cap. My
friendly
outboard mechanic found it and showed me it was blocked. After cleaning this
jet, the
engine finally ran. I am using fresh gas, so that was not the problem. I
have a filter on the gas tank, and there is another one on the engine. It is
possibly a
combination of the newer formulas of gas and the design of these later model
four strokes
(mine is a 2002 with less than 50 hours on it). Some people recommend running
the
engine at least every 3 weeks, which is not always possible, and what about
winter lay-ups? My mechanic recommended using a Mercury product for cleaning
carbs that
is added to the gas tank. I am skeptical, but am trying it any ways. I never
had any of these problems with my old two strokes. That's progress!

Sherwin D.