Hey guy's, I have an 04' 496 HO that I'm having some starting problems with. When the engine is cold, it will start up pretty quick and then die. I have to give it some throttle to keep it running or it wants to die. Once it's warmed up it seems to be a little hard to start without opening up the throttle a little. Is this normal or do I have something going on with it ? This is my first fuel injected marine engine, so I'm still learning the ends and outs of it. Thanks in advance.

IAC maybe? You need to scan the motor for fault codes first.

Awesome, guess what I don't have........a scanner.

Hiball it's best to buy yourself a scanner I I got mine from rinda about 400bucks well worth it if you are staying with this type of motor .

I definitely do need to get a scanner, I just wasnt planning on having to buy one right now. That's the way it goes I guess.

+1 iac

Have a look at the IAC. Sometimes (almost usually in my case) you can tell if they are bad just by looking at them. They will be melted or at least "goo" coming out of them.

I'm assuming this is a pretty common problem ?

Yep, all the sensors are common trouble spots on these engines.

My 502 based engine is doing the same. I thought AIC and replaced it...nope. Next is ecu coolant temp sensor. if not that the map sensor. Mine did not have any codes. I'm leaning temp sensor because it loads up when idling for very long.