All,
I have a 96 Crownline with a merc 454 that (at least this year) has been very hard to start. I have had the carb rebuilt by an excellent mechanic, I have verified that when I pump the gas the pumps are spraying gas into the carb, and I have played with about everything else I can think of. Here is what is happening:

First start of the day:
6-8 pumps and hold throttle open just a touch. Cranks for 10-15 secs and it's a 50/50 chance it will light. Sometime I have to play with the throttle a little. Other times I have to stop and pump again.
Every other start after that no matter if it is only 10 min or 3 hours since I shut it off it is harder to start. I have to keep it cranking while it is kind of running for 3-4 sec and play with the throttle. It almost sees to me that the starter is not turning it over fast enough. I am going to change my cap and rotor this week and they are a little worn and dirty but for a 454 this thing just seems very hard to start. Does anyone have any suggestions??

Still sounds like carb problems to me. If its a stock engine why are you pumping the gas 6-8 times. It should have a choke which should take no more than one pump.

The Weber carbs suck. It probably has an internal leak and is leakingh the fuel out of the bowl.

Purple Hornet - The choke is disconected right now as that was recommended to me by a few people sue to the fact that the engine is really never cold (70 degree's +-) and should not need the choke. It is a little easier to start with it off than when it was hooked up.

Since I have read and heard quite a bit about the webers being a bad carb whats a god replacement for them?

The Weber carb and the Edelbrock carbs are similar IIRC, so going from one to the other is not going to get you much. I know on the Edelbrocks tuning the choke can be a pain so it is frequently disabled.

For your hard starting- your comment about the engine turning over slowly grabbed my attention. I had the same problem for many years, until one day my engine just locked up in trying to start it. It turns out that my old-style direct drive starter was slowing crapping out, until that day the nose drive broke off and wedged against the flywheel. The symptoms were similar to hydrolic lock and it took me a long time to narrow it to the starter (more from sheer disbelief than anything else). I replaced it with a newer reduction-gear starter and it now turns over sweet and fast. The newer starter (PG260 ?) is a direct bolt-on replacement and can be had for $150 or less. Your engine, being a 96, may already have the newer style reduction gear starter. So, check the starter !! Also check for proper gounds at the engine block.

In my case, I had two group 27 batteries in excellent shape so there was no chance it was a weak battery issue. The starter originally came off a 1987 Gen IV 454 and I reused it on a 2000 Gen VI 454 (perfectly acceptable- they interchange). The newer starter does save quite a few pounds, perhaps as much as 10 pounds of weight.

When you go to restart it sounds like you are flooding it. Next time out after shutdown just crank the engine over without any throttle pumping. It should start right up. For replacement, I would look for a holley 750cfm vacuum secondary or double pumper.

Dogturd21 - Thanks for the input on the starter. I am thinking that I have an issue in that area as well and it is making my hard starting harder to completly resolve. Whats the easiest way to tell the difference in the starters? I am assuming the newer one will have a gear box of sorts on it.

Blue thunder - I have tired it that way as well but I get the same outcome of the starter basicly trying to run the engine for a few seconds. It's just like it doesn't want to light and it dogs.

The Weber carbs are crappy. I would replace it with eitehr a new edlebrock or Holley 750. Make sure to use a marine carb.

I would lookup your engine on a site that has pictures of parts- my favorite is BAM Marine. You would have to see pics of the old style and new style starters to see the difference. If you can take a pic of your current starter (camera phone, iPhone etc.) and post it or email it to me I can easily tell. Let me know exactly which 454 engine you have and I should be able to look it up.

One way to tell if you have the old style starter is to look for a large Phillips head screw in the center of the main body of the starter (not looking at the end, but in the middle body). By way of pics, look up Ebay item 250221992988 and see the gold phillips head screw in the middle of the body. Although the pic is for a 70's era starter, they were used much later, into the 90's I believe.

Looking at the BAM marine site, it appears that the new style PG260 starter has a 2 7/8 inch end cap, while the older starter has a 3 1/4 inch end cap. Its not that obvious to tell them apart unless you have them side by side- the new style is a bit smaller and lighter

http://www.mercruiserparts.com/selec..._nbr=821723+92