Dangers of running rich

[th365thli]

Hi guys, first time boat owner here.

I have a 1987 Yamaha Pro V 150. Currently, she runs very well, but I'm always paranoid of potential issues and I want to take care of her right.

I'm assuming it's normal for an older carb motor to be "finicky" at a cold start? I have to pump the bulb, which is expected, but also pull open the choke every time and push the fast idle lever up. If I don't do this, the motor will shut off by itself, or not start at all. After idling a bit, a key turn is enough for the rest of the day.

Is it normal to have to pump the primer bulb frequently? I notice that I have to pump it every fishing trip, and sometimes within a trip, when I fish one spot for a while, I have to pump it again to go to the next spot.

Finally, my mechanic suggested, to see if the oil pump is working, to premix the fuel 100:1. I mark the oil reservoir with tape so I can check if it's using oil. If it's not, I'm okay because I premixed. If it is working, I'm just running a little rich and that should be okay. Is there any catastrophic concern when running rich? I believe fouling spark plugs is an issue, but spark plugs are dirt cheap. Anything else I should be worried about? It seems I should err on the side of rich rather than lean.

[1ranger487vs]

not uncommon to pump bulb first time every trip on a carbed motor. more than that might be a bad bulb or you are sucking air. a little extra oil is ok. rich is different from extra oil

[Ranger519VS]

Its normal to have to pump up the bulb first thing in the day. the diaphram lift pump on the motor may be getting weak meaning that you will have to pump the bulb more often. Common on boats especially with ethanol gas

[th365thli]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess it's not a deal-breaking issue, it takes 5 seconds to prime the bulb. I don't think it's the bulb because I just replaced, maybe something else.