89 mercruiser 3.0 cranking no start

[bp239]

I just picked up a nice 1989 citation 175xl with a 3.0. I have never owned or even been on one with a stern drive so please excuse my ignorance. I attempted to crank it for a few minutes today with no success. The owner who gave it to me said it was completely went through last fall but I’ll post what the fuel filter looked like. Could I be missing a choke or something simple? There is no literature included so it’s a shot in the dark for me. Not even sure what the gaps should be or what weight of oil to use. Thanks in advance

 

[alldodge]

The pic looks like the fuel filter, and don't know if your pump bowl faces up or down.
This is the motor and you can see to different fuel pump (old and new)

https://www.mercruiserparts.com/3-0l-gm-181-i-l4-1987-1989-0b450801-th

Merc recommends 25W40 Merc oil but many use 15W40 diesel oil

 

[nola mike]

First lesson of boat ownership: no maintenance was ever done to the boat prior to your buying it. That filter looks horrible. A lot of minimum things I'd do to that boat before using it for the summer. Tempting not to, but you'll avoid breakdowns and much more expensive issues down the road.
Replace the filter (do you have a water separater on there? Looks like an oil filter?), put in some fresh gas. See if it catches when you pour a bit of gas down the carb throat. I see a carb rebuild in your future...

 

[nola mike]

Hey guys....I'm new here with a 2001 Hurricane 217 Sun Dec that has a 5.0 Mercruiser l/O. I was having some problems with my tilt/trim so I decided to replace the throttle switch. This solved some of my problem but my down tilt would still click a few times before engaging and going down. So I then decided to replace the solenoids. Once I did and hooked everything back up I get NOTHING when I hit the switch...up or down?! I used a jumper to bypass the solenoids (like the manual says) and the pump motor works fine. I've checked and rechecked my connections and everything looks correct. I have even replaced the fuse. Is there anything that could need checking?! Is it possible for the plug in from the switch controls to the solenoids to go bad!?!?

Welcome aboard, you're posting on somebody's completely unrelated thread... Let's see if jbcurt00 or another mod can move it for you.