Volvo AQ140A engine issues-gctid818316

[Madgreekx3]

Hello all. Looking for some input on some engine starting issues I'm having with my 3270. I'm running twin Volvo AQ140A engines that will not fire from a cold start. We've got good spark, plenty of fresh fuel, but they will not fire without a continuous stream of Ether down the carbs.Even then, it takes forever to get them started. The interesting thing is that once you do get them to start, they idle and run fine. Even after an hour or two on the hook, they'll start right up, but not when they're cold. I'm thinking it's a timing issue, but wouldn't it be obvious the timing was off with the engines running? I getting ready to throw a timing light on these guys and replace the timing belts. Any feed back would be appreciated.

[Madgreekx3]

Thanks for the feedback on these engines. An interesting note here is that the transmissions are MS-3's, however the engines are all branded AQ140A. As to the timing advance issue you spoke to, that in itself shouldn't affect start-up, should it? So my next question is, what is the easiest/best way to get these guys going from a cold start and is this a common issue with these engines? If so, I would imagine owners would be seriously considering re-powering to a more co-operative engine. When the engine survey was done, the surveyor noted that the engines started right-up. That was about a year ago and the issue has gotten worse ever since.