Check your pee-hole!

[Cal Coon]

Most hardware stores have an assortment of different sized tapered rubber plugs. I needed one for my trim pump and went to the hardware store in the Alton traffic circle and was extremely surprised to find they had the exact same size I dropped in the bilge! If you plug up that hole when not in use, put something on your key ring as a reminder to remove the plug before starting. One of my annual rituals that I do with an outboard motor I have is every spring when I break it out from storage, before I start it up for the first time, is I take a blow gun and pump compressed air through the pee hole for a few seconds to clear it out of anything that might of gotten in there over the winter. Works great for anything you can't reach with a tool, and (IMHO), provides a little more peace of mind...