I handcranked an
MD2B for nearly 10 years. That engine looks like the older brother of yours. The 2B had a cold start button on the back of the engine, if yours does, depress it and will stick down. Put the decompression levers vertical. If the
boat is in a slip, trans in neutral. Crack the throttle open a bit. Start cranking the engine until you get as much
RPM as you can crank into it. simultaneously, disconnect the crank and drop one of the compression levers. Engine should start on one cylinder on the first try. Drop all the rest of the compression levers and you are up and running. I hand cranked a 1, 2 , and 3 cylinder versions of the Volvo MD series of engines. The one cylinder was super easy to start, the two cylinder was easy to start, the 3 cylinder was a workout because of the friction and inertia of getting all three cylinders spinning. You probably should have the ignition on as I think there was a solenoid
fuel shut off and the warning buzzers won't
work. If there is a manual
fuel shutoff, you don't need the ignition on.
If you are sailing, it's a lot easier to hand crank the engine with the
transmission in forward. Almost like a push start as the
water passing over the prop takes most of the effort out of it.
On the 2b, the crank goes on what I believe is the end of the cam. It was about the two o'clock position above the flywheel. The crank should be lose on the cranking shaft as you have to pull it off or it will thrash about on it's own as the engine starts. With a
diesel, you don't have to worry about the engine firing backwards breaking your wrist. You really aren't cranking as you initiate the ignition cycle by dropping the compression release.
FWIW, I was always in the tropics starting the engine. Don't know how much fun it would be handcranking a cold engine in Barrow, AK.