What and how do you do a hot soak?I recently had to deal with some salt blockages in a 2016 outboard that were causing it to overheat even at idle. The previous owner never flushed it. In addition to other routine maintenance, I removed all thermostats and poppet valves and hooked up a bilge pump to the flush port. I cycled salt away through the outboard for about 5 days. In the end, there was a big pile of debris at the bottom of the tote and my overheating issue has been solved for the past few years. This saved me having to pull the head. After doing a ton of research and given my past problems, always flush my outboard after use if I don't plan to use it for a week or two. I also periodically do a hot soak with salt away. I had read that Rydlyme is an acid that can damage aluminum... haven't heard any horror stories, but would recommend flushing well with water after a Rydlyme treatment. I personally am a huge fan of saltaway after the miracle it worked on my motor. Since then I have also treated used kickers that I like to fix up and flip... a hot soak in saltaway often increases the output of the telltale by 2-4x.
Overall I think the best approach is to not stress out too much about this - flush it when you're able to or if the motor will be sitting for a while, then hot soak with salt away a few times a year.
Awesome. Appreciate the photo. I’ll give that a try.I've used this setup. I can't remember what the HP rating on that pump is, but it's pretty minimal. Maybe the pic will help to compare to the pumps youve seen at HD.
I had the same issue on my last boat with a 10 year old Yamaha 9.9, the cowling was hot to the touch when trolling. I found salt caked in the cooling passages, I had to drill the salt out, it was hard as a rock and just assumed it was never flushed. Now with newer motors I flush with salt away every few trips and plain water every trip, it’s great insurance and doesn’t take that long.I recently had to deal with some salt blockages in a 2016 outboard that were causing it to overheat even at idle. The previous owner never flushed it. In addition to other routine maintenance, I removed all thermostats and poppet valves and hooked up a bilge pump to the flush port. I cycled salt away through the outboard for about 5 days. In the end, there was a big pile of debris at the bottom of the tote and my overheating issue has been solved for the past few years. This saved me having to pull the head. After doing a ton of research and given my past problems, always flush my outboard after use if I don't plan to use it for a week or two. I also periodically do a hot soak with salt away. I had read that Rydlyme is an acid that can damage aluminum... haven't heard any horror stories, but would recommend flushing well with water after a Rydlyme treatment. I personally am a huge fan of saltaway after the miracle it worked on my motor. Since then I have also treated used kickers that I like to fix up and flip... a hot soak in saltaway often increases the output of the telltale by 2-4x.
Overall I think the best approach is to not stress out too much about this - flush it when you're able to or if the motor will be sitting for a while, then hot soak with salt away a few times a year.
I don't doubt it all still works, the problems stem from corrosion around the bolts due to dissimilar metals and paint delamination between the exhaust and water corridoors, I did mine after 500hrs and if I had waited another season it may not have come apart. Recommended from Merc for mine is 350hrs. I now see why. My Master Merc mechanic says we were lucky, I agree.Flushing with freshwater from a hose is cheap insurance in my mind. I flush with a hose every time the boat comes back to the house and never ever had an overheat issue. Probably have 5-600 hrs on an impeller and don’t doubt it’s still in good shape. I believe as long as the motor is being used frequently it’s not as big a issue as use 10 times a year and then let sit unflushed to dry out between uses.