Outboard life-span

[scott craven]

Let's hear how you punish your outboard .
How many hours do you expect from it ?


Honda 50 hp

I average 250-300 hours a year, trolling and running .
I change the oil & filter every 100 hours, gear oil once a year, plugs every 2 years.
Thermostat and impeller are also checked periodically.
There isn't an hour meter, but i'm guessing it has 2200-2400 hours on it.

 

[BearCove]

I have twin 150 yams, 2006, hour meter reads 1324 and 1317, whei got the boat the engines had 60 hrs on both. I change oil and filters every 200, impellers have been changed once, plugs once, mostly trolling hours on them, hoping to get many more good years out of them as I have seem Yamis with over 3000 hrs on them.

I believe with the proper TLC you should get a very long time out of most outboards

 

[Sculpin]

Good idea for a thread r.s craven. This should be interesting. I just love how some folks freak out about hours etc.

I had a 50 yamaha fourstroke on my old Cope. Similar to yours for hours etc. Sold it to a couple that lived on an island and they commuted. So four more years of them running it everyday. Last time I checked it still has the same engine on it.

I don't know the hours on my current Honda 225. I'm guessing 1200-1400 hrs. I change the fluid's twice a year and flush with salt away etc.

I agree if they are properly maintained they should last a long long time.

 

[Sharphooks]

Brand, up-keep, and the way lubricants are delivered to the moving parts all come into play when discussing hours on an outboard. You could say that as a graduate of pre-Bombardier Ficht University, I have a good grasp of the relativity of hours on an outboard---how you get them and how you might not.

Before going to Yammie and Honda I had a brand new Evinrude Ficht 150 HP. With only 300 hours on it (and having gone back to a shop at least five times with that outboard since I purchased it new and spending approx. $ 5,000 to address a multitude of electrical problems ) it finally did me a huge favor by blowing up. I heard of at least ten of those pre-Bombardier Fichts failing in a similar manner.

Meanwhile, that Ficht experience turned me into one of those who "freaks out about hours". I do too much remote location stuff in my boat these days to leave anything to chance. I over-kill on the maintenance (changing out T-stats and impellers when maybe I don't have to etc). I also continually surf sites that discuss outboard upkeep so I can keep up on any issues that arise with my brand. I hope to get the 2,000 hours people talk about getting on their Hondas; on the BF150 I'm running these days, I have 1,500 more to go.

Speaking of Hondas, anyone with a 200 or a 225 might want to look at the following:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating...miss-maintaining-your-honda-bf200-bf225s.html


or the following:

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-fo...s-corrosion-2002-BF-225hp-How-do-you-fix-this

 

[Hindsight]

9.9 Yam kicker 2005 800hrs a year ? still running strong. Pair of Df 140 Suz 2004 my old ones 2500hrs and no shop time and from what i hear run great

 

[spring fever]

2003 9.9 hp hi thrust Yammi -2300/2600 hrs as a kicker on a24 Orca-no problems-always maintained and flushed with salt-away.

 

[fishinforever]

I would say 3,000 running hours (give or take) is more than reasonable for an outboard. If outboards were pushing 6,000-8,000 hours there wouldn't be many companies selling motors today. Any kickers out there with hour meters? It would be interesting to see if they a much different lifespan on average.

 

[Sculpin]

Speaking of Hondas, anyone with a 200 or a 225 might want to look at the following:

http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating...miss-maintaining-your-honda-bf200-bf225s.html


or the following:

http://www.marineengine.com/boat-fo...s-corrosion-2002-BF-225hp-How-do-you-fix-this

Thanks for the links sharphooks. That has me concerned. Not freaking out........ but concerned lol. I will check this out. When we did the t-stats this summer it all looked good in that area.

 

[wildwest]

Here is the tip of the day............ALWAYS warm-up the big motor to operating temps before putting the pedal down,to allow piston and cylinder expansion.If not the engine may become cold seized..very common down south with the good-ol boys with their high horsepower bass boats...boom..piston out of the crankcase.......gee they say...I've only got 450 hours on it!!!!!!!

 

[adrianna3]

1995 Evinrude 115hp. Blown power head at aboot 3000 hours. Possible broken rings caused by VRO oiler failing. Rebuilt by Rod Tipton in Lake Cowichan and running strong (with oiler disconnected and bypassed).

Dave

 

[hooktender68]

I'm going to go with no comment on this thread ! lol

 

[searun]

Scary on the Hondo's...had heard there were corrosion issues with them, now I know why and what. Good to know if you drive one however as some of that may be preventable.

 

[trophywife]

looks like i got some home work to do,, in the driveway:{ did my t stats and housings last year,,gonna deffinately look into this, mines a 2005/225 with 1k hours

 

[profisher]

1997 Yamaha 200 Saltwater Series carbed 2 stroke. I put just under 200 hrs a season on it, all cruising. Here is my annual maintenance. Drop leg bolts one at a time and apply new coating of marine never-seize. Pull prop, check for anything wrapped behind, re-grease shaft. Drain and replace gear oil. Drain oil reservoir in boat and run oil through a paper filter to remove any gelled oils or foreign material, clean inside of oil tank and change oil filter under tank. Pull apart every electrical connector and check that there is still enough non-conductive electrical grease. (I applied to every connector years ago) Remove each coil and use my dremel to clean the block mating surface for proper grounding. Change spark plugs and look for signs of any problems with carb adjustments. Check shift linkage adjustments. Check and clean the pressure relief valve. Change water pump impeller every 2 years. Clean and remove any salt build up under engine cowling. Apply a coat of wax to the entire engine. Run the engine up and check that the t-stats are allowing both sides of the block to come up to temp.
I carry a spare fuel pump diaphragm for both main and kickers, t-stat, spark plugs, coil, grease, 2 cycle oil and water pump impeller at all times on board. When I go out of town I add a spare prop, spare starter motor, and throw a complete spare lower gearcase in the back of the truck so that it is not far away if I smack something hard and do major lower end damage. All this so I'm not likely to break down during my season, but if I do I'm not loosing to many paying hrs that you can't get back.

 

[firelight]

90 hp yam 4 stroke, 2006 bought new in 2008, 3 years of use and it has 768 hours on it, running and trolling.

After break in oil and filter changed every 100 hrs, leg oil every year, impeller has been changed once. Have also changed out various zincs as required, usually before cause I'm freaked out about corrosion. Also engine is flushed every time it gets wet.

So far so good I hope I get 10 more years out of it.

 

[scott craven]

Scary on the Hondo's...had heard there were corrosion issues with them, now I know why and what. Good to know if you drive one however as some of that may be preventable.

Scary on the Yamaha's as well with the water jacket corrosion on the 225-250's
looks like they both have issues.

 

[Sculpin]

1997 Yamaha 200 Saltwater Series carbed 2 stroke. I put just under 200 hrs a season on it, all cruising. Here is my annual maintenance. Drop leg bolts one at a time and apply new coating of marine never-seize. Pull prop, check for anything wrapped behind, re-grease shaft. Drain and replace gear oil. Drain oil reservoir in boat and run oil through a paper filter to remove any gelled oils or foreign material, clean inside of oil tank and change oil filter under tank. Pull apart every electrical connector and check that there is still enough non-conductive electrical grease. (I applied to every connector years ago) Remove each coil and use my dremel to clean the block mating surface for proper grounding. Change spark plugs and look for signs of any problems with carb adjustments. Check shift linkage adjustments. Check and clean the pressure relief valve. Change water pump impeller every 2 years. Clean and remove any salt build up under engine cowling. Apply a coat of wax to the entire engine. Run the engine up and check that the t-stats are allowing both sides of the block to come up to temp.
I carry a spare fuel pump diaphragm for both main and kickers, t-stat, spark plugs, coil, grease, 2 cycle oil and water pump impeller at all times on board. When I go out of town I add a spare prop, spare starter motor, and throw a complete spare lower gearcase in the back of the truck so that it is not far away if I smack something hard and do major lower end damage. All this so I'm not likely to break down during my season, but if I do I'm not loosing to many paying hrs that you can't get back.

This is a great post on your maintenance procedure profisher! Is it a spray on wax you use to coat the engine? What brand etc.?

 

[Enniberg]

I spray everything under the the cowling with Corrosion X. Has worked very well for me.

Use the same stuff on electrical panels, battery terminals, etc.

http://www.corrosionx.com/corrosionx.html

 

[Aces]

I always use the Merc product..........sticks like glue

 

[profisher]

Sculpin, sorry should have been more clear...just keep the engine itself clean and salt buildup free...apply the wax by hand to the outer cowling, leg etc to protect the paint.