Removing Salt from your outboard?

[Fishmatics]

I get an excessive amount of salt water over my engine resulting in a large amount of salt residue on the engine itself - what is the best way to remove this salt?

Thanks Andrew

[Chimo]

Hey Andrew

Is it possible that your getting all the salt spray because your motor is low?
Or do you need a hood over a transducer etc?

IMHO best way to remove salt spray is to spray it with fresh water.

Still begs the question why is it so?

Cheers
Chimo

[Fishmatics]

Thanks Chimo - I'm in the process of sorting this problem out with the boat dealer, we have raised the motor and the problem still exists - too a lesser extent, I have ordered a hydrofoil and hopefully this will sort the problem out. We I slow down there is a rooster that goes vertical from the outboard and cover the back of my motor.

Can I just to the cowl off and spray the motor with fresh water after use? Should I spray a protective coat over the motor once all the salt is removed - something like lanotec?

[Noelm]

dont think a foil will solve your problem, but I agree, a garden hose is the best option for washing off salt, used with some car wash and sponge and your done, would not be too keen on hosing the motor with the cowl off though, probably be OK, but in the long term electric connectors and stuff will suffer.

[gr hilly]

before heading out on the water give a spray with inox this will help protect and make it easier to clean down after, allso saltaway works well to wash down your complete moter and trailer.
all the best hilly

[Jarrah Jack]

I always spray CRC on the internals of the motor to keep a protective coating inside. You could also apply the same approach on the cowl with a wax polish. It would make removal of the salt easier.

[Chimo]

If you spray the internals with CRC etc DO NOT spray the plug leads and high tension wiring.

My tech told me that over time it breaks them down.

I do wet down the undercowl area but only with a trickling hose, certainly would not advise a fire hose approach as suggest by Noelm not smart.

Your main task is to identify the cause and deal with that.

Foil as such wont stop spray, in fact if motor is at corrext height the foil will be out of the water when the motor is trimmed up and bach as for high speed cruise and WOT

Sort out the issue and save fresh water as yo wont have a spray issue.

Cheers
Chimo

[Kero]

Warm/hot water is great for getting salt off.
You can either trickle it over the affected areas or use a syringe to get into tight spots.
After it's dried, I spray a very light coat of Lanox to give a protective film.;)

[robothefisho]

We I slow down there is a rooster that goes vertical from the outboard and cover the back of my motor.



I'm going to assume when you come off the plane you keep power on? Say around 2000rpm when it drops off the plane to prevent the wash engulfing the motor? If not, there's your problem.

[PADDLES]

g'day andrew, i just use warm/hot water to get rid of any salt build up, i've got a fairly long hose so i just leave it in the sun and there's usually enough to get rid of the salt before the cold water comes through. like has been said earlier, steer clear of spraying any wiring with crc or wd40 or the like. i used to use a lanolin spray for under the cowl (got a stern drive now so i only have to worry about the drive unit now).

[cormorant]

Anyone know what is actually in teh salt away style products.

Reason I ask is a pool cleaner at a mates house uses a weak solution of mratic ( it think ) acid to clean teh commercial pipes and fliters of salt crust. Any budding chemists out there want to tell me it that works and if there is a reaction with ally .

Am seeing thremostats clogged and small auxilaries lates get more salt build up than ever before and it may be to do with newer motors running hotter to meet EPA star ratings. It going to kill a lot of motors early in their lives.


So what really does disolve salt and scale in a outboard?

How does it work?

Is it all marketing bull?

[Horse]

Reason I ask is a pool cleaner at a mates house uses a weak solution of mratic ( it think ) acid to clean teh commercial pipes and fliters of salt crust. Any budding chemists out there want to tell me it that works and if there is a reaction with ally .



Muriatic Acid is Hydrochloric acid. Commercial swimming pool operators use it to control alkalinity and PH levels. It certainly removes calcium etc in a hurry. I'm not sure about using it around alloy

[TheRealAndy]

Dont use any acid. Aluminium is fairly reactive, best to stay away from things like that. Fresh plain water is the go. The hotter the better, as it will disolve the salt.

I use fresh water on my engine, inside. Once it has dried it gets drowned in lanox or similar. I coat everything, including the HT stuff, never had a problem.

Pro fishos i know never ever wash their outboards. No flush, no clean, nothing. They rack up many 1000's of hours too..