Expected life of an outboard.

[gropeher]

Can anyone here inform me of the expected life of an out board if they are regulary serviced, flushed and well maintained.
I have a Yamaha 100hp 4 stroke and would be interested in an approximate life to expect in hours etc.

Cheers Ryan..

[finga64]

They'll last donkey years if well looked after and if nothing gives it a premature death ie plastic bag around the water inlet #>:(
one of mine is early eighties vintage, my dads is '71 vintage and both going strong and looking good.

[Scalem]

I can only comment on 2 strokes, but the principal should be the same. Wherever there is a join of cast iron to alloy (heads) separated by gaskets is where most corrosion occurs. In a 2 stroke, it means water in the combustion chamber if left too long. I have learnt my lesson, 1st right off was the old blueband 80hp merc, 2nd was a 75hp Yamaha where the same happened. Does not hurt to take the head off every 5 yrs or so and replace these gaskets. But- I know nothing about 4 strokes......

Scalem

[MulletMan]

I ran a Mercury Blue Band 115 hp for 13 years on heavy water skiing work and it never gave up. Every week I did maintenance on it and flooded the old girl with every external lubricant and spray on the market. Made one hell of a mess but she was like new when I sold her. Plenty of new spark plugs, fresh fuel/mix (no old stuff) and flushing the motor after every single run - no matter what the manufacturers say! Regularly replace the impellor no matter who says not to and generally lavish TLC on her as much as possible. Operate at 75% maximum RPM for most of the time and don't thrash the guts out of her!
Pull the prop regularly and check it is greased and no fishing line wrapped inside. Find a good reliable outboard dealer who is honest and knows his stuff and REGULARLY get a service done. Finding a decent dealer is the hardest bit .........................
Even if you went to a 4-stroke, the basic rules remain the same! Make sure you get the right HP motor for the boat and the correct prop. Often it may be better to go a little higher in the HP department where you dont need high RPM to keep her going. If the motor is too small in the HP, you may finish up having to flog her along too much. Bigger is better and you may use LESS fuel in the process!
Good luck!

[DNO40]

I think that the pink Panther has answered your question quite sufficiently. No need for me to comment.


DNO

[camsharkman]

Do as TPP says and you should see about 1500hrs or better life achieved.

[Mr__Bean]

There is a charter guy that operates out of Queenscliffe in Victoria that run a pair of Yammy 100's on the back of his 3 tonne plate ally.

I forget the exact figures, but from memory he got over 4000 hours out of them before replacing them.

Here is his website which has pictures of his boat in it.

www.gonefishing.com.au/OurBoat.htm

- Darren

[Oldyella]

I had a 1980 Blueband Merc that was still going strong when sold to a new owner a few years ago. It was a "salty" and had signs of corrosion in the water cover (Head cover). and some of the trigger wiring was turning green.
After fixing these problems,(caused by neglect) she still had about 120 psi per pot and still purred like a kitten at 5500.
I have been told that as long as you use fresh fuel, good 2 stroke oil, keep carbies clean (to avoid lean condition) flush regularly, service the water pump and grease prop/drive shafts, an ouboard of any brand could last 30 years plus.
In other words.. Exactly what the Panther said...

[stevedemon]

Hi reel magic
I had a 1980 Evinrude rebuilt when I brought the boat in 1994 it had done queit a bit work back then before I sold it in 1992 and still had 110psi in all pistons I now have a 1989 Yamaha 2 stroke with 120 psi in each piston like the guy's have said it depends on how you look after the motor make sure you flush it properly I use a flush tank with fresh water, white vinegar, run for twenty minutes then empty the tank refill water and add Coolant keeps inside motor free of corrision lift off casing and spray with W.D40 or Linera oil and every 3rd trip spray with degreaser hose off an respray with the W.D40 or Linera oil to keep motor free of corrision it is just as important for inside motor as outside of motor to keep them free of corrisions an also keep the props an W.P greased and free of sand an grit but one thing some people forget to do when come back from a trip is to run motor for the last .5 to 1km of trip at full throttle this clean out built up carbons and keep cylinders even

Hope this helps

Cheers ;D ;D
Steve 8-) 8-)

[billfisher]

Two stokes have a relatively short life. After about 1000 hours a rebuild is on the cards and there is not much you can do about it, they just wear out. Fortunately they are relatively cheap to rebuild (from about 2K) with new pistons and rings and rebored cylinders. If the rest of the motor is allright they will last another 1000 or more hours.
I don't know if 4 strokes last any longer, but I have heard they are lot more expensive to rebuild.
Someone mentioned saltwater getting into the motor. I had this happen to mine. The engine can be saved if you catch it early enough. You usually find out when the motor seizes up on storage. The real damage occurs when the crankshaft and bearing start rusting. If run like this the vibrations will destroy the pistons and cylinders. If you replace the bearings and rebuild the crank where nescessary the engine will be fine.

[Nick_Currey]

Hi Ryan,

I now have a new (2.5 hours) 100 4/ Yammie on the 500 Cruisy as well.

I would be hoping to get lots of hours out of it. I know the pro fishos up at the Gulf get over 1500 hrs on their 4 stroke yammies. The key is using them regularly. Just got to win lotto so can toss the day job!!

Keep in touch

Nick

[Darryl]

Im about too upgrade but the old blueband merc 80 hp that i have with mine has nearly done 4000 hours. Going strong, flushed well every trip, gaskets replaced on the head once a year. And serviced reguarly.

[Wild_Thing]

Hey Ryan
We have repowered many a 4 stroke pro boats that have exceeded 5 thousand hrs. This my seem hard to believe because the average person only clocks up about 250 hrs a year .(Give Or Take About The Same)
Most pros clock up their hrs alot quicker so this would be very different to the likes of you & me that may not clock up that many hrs in a life time (Not Talkin About Everybody).And most pros never flush motors & always exceed service intervalls.
Anyway these motors go back to suzi where some get resold WITH ALL THE WARNINGS But still keep chuggin on.
And others are pulled down simply for reasearch & development.Not sure what happens to the ballance.

Food for thought anyway Mate!
Cheers Payney

[ahoj]

A top quality Oil additive for 2 strokes is the secret of longevity---- throw away w 30 or 10-50 sae Use recomended oils like TCW3 formula-- where 100:1 is recomended go for 50-75:1 oil is cheap . That is from Yamaha dealers sugestions.

Can anyone help me.. need to know of any 2 stroke make 6 hp outboard that has a electric start....

Ahoj

[coasty]

ive got an old seagull. still original and still running.
also an old evenrude that i was given in 1979/80 area. it was old then and it just died with my daughter and son using it in november.