Engine Life

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I was curious as to the useful life of a motor. If one was to assume the motor was properly maintained how many hours before there are problems? When buying a used motor how many hours would be a concern?

If this is one of those it all depends questions I would be interested in what would set off your warning bells?

Thanks
 
Hi Mitch and Martha,

If you are narrowing a search, I'd suggest a compression check. If all the numbers are good, I wouldn't be overly concerned about the hours. It seems that 2,000 hours or more is realistic. A friend of ours is a commercial operator in south Texas and has gotten close to 4,000 hours on his last Honda 135... operated daily, and rarely flushed.

Personally, I'd prefer an engine that has had regular use vs one that has age but not hours.

Getting close?

Best wishes,
Jim
 
I always figure an hour is equivalent to 50 miles. So if the engine has 1000 hours it is comparable to a car with 50,000 miles. That is by no means scientific, but it does lend perspective to looking at an hour meter.
 
Jim - We have about 4 different 25/26s that we are seriously looking at. This process is very interesting. Some people are very responsive and others appear not interested in really selling the boat. One of the dealers is very difficult to get in touch with - business must be good these days (may be the time of the year). We are definitely learning alot. The resources on this forum are excellent!!!! We feel confident we will have a boat by the end of the year which is extremely exciting!!!
 
We are coming up on 1,100 hours on our 2006 Honda 40's. Carl, the mechanic at EQ Harbor Services tells me I can expect at least another 1,000 hours and probably 4,000 or so in total. We do regular maintenance and flushing but nothing exceptional.
 
We have just over 1600 hours on our 1999 twin Honda 40's & they run now as well or better than ever. Of course either could come apart at any time, but the same could be said for new one's. With plans of returning to cruise the very remote areas of Southeast Alaska again next year the hours on the motors will have zero influence on where we chose to venture.

A recent costly & ultimately frustrating maintenance procedure I had done, which is the only one performed on the motors by anyone other then myself, was having the prop shaft water/oil seals replaced. I originally was going to do the job myself but found the special tools needed came close to the Honda dealers quoted price of $350 for both motors. The reason I had decided to have this done is for the last several years there has been a discoloring of the oil indicating water contamination of which changing the impellers & upper seals hadn't stopped. With needed forced removal the port motor prop shaft internal locking nut caused galling of the gear & shaft case threads & so it had to be replaced at over $650 just for the casing, turning the $350 job into $1350. The worst part of it & the reason this particular maintenance was mentioned is the mechanic said other then the galled casing threads all the other internal parts on these lower units with over 1600 hours on them were in excellent condition & the whole costly procedure was unnecessary even with the apparent indication of water contamination.

Jay
 
As Jim noted, there are some commercial run motors--like harbor patrols or Coast Guard, charter fishermen0--who have posted some numbers in 8,000 range on Hondas, and Suzuki's.

Anything less than 1000 hours on those boats you are looking at should be fine. Getting 2000+ hours these days is the norm. Things to watch out for are corrosion. Has the engine been flushed? Are there good service records--and this may just mean that the owner does it himself and notes it in the log. I would check compression and get an engine oil analysis. Two or more analysis are far better, and if the owner has these that is a real plus--but it is going to be very unusual to find this in an outboard (more common in a Diesel).

The water pump impeller should be changed every 200 to 300 hours under normal conditions---or every 2 to 3 years. More often if run in silt.

Look for signs of corrosion on the bracket as well as the lower leg. Internally the thermostat is a good area to look for corrosion.

Generally a clean and well cared for boat, means a well cared for engine.
 
I have very near 2000 hours on my 1994 hondas and they are still fine. Like anything else, they require care. However, they were well made and will probably give another 5-10 years of good service. I see lots of fishing charter boats in AK with many thousand of hours on honda motors still going strong. Mine are starting to suffer from some minor corrosion concerns, but it probably important to remember they are run only in the salt and rarely see fresh water. They are also 20 years old.....and with how they still run, hard to believe......
 
Half Share":21kwrjw8 said:
Jim - We have about 4 different 25/26s that we are seriously looking at. This process is very interesting. Some people are very responsive and others appear not interested in really selling the boat. One of the dealers is very difficult to get in touch with - business must be good these days (may be the time of the year). We are definitely learning alot. The resources on this forum are excellent!!!! We feel confident we will have a boat by the end of the year which is extremely exciting!!!
Click to expand...

My thought on that dealer situation: if they don't have time for you before the sale... yeah, you know the rest.

Doing your research is good... don't let a good boat get away because there might be a better (subjective) one coming up. The search is an exciting part of the process, but getting out on the water and cruising is your goal.

Have fun and good luck with the search,
Jim
 
Hi Mitch and Martha,

I have talked to a couple of trusted mechanics about repowering, going from 40's to 50's to get some EFI advantages. With less than 600 hours on, the thought was my current OB's would be good used market machines. Still OK up to about 2K hours, and would probably not get me much on a trade or resale if I'm in the 4000 hour neighborhood. The Yami's, if taken care of should go easy to 5000 hours plus with regular service.

Wish you the best.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
hardee":1dxvjarh said:
Hi Mitch and Martha,

I have talked to a couple of trusted mechanics about repowering, going from 40's to 50's to get some EFI advantages. With less than 600 hours on, the thought was my current OB's would be good used market machines. Still OK up to about 2K hours, and would probably not get me much on a trade or resale if I'm in the 4000 hour neighborhood. The Yami's, if taken care of should go easy to 5000 hours plus with regular service.

Wish you the best.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
Click to expand...



Don't do it Harvey. You and me are twin Yami 40 buddies.

Martin.
 
The more frequently you run them, the longer they last.
It is dry starts that cause the majority of wear. A dry start happens when the motor has set long enough that the oil film clinging to the moving surfaces drips off and dries out. Motors that are run essentially daily never encounter that rapid wear from frequent dry starting.
 
What would be a good rule of thumb for how long is to long to let them sit. Be a good to reason to say we need to take the boat out for preventative maintenance.

Thanks
 
Half Share":j17e4t5m said:
What would be a good rule of thumb for how long is to long to let them sit. Be a good to reason to say we need to take the boat out for preventative maintenance.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Mitch, I don't really know the answer to that one but for over wnter storage, the engine fogging is what is done to provide a good oil coating for a long lasting, non-running period.

Not looking at making any radical changes anytime soon.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
Lots of variables in the dry start equation.
The engines I am most familiar with where there is detailed documentation (as opposed to 'I know a guy who' ) is aircraft engines.
The typical light airplane engine with a private owner, that often sits for weeks, or even months, between starts will have a hard time reaching the manufacturers rated overhaul time of, say, 2000 hours. (most do not)
The exact same engine in a commercial setting, such as powerline or pipeline patrol, or flight training school, that is run daily will often last 150% and maybe even 200% longer, between overhauls compared to the engine that sits for long periods between starts.

Now marine engines are in a different - and corrosive - environment and are water cooled. so the comparison is not necessarily one to one.
Still one can readily see that piston bores that have become dry, or maybe even having a fine patina of rust, when being started will suffer more metal grinding and wear for each start than an engine that has a slick, oily bore during starts. The same analogy goes for bearings, gear teeth, etc.

The old canard of use it or lose it is based on reality.
 
I have never heard of this on outboards, but there are many "pre lube" pumps available for 4 cyl engines, both gas and diesel. These turn on when you turn the ignition switch and force oil thru the major passages, thus you are starting a fully lubricated engine.

In reality most of us will not wear out an engine due to lack of pre lube or not running it enough. There are enough other abuses!

Granted that the outboards with max life (8,000+ hours) are run daily or almost daily--I am aware of folks who run them less often getting over 4000 hours. NA Diesels routinely get over 10,000 hours, even without pre-oilers--and some commercial diesels get over 50,000 hours between overhauls (such as big Cats in tugs)
 
When the motor becomes too noisy I would say that it has started giving me signals. I don't have much knowledge about second hand motors as I never bought any and I never faced any problems yet in my new motor also. One thing you must do is to keep the engine lubricated. Check it after every trip. This way you can increase the life of an engine.
 
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