Out board service and maintenance

J

joechiro35

New member
I have a Honda 90 03 and I want to learn how to do my own maintenance as best as I can. I want to know how to change out fuel filters, spark plugs, and learn how to change the oil to save on cost and help the motor run good for a long time. Also water pump would be a good one to learn.

Do any of you know how to do these things and give some tips to someone who is not very handy. And at how many hours or months, years should service to the engines be done. My engines have been serviced by the previous owner and there is about 3 hours since the service.
 
Great idea.

You have most of the basics--add in there fuel filters, fuel lines, drain the Carburetors, rebuild them and sync them. Drain and refill the lower unit, Change out a prop, Clear blockage in the water passages, access the thermostat, change a starter. There are threads on these on the list already---maybe some one has links to each. Also being able to trouble shoot on the water is essential in any motor.

Start by buying one of the simple manuals--if you are more mechanically inclined the Shop manuel. Read at least the service type of manual, and it gives you most of the essentials.

I also carry along some extra motor oil, extra lower unit oil, extra gaskets for each drain on the motor, spare filters for the fuel system, If on a long trip--perhaps an extra fuel pump, and always an extra prop, with crown nut, cotter pins and thrust washers. (spun hubs or damaged props crops up every now and then).

Tools--large flat screw driver--set of allen keys M an std, set of box & ratchet wrenches, socket set, with long sockets--and extensions for the spark plugs socket, standard screw drivers/ or multi. Filter wrenches, (I also carry strap wrench/chain Vise grips, feeler gauges, vise grips--two sizes, long nose pliers, volt meter, small (#12 gauge) alligator clip jumper wires--and battery jumper cables. Multi tool, small file, and various repair materials, such as epoxy, gasket materials, sealants, crimper and assortment of electrical crimp fittings--along with some spare wire. I also carry a small Dremal tool--can drill--up to some pretty good size holes, cut metal etc with one--they have rechargeable ones which work fairly well and will charge off a small inverter.
 
Great question on doing your own service on your Honda outboard. I am 'in the same boat' literally. I appreciate the response from "Thataway'-is that Bob? I will save your note and suggestions on tools to have on board.

Hopefully I'll get my boat out of my driveway sometime this summer and enjoy it on the water!!

Regards,
Jack Howell
 
Having the tools onboard and knowing how to use them are 2 separate issues.

I'm halfway knowledgeable on the use of tools, but it does not take much to get me stumped.

Is there anybody on the forums who does work as a boat mechanic professionally or on the side preferably.

I too would love to learn the ins and outs of outboard maintenance. My preferred method of learning is to watch a professional and asking questions.

Anybody???
 
It might just be an Alaskan thing, but a lot of the times I take my stuff to the shop it just isn't repaired. I took my Honda to the local C-Dory dealer years ago (like 2004) because it was having an idle issue and they wanted to sell me a timing belt, valve adjustment, fuel filters, lower unit change in addition to a compression test and tune. I said yes to most of it as I was swamped with working on my rental units.

However, they did not repair the problem as in the spring in Seward the problem was clearly still there and I fixed it myself. How fun since I had paid for the diagnostic and they assured me the valve adjustment was the problem. Of course, the only time valves cause a bad idle is when they are adjusted too tight.....how'd they tighten themselves? Who knows.......I was basically steered in the wrong direction with a diagnoses that doesn't even make logical sense......

Since then, I make time to do it myself as I know that it is done right. It is good you are trying to learn how to work on your equipment.
 
I know that there was a lot of stuff in my question. But I wanted to know the overall picture of what it may look like to service and maintain my engines. What can be done by me and what I would need to go to a mechanic for. Bob you gave a great answer about a lot of details.

That gave me a better picture of what to look for and what to research. I didn't even know that you had to drain the lower unit. Things that you described I had no idea that they needed to be done. I wanted to hear it from an expert c-brat before I ask the specialists. Thank you Bob for always responding to my questions.
 
I agree, buy a manual for your motor,but spend the money and get a proper shop manual. Using a cheaper after market book cost me an expensive repair bill. Pay now or pay later.
 
I vote for doing it yourself, making some (sometimes costly) "rookie" mistakes --- if there is no life/limb involved. Just test things in an appropriate environment. The cost will pay for itself fivefold later.

When complete, you will know more about your engine than your mechanic ever will (care about), you will have the utmost confidence yourself, and you will be ever-so-quick to diagnose and/or spot trouble long before you would have previously (possibly preventing disaster).

A story from one of my previous boats -

The new owner came down here to NC to buy my beloved tug. He had me take it to a yard to have some work done. He told the yard when they were done to put it on a truck (32ft, 16,000lbs) and take it to Boston. The yard hand, in the very worst NC accent you can imagine said, "boats wernt made to go on trucks......."

His previous boat was an 18ft Bayliner runabout. He was a very timid guy. Holding back a laugh, I spoke up, and after a time, convinced him to take 3 weeks of vacation and take the boat up the ICW himself. I told him to take his time, be cautious, and by the time he got there, he would know more about the boat and its systems than anyone on the planet.

He did just that.

He called me a month later and thanked me profusely, saying that was the best thing he ever did. Yes, he had a few issues, but taking things slow he was able to resolve them on his own. He and his wife had a "vacation of a lifetime."

It ain't rocket science, you just need to go slow and think logically......You'll be glad you did.
 
I haven't done my own service ... yet. However, I have found that - at least for my Yamaha - there is quite a bit of information/sketches/instructions on the basics (oil change, lower unit lube change, etc. etc.) in the plain old owners manual (free for download from the site if one does not have one). I don't know if Honda is the same or not, but perhaps it is.

Another thing I've found helpful is to look up the parts/diagrams on boats.net. That doesn't tell you how to do something, but it familiarized me with some of the parts and how they go together (the diagrams go system by system).

I'd like to get a service/shop manual for my engine too, but don't have one yet.

(I started out by having both my engines completely serviced by shops, because I had plenty of other things to do on the boat and I had a really good, trusted shop for both brands of engines I have. I wanted to start with an established baseline.)

Sunbeam
 
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