Rinse dinghy outboard with fresh water

[KrakenJr]

Hi all. Finally got sick of rowing my tender and purchased a small outboard. Had a look in the forum and couldn't find much info. But just wondering about whether people rinse their dinghy outboard with freshwater like most power boaters do or do many not bother? I was thinking about coming up with a small bucket system as my motor is tiny (3.3hp).

[akopac]

I’m interested too. I have a similar motor and cruise. Occasionally I flush it with vinegar

[Tin Tin]

If I am going to leave my dinghy outboard unused for longer than a fortnight I fresh water flush it with ears over the intake, some outboards have an inbuilt hose attachment, a bucket works fine too if you have neutral gear. Something to note, if your engine has zinc anodes in the salt water cooling system then fresh water will reduce effectiveness of the zinc, better off with aluminum anodes. Same applies to flushing your main marine engine.

[ggray]

The more expensive the motor, the more sense it makes to rinse it. A dinghy motor isn't inexpensive but it's not in the league of the 75hp and more engines.

A motor on a trailered boat can be relatively easy to rinse. Not so easy with the dinghy on davits or motor on a stern rail.

This is one of the cost (dollars and efforts) to benefits decisions you will make.

I've rarely rinsed my 23 year old Tohatsu 2 srtoke and it still works.

Actually, one of my first ebay purchases was for a kit someone put together to provide back flushing through the pee stream outlet, so I may have done some good until about 15 years or so ago when I removed it. Conversations I had with OB mechanics convinced me that I probably had been rinsing only the water pump.

[Wotname]

One data point.

I have a 2hp 2 stroke Suzuki o/b for about 25 (or more) years and it has had maybe as many as 4 or 5 fresh water rinses over that time.

It has had maybe a 10 new impellers and an occasional oil change in the leg. It runs well. Almost always salt water use.

[chrisr]

we are full time live aboard cruisers and use our 15hp tohatsu (almost) every day

to best of my knowledge it has never been flushed in it's life...ever

running like a swiss watch...

cheers,

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by chrisr

we are full time live aboard cruisers and use our 15hp tohatsu (almost) every day

to best of my knowledge it has never been flushed in it's life...ever

running like a swiss watch...

cheers,

Well Chris, that just proves how much better we are at o/b maintenance than you are... our 15 hp Yamaha has been fresh water rinsed each and every time we go up a river very far. Must be at least a dozen times since new in 2003. Still runs, still on original impeller, second set of plugs (might change them some day this winter) countless hours.

These modern 2 stroke o/bs are wonderfully reliable and long lived, especially when compared to their ancestors.

Jim

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well Chris, that just proves how much better we are at o/b maintenance than you are... our 15 hp Yamaha has been fresh water rinsed each and every time we go up a river very far. Must be at least a dozen times since new in 2003. Still runs, still on original impeller, second set of plugs (might change them some day this winter) countless hours.

These modern 2 stroke o/bs are wonderfully reliable and long lived, especially when compared to their ancestors.

Jim

hahaha...super good idea / way to flush the outboard.

definitely going for a run up the next fresh water river we find (which will likely result in terminal shock / failure by the poor thingy !)

cheers,

[KrakenJr]

Thanks a lot for the replies everyone, much appreciated. I will feel less guilty for not rinsing mine after it's first use then!

[Senojev]

Nice to do regularly but more challenging for a liveaboard in seawater. Our 20hp Honda does have a flush port so it is easy to hook up to our fresh water wash down but we try to conserve water. When it rains we can easily collect 5 gallons of water in a bucket and use this with a small pump to flush.a few times.