Outboard service

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Welti

I have asked around once or twice when I ran into someone on the dock. It seems they are all inboard, or they just pull the whole boat every couple years. One guy said just leave it. Change the upper unit oil and spark plugs yourself and don't worry about lower unit. That doesn't match what I'm seeing in the owners manual though.

Yeah you need to replace the impeller minimum every two years. And change the fuel filter periodically plus the engine and lower unit oil yearly.

Most any outboard dealer will do the yearly/100 hour maintenance if you don't want to.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Welti

I One guy said just leave it. Change the upper unit oil and spark plugs yourself and don't worry about lower unit. That doesn't match what I'm seeing in the owners manual though.

Please promise us that you won't listen to anymore advice from this individual who clearly hasn't a clue.

It's not just changing the gearbox oil, check the impeller and anode in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, but checking that the shaft seals aren't leaking oil out or water in etc. Possible damage to the prop or fishing line around it which will destroy the seal, corrosion to the leg etc.

Have you spoken to the marina about not having an engine for a week whilst its serviced, so that you always have a serviceable engine to move your boat 51 weeks of the year. Hint, play the good guy maintaining your boat.

Pete

[Welti]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yeah you need to replace the impeller minimum every two years. And change the fuel filter periodically plus the engine and lower unit oil yearly.

Most any outboard dealer will do the yearly/100 hour maintenance if you don't want to.

I'm happy to pay a good mechanic and have one. Just logistics at this point.

[Welti]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Please promise us that you won't listen to anymore advice from this individual who clearly hasn't a clue.

It's not just changing the gearbox oil, check the impeller and anode in accordance with the manufacturers instructions, but checking that the shaft seals aren't leaking oil out or water in etc. Possible damage to the prop or fishing line around it which will destroy the seal, corrosion to the leg etc.

Have you spoken to the marina about not having an engine for a week whilst its serviced, so that you always have a serviceable engine to move your boat 51 weeks of the year. Hint, play the good guy maintaining your boat.

Pete

Agreed, and good point!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Welti

I'm happy to pay a good mechanic and have one. Just logistics at this point.

Yeah that's another reason I got a 5 HP 4 stroke that weighs 58 lbs. In case I wanted to ever take it in to a mechanic.

I can take it off my bracket and move it to the stern railing mount by hand.

This for my 6600 lb. displacement 1974 Bristol 27.

My boat used to have a diesel so the stern railing mount was for the PO's dinghy outboard.

[catsketcher]

I reckon that you could do the work in the cockpit and it would take about two hours maximum. The first time you do it will take longest but afterwards you will learn about your engine and you will be a better skipper and save lots of money by doing the maintenance yourself.

There are many Youtubes about dropping lower legs. It is essential that the leg is dropped out every couple of years. All of the bolts will need to be able to be removed, and by unbolting them and putting them back with a little dab of oil or grease you are ensuring that you can remove them and also get the driveshaft spline out of the crankshaft.

Outboards have stainless bolts in aluminum. This is not ideal so it is imperative that bolts be maintained by removing and checking other parts.

I service my own outboards. I like the Youtubes from Dangar Stu, he has some great ones to help you understand your donk. Your four stroke will need

- oil change in motor - easy to do - buy an oil removing pump and check the manual for the oil - mine is 10W-30
- change oil filter - lots of paper towel required, again easy to do.
- check inside colwing for salt intrusion. If there is any corrosion check water ingress and lightly oil with oily rag.

I do the above every year at least to my two outboards. This takes me about an hour having fun with the radio on.

Every two years I drop the leg

This takes a few bolts and a gear shift linkage. Then you pull the leg out and sit it in a vice or similar. Then you pull the impeller housing off and replace it and keep the old one. A little bit of rubber grease and re - install. Takes about an hour at slow pace.

Also at the same time I redo the lower unit oil. Check the colour. It should look nice and like oil. If it is a milkshake you are in trouble, it hasn't happened to me yet. But otherwise you let the oil out (put the leg in an old bucket) and then using a small pump you put some new gearbox oil in. About half an hour to do this going slow. Watch a video on how to do this, there is a trick to putting the two plugs in.

The thing about doing it yourself is, engines are vital bits of machinery on a yacht. If it goes wrong you are stuffed when cruising. So my advice is to learn about the engine by doing easy stuff yourself. Here is one reason why.

We were motoring into a coral reef in a calm. We just got through the pass and then our outboard stopped dead. So I quickly launched the dinghy and pushed our 38ft cat to a mooring. After lots of trying I reasoned I had put the dregs of the fuel drum in the tank and (it was all my own fault as I had no extra filters then) this had caused the problem.

Thankfully I had the manual on the computer and had done enough on the engine (ansd many others) to remove the carby and strip it down in the cockpit. About an hour later I put it back on and were were all good. It is the only time in 23 years I have had a problem with the outboard for the cat and it was all due to my stupidity.

But if I hadn't been okay with understanding outboards I would have been in a huge pickle. The best seaman understands all of the systems on their boat. So get in there are change the oil, remove the leg, check the impeller and lower leg oil, and have a stickybeak inside the cowling. It will pay you back in spades if anything goes wrong when you are a long way from help. PLus after doing it once it is LESS hassle than getting others to work on your boat.

cheers

Phil

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Welti

I wouldn't have even asked except I wanted to reverse the boat stern-in to make it easier to get the engine off/on and I thought there might be an issue with that, since no one else parks their boats that way.

Yes, definitely back her in to remove the engine. The only reason others don’t back their boats is that it’s a hassle. I have two 11’ oars, just let me know.

[Kettlewell]

If the marina raises a stink just borrow someone's dinghy motor and put it on the bracket until your other motor is done. On my old 32-foot cruising catamaran the main ouboard (15HP at the time) died and we put a little 2.2HP Mercury on there which took us through the C&D Canal and down to Annapolis in two days of motoring making 4 knots at full throttle.

[Welti]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yeah that's another reason I got a 5 HP 4 stroke that weighs 58 lbs. In case I wanted to ever take it in to a mechanic.

I can take it off my bracket and move it to the stern railing mount by hand.

This for my 6600 lb. displacement 1974 Bristol 27.

My boat used to have a diesel so the stern railing mount was for the PO's dinghy outboard.

Interesting point, as I normally never use it above maybe 1.3 of full throttle anyways. Maybe I could get by with smaller. As long as I don't plan on motoring longer distances. I guess.

[Welti]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Yes, definitely back her in to remove the engine. The only reason others don’t back their boats is that it’s a hassle. I have two 11’ oars, just let me know.

Is it really that hard? I figured I could do it, maybe not prettily but ok.

[Welti]

Originally Posted by catsketcher

I reckon that you could do the work in the cockpit and it would take about two hours maximum. The first time you do it will take longest but afterwards you will learn about your engine and you will be a better skipper and save lots of money by doing the maintenance yourself.

There are many Youtubes about dropping lower legs. It is essential that the leg is dropped out every couple of years. All of the bolts will need to be able to be removed, and by unbolting them and putting them back with a little dab of oil or grease you are ensuring that you can remove them and also get the driveshaft spline out of the crankshaft.

Outboards have stainless bolts in aluminum. This is not ideal so it is imperative that bolts be maintained by removing and checking other parts.

I service my own outboards. I like the Youtubes from Dangar Stu, he has some great ones to help you understand your donk. Your four stroke will need

- oil change in motor - easy to do - buy an oil removing pump and check the manual for the oil - mine is 10W-30
- change oil filter - lots of paper towel required, again easy to do.
- check inside colwing for salt intrusion. If there is any corrosion check water ingress and lightly oil with oily rag.

I do the above every year at least to my two outboards. This takes me about an hour having fun with the radio on.

Every two years I drop the leg

This takes a few bolts and a gear shift linkage. Then you pull the leg out and sit it in a vice or similar. Then you pull the impeller housing off and replace it and keep the old one. A little bit of rubber grease and re - install. Takes about an hour at slow pace.

Also at the same time I redo the lower unit oil. Check the colour. It should look nice and like oil. If it is a milkshake you are in trouble, it hasn't happened to me yet. But otherwise you let the oil out (put the leg in an old bucket) and then using a small pump you put some new gearbox oil in. About half an hour to do this going slow. Watch a video on how to do this, there is a trick to putting the two plugs in.

The thing about doing it yourself is, engines are vital bits of machinery on a yacht. If it goes wrong you are stuffed when cruising. So my advice is to learn about the engine by doing easy stuff yourself. Here is one reason why.

We were motoring into a coral reef in a calm. We just got through the pass and then our outboard stopped dead. So I quickly launched the dinghy and pushed our 38ft cat to a mooring. After lots of trying I reasoned I had put the dregs of the fuel drum in the tank and (it was all my own fault as I had no extra filters then) this had caused the problem.

Thankfully I had the manual on the computer and had done enough on the engine (ansd many others) to remove the carby and strip it down in the cockpit. About an hour later I put it back on and were were all good. It is the only time in 23 years I have had a problem with the outboard for the cat and it was all due to my stupidity.

But if I hadn't been okay with understanding outboards I would have been in a huge pickle. The best seaman understands all of the systems on their boat. So get in there are change the oil, remove the leg, check the impeller and lower leg oil, and have a stickybeak inside the cowling. It will pay you back in spades if anything goes wrong when you are a long way from help. PLus after doing it once it is LESS hassle than getting others to work on your boat.

cheers

Phil

Wow, thanks for this! So you are saying you lift up the motor and service it in the cockpit? Seems like it might be a bit cramped? So you just put a motor dolly in center of your cockpit and lift the motor onto it and go from there?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Welti

Wow, thanks for this! So you are saying you lift up the motor and service it in the cockpit? Seems like it might be a bit cramped? So you just put a motor dolly in center of your cockpit and lift the motor onto it and go from there?

My previous joking aside, this is what you really should do.

Catsketcher is right.

This isn’t really engine repair or anything that tricky. It’s really really easy actually.

I have 3 outboards that I have to do every year.

2 main propulsion and one dinghy. They are 30HP, 30HP and 9.9HP. The 30s are high tech computer controlled 2-strokes

The 30s are difficult because I can’t remove them from the slide in the outboard wells. I have to take the lower unit off in the well and then carry that up to the table to work on it.

Yours will be way easier since you can move the whole outboard up there.

It’s exactly like Catsketcher said. Only takes a couple hours to do the complete and thorough annual service.

*change impeller and/or pump kit
*drain, inspect and refill gear oil
*change zincs
*change engine oil (if 4 stroke)
*visually inspect for damage, wear and tear and fix anything about to break

1) disconnect shift linkage (accessible through side of outboard leg)
2) 6 or so bolts hold the leg on remove them
3) work the leg off the head - may need to use a block of wood and hammer to tap it gently loose
4) do things with asterisks above
5) put all back together (tef gel bolts)
6) Enjoy complete dependability


If you get stuck make a thread here and we’ll walk you through it.

[catsketcher]

Originally Posted by Welti

Wow, thanks for this! So you are saying you lift up the motor and service it in the cockpit? Seems like it might be a bit cramped? So you just put a motor dolly in center of your cockpit and lift the motor onto it and go from there?

Cramped? Even if it is in the smallest cockpit most of the guys walking down the marina finger who own inboard diesels will be very envious. Have a look at some small boat diesel installs, sometimes you want to say very rude words trying to get a spanner in there to do work.

Pop the outboard on a large baulk of timber across the cockpit coamings or the dolly. Put some carpet down on the sole, or take it ashore and do it on the dolly. It will take less time to do it the second time than to take it to the mechanic.

The only thing you will need expertise to do is to change the timing belt and check the valve clearances, but if you get good enough you can do these too later on and this is a very rare job.

Now watch Stu's videos, learn lots, save money, and save time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCPu_oB3t4Y

[Don C L]

I wouldn't put it in the cockpit, but I would put it on an outboard dolly on the dock if you want. I saw one on eBay for under $100. As far as backing her in, it is good to get someone to help you certainly. I am around there weekly usually, let me know when you want to do it and I'll swing by.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Welti

Is it really that hard? I figured I could do it, maybe not prettily but ok.

Depends on boat and size. With an outboard, if you can reach over and steer with the outboard, it is pretty easy. Still good to have someone on the dock to help.