Outboard engine maintenance questions

[ivan4199]

Hi - Some of you will have clocked my name & be expecting more somewhat ignorant questions. Well - not to disappoint you here they are :-

My 50hp Yamaha outboard was new last Sept & has done just 23 hrs. Oil level seems hardly to have fallen at all - is this normal & how soon should I change the oil ? - is this easy to do oneself ? I remember being told at the start to check for droplets of water somewhere in the
engine. Is this important, how should I check this & when should I get a proper service done?

Throttle has always been slightly stiff & steering seems to have got slightly loose now - are these things a standard service would address? Should I just ring a chandlery place?

Thanks in advance, Ivan

[Poly]

Originally Posted by ivan4199

My 50hp Yamaha outboard was new last Sept & has done just 23 hrs....... how soon should I change the oil ?

You should have got an owners manual with the engine which will stipulate the service intervals. New engines often get an oil change (including gearbox) and quick checkover at 10 hours - was this done? Normally after that you are probably looking at once a year or every 100 hours whichever comes first. But the manual will confirm for your brand/model. It will also list the tasks to be done / things to be checked.

Oil level seems hardly to have fallen at all - is this normal & - is this easy to do oneself ?

thats a good sign assuming of course it is a 4 stroke. changing oil not difficult google or a search on here will bring up instructions, its a bit messy.

Gearbox oil will need changed too. Various other things will need checked/tightened/adjusted. Spark plugs will need checked/gapped/changed. Filters (fuel/oil/air) will need changing when due. At some point the impellor will be due for replacement - this can be a DIY job but its a bit more involved than changing say a spark plug.

I'm guessing you didn't winterise the engine to store it during the "off" season? I think given this, plus it being relatively new and so under warranty I would shell out for a service by a marine engineer when its due. It would be worth saying to them you're new to owning outboards and get them to spend 15 mins showing you what basic things you can check yourself. Both for "preventative" maintainence and for "oh shit I'm in the sea and the engines just conked out problems"

I remember being told at the start to check for droplets of water somewhere in the engine. Is this important, how should I check this

I would say water anywhere in the engine (except the cooling) is bad. Was this to check for water in the gearbox or sump oil (both very bad) or possible in the fuel bowl (not good - but easily resolved).

Throttle has always been slightly stiff & steering seems to have got slightly loose now - are these things a standard service would address?

depends what you ask them to do! Slightly stiff and slightly loose may be normal, may not even be noticed by the engineer (he doesn't know how tight/loose it used to be on your particular boat) - but if you are concerned then say when you stick it in.

[chewy]

Some throttle have a tension/friction screw you can tighten or slacken on the hand throttle itself.

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Polwart

new and so under warranty I would shell out for a service by a marine engineer when its due.

This is the key part. It's new and under warranty. Don't touch it yourself apart from checking the oil and spraying the powerhead with corrosion guard or the Yamaha equivalent-anything else you do under the cowling will invalidate your warranty and could cost you a LOT of money. Get it in to a dealer.

[PeterM]

You 'may' have screwed the warranty already by not getting the 10 hour done. I'd do as suggested & get it given a once over by someone who has been recommended to you or you know. Maybe call the dealer to explain the fact you missed the 10hour service & will this affect the warranty ? Based on that either back to them to maintain it , or get anyone to look at it.

My Yam has not used any noticable oil in 2 years/ 100 hours which is good & its still a 'nice' oil colour - you can tell alot form the colour etc of the oil - pull the dipstick from the stb side of the engine & you'll see ( just like the car) - I assume you've done this to tell its not used much ?

I'd also expect there to be a throttle friction on top of the control box - try & unscrew it abit & see if it helps - if not tell the person servicing it & let them have a look.

I also write my initials on the oil filter in black marker - that way you know it has been changed when they say it has - ( i have had to pick up people on this before now ) & when changed I write the date of the change on so I dont get confused !

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Blackroady

You 'may' have screwed the warranty already by not getting the 10 hour done. I'd do as suggested & get it given a once over by someone who has been recommended to you or you know. Maybe call the dealer to explain the fact you missed the 10hour service & will this affect the warranty ?

You need to check your owners manual - I think that my 10hr service didn't require a dealer to do it - but it was a few years back, and it was a 2 stroke (so other than checking nothing had fallen off it seemed to be just a gear oil change - still cost £80 though!).

[jyasaki]

Yam 10 hr service does not have to be done by a dealer (caveat: in the US, anyway.) Dealer I spoke to said anywhere in the 10 to 25 hr range is fine (this is not Yamaha talking, but a servicing dealer.) In general, 10 hr service involves: changing engine lube oil, changing gearbox oil, changing oil filter(s) and, optionally, fuel filters, and inspection of spark plugs (look for consistency across all the plugs, clean, or a light brown or tan color is best.)

The droplets of water the OP referred to is, I believe, water ingress into the cowling (you're most likely not going see water droplets in lube oils; rather you'll see a milky goop that used to be oil.) Spraying the exposed metals and all fasteners on the powerhead is good preventative maintenance, especially if used in salt water.

If it's a new boat (or was a new boat last September), you should have gotten all manuals with the paperwork package. The binnacle manual should show where the friction adjustment is for the throttle. On mine, I had to really crank it down to keep the throttle from slipping back (top mount single engine control.)

You can get the owners manual on-line here

If you haven't, you should read the literature that came with the boat. There's actually useful info in there (usually.)

jky

[ivan4199]

Thanks a lot all of you - really useful info !

Ivan

[GerryP]

I'm glad there's somebody else out there with a similiar level of knowledge to mine re outboards. Great thread with learning for those that don't know. Thanks from me to!
I have a new (to me) 30HP 4st Mercury EFI - any tips on "Oh shit - the engine has stopped/won't restart and I'm offshore". Also any advice of what spares to carry in an emergency?
Thanks,
GerryP

[PeterM]

Hi Gerry - I'd try & avoid the engine stopping by getting it serviced regularly - something like preventative maintainance - I suspect a lot of people on here do that without realising they do.

As for spares - where do you start !

[Poly]

Originally Posted by GerryP

any tips on "Oh shit - the engine has stopped/won't restart and I'm offshore". Also any advice of what spares to carry in an emergency?

probably - relax and carefully work through some very basic things:

[symptom nothing when you turn key]
- is engine in neutral (wont start in gear)
- is the battery isolator on
- is battery dead
- master fuse blown

[turns over but wont start]
- is kill cord connected (faults in the kill cord wiring/switch are also not that uncommon)
- is fuel tank connected, and primed and vent open
- is there water in the fuel

[engine starts but cuts out or "almost starts"]
- is fuel tank vent open
- is there water in the fuel
- could the fuel filters be blocked

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Polwart

probably - relax and carefully work through some very basic things:

[symptom nothing when you turn key]
- is engine in neutral (wont start in gear)
- is the battery isolator on
- is battery dead
- master fuse blown

[turns over but wont start]
- is kill cord connected (faults in the kill cord wiring/switch are also not that uncommon)
- is fuel tank connected, and primed and vent open
- is there water in the fuel

[engine starts but cuts out or "almost starts"]
- is fuel tank vent open
- is there water in the fuel
- could the fuel filters be blocked

Realistially, what Polwart posted along with maybe changing a spark plug in calm weather is the most you'll be able to do while out of port unless you're either very lucky or very good.
If you don't know what you're doing, the time to try to learn is definitely not when you're hanging over the stern 2 miles offshore and you're trying to 'manage' the crew who will inevitably be a tad worried. You'll only worry them more and make yourself seasick if you're susceptible to it.

Also remember if you fall in while trying to fix a dead outboard, no-one can come back for you unless a crew member knows how to use the auxiliary...

[9D280]

If it's happened when you are out, then it's pretty much going to be either a lack of fuel or spark. As Polwart / Nos says, it's usually simple stuff (e.g.is there a diving bottle trapping the fuel line? kind of thing) If you have an EFI then it;s worth also carrying a tin of WD40 or your favourite water dispersing oil)- there wil lbe a few sensors in there - un / re plugging & a squirt with the WD can work wonders...... Likewise if it starts to run roughly, doing that with the injector plugs may cure it.

Occasionally an adjuster screw will shake loose (like my spark advance stop did recently) but generally speaking for "no go" see the above posts!


It's also the reason to have a radio (& know how to use it!) & an Aux.......

[jyasaki]

The only times I've unexpectedly stopped while on the water have been due to the kill cord (doing what it's supposed to do; can't lean too far over to retrieve water bottles from the deck); a fuel delivery problem (as in "I need someone to deliver some fuel to me"), and a couple of incidents with kelp or plastic wrapping around the leg and blocking cooling water (didn't quit; got alarms and the engine kicked back to safe mode.)

IMO, despite having quite a collection of tools and spares, I doubt that I could or would do any serious troubleshooting on the water. Check fuel, kill cord, battery settings, then call for a tow (preferably from another recreational boater - cheaper than a commercial tow service.)

jky

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Also remember if you fall in while trying to fix a dead outboard, no-one can come back for you unless a crew member knows how to use the auxiliary...

Ummm, if the motor's dead, where's it going to go?

Actually, having a line on would be a wise idea.

jky

[GerryP]

Next time I'm out - WD40 it is!

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Ummm, if the motor's dead, where's it going to go?

Actually, having a line on would be a wise idea.

jky

Over the top of the next wave is a hell of a long way to swim fully clothed.

[ivan4199]

Might be of interest to other novices (like GerryP) to post the outcome to my initial post. I've found a Yamaha engineer ready to come and do a simple first service with the boat still on the water - didnt want to get it out as its only done 29 hours. For £70 labour plus around
£40 parts he changes engine oil, inspects but doesnt change gearbox oil, does all other
lubs, spark plug & battery check, & 'sets up' the engine.

i'm going to be there to consult him on the other queries in this thread & find out how to do routine checks myself. Then in October when engine will have done 70 or 80 hours think i'll take boat out for fuller service, winterising, antifoul etc.

Hopefully this plan covers it. Thanks again for the safety advice posted in this thread. Ivan

[Poly]

Originally Posted by ivan4199

...inspects but doesnt change gearbox oil

inspecting gearbox oil with the engine still in the water sounds a bit dodgy to me. There was definitely some signs of fine metal particles in mine at 10 hrs (ish) - IMHO most important part of those early services is the oil change.

[m chappelow]

i did a first 10 hour oil change yesterday ,and was showing my 9 year old looking under a magnifying glass how much smal particals of metal were in the clean looking oil ,though there was one fairly large bit of machining swarf by the looks ,dont know if manifactures still use running in oil but they always seem smoother with new oil in .