Honda bf20

[jakeyboy]

Has anyone experienced cooling water leaks behind thermostat housing on honda bf20? Last September put about 15 hours on engine and noticed a salty residue from behind thermostat area .thought i would investigate and discovered leak coming from water jacket casing which thermostat goes into ; removed caseing and found surface of block fairly corroded and o ring gasket deformed because of salt corrosion. Engine has only done 25hours and been flushed after use every time apart from last year when used over a 2week period and flushed afterwards ;o have ordered new o ring gaskets but not sure how to stop alloy on block corroding again as i have managed to remove almost all corrosion apart from a few pits ;any suggestions?

[Fenlander]

No experience of a BF20 but when servicing my year old Suzuki DF20 I noticed when removing the access plate to check the anode in the block/head waterways while the waterways were clean there were salty deposits building around the anode. So it will be my thought to get a hose into this area at the end of any extended use (like the 2wk holiday we're on now) and the end of the season.

[jakeyboy]

Thanks for reply Fenlander ;it is the same area i in on the honda ; very surprised at amount of salt deposits in such a young engine and am worried same thing will happen again as o ring instead of a gasket will leave alloy surfaces of block exposed internally