outboard life how long will they last

It all depends on how you treat them.
Regular maintenance such as 100hr oil changes on 4 strokes,plugs,filters, etc.
all help prolong life. also fresh water flush if run in salt water.
On a new outboard that is well looked after, 4-5k hours is not unreasonable.
 
Most guides are replacing their 4 strokes around 2000 hours. I am sure that at that point there is still life on them, just not as reliable. If you use a separate trolling engine, the big expensive one may last 10 or more years.
 
It all depends on who is running the motor. The guys that cruise at full throttle in a outboard or inboard and never do maintenance will get little life. Yes lots of motors high hours but that is because they did proper maintenance and didn't thrash on them.
 
I have 3000 on a set of 225 Suzukis and 3000 on a set of 150 yammis. Both set still running strong, (knock on wood). I have done diligent maintenance to them and plan on using for a few more seasons. Have a buddy with almost 5000 on a set of Suzukis.

Who knows how long they will last, thats why they are hard to find as everyone is holding onto them.

Cheers
 
Someone once told me that David Murphy(murphy sportfishing) had over 10,000 hours on a Yamaha 150,
my f150 twins have about 1300 on them now and run as good as the day they came off the line, maybe even better with a couple of upgrades done over the last couple years.
 
where do i get mine chipped and exhaust ported:}
 
Lots of good information here. Depends on a variety of things...the ones with a zillion hours on them use a lot....trolling, guiding, commercial operations. The engines are warmed up before throttling up and warmed down when run harder. Oil changes and water pumps and gear oils are done religiously....and sometimes the intervals are extended because of how many hours are put on them during commercial use and corrosion doesn't get a big chance to set in.

Twits cold firing up at the launch and throttling up 2 minutes later usually end up replacing powerheads sooner than most.

2 strokes when cared for religiously will run a long long time....as long as they have oil and have proper cooling system functionality.

My experience with 4 strokes started early and I've seen a lot of 4 strokes explode when they shouldn't have. The 2 strokes I have seen explode were mostly preventable...neglect or ignorance....but everything goes BOOM here and there.

Mercurys go boom and I've seen Suzukis go boom and a lot of Yamahas go boom too. If they have moving parts....it's not a question of if....it's a question of how long. Design flaws are inherent with everything. Yamahas are no better than Mercs or Suzukis....on this coast Yamaha has definitely "owned" the majority of market share but Depending on what area you go to...if there is a dealer close at hand you'll see that brand more.
 
It all depends on how you treat them.
Regular maintenance such as 100hr oil changes on 4 strokes,plugs,filters, etc.
all help prolong life. also fresh water flush if run in salt water.
On a new outboard that is well looked after, 4-5k hours is not unreasonable.

What he said........
 
Are we talking hours or years? Some of us put on few hours on our main engines, most hours are on the kicker.
 
"User experience may vary" is the ruling statement, as other posters have said. Warmup practice, maintenance schedules and general use/abuse regime all play a part. Boats used on the inside coast usually get relatively steady throttle settings, but on the west coast proper you have longer, deeper swells which means skippers are constantly throttling up or down according to the seas. That's gotta be tough on engines.
 
you might get away with running a 2-stroke at wot for extended periods of time, but i certainly wouldn't do it on a 4 stroke.
JMHO
 
It all depends on how you treat them.
Regular maintenance such as 100hr oil changes on 4 strokes,plugs,filters, etc.
all help prolong life. also fresh water flush if run in salt water.
On a new outboard that is well looked after, 4-5k hours is not unreasonable.


Wow - 4-5k hours? At that rate mine will burn up sometime in the year 2056! I need to fish more!
 
I don't think you can just look at hours on a motor. You have to factor in the age as well. I see lots of old motors with low hours bite it. Corrosion and general fatigue can do in a motor just as well as time on the clock.
 
Lots of 4 strokes troll on the main, don't bother with kicker. Hours at idle vs hours at 75-100%? How do you tell?

There is a clear answer: "it depends."
 
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