How many Hours is too many??
- Thread starter yo mama
- Start date
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
Neither am I, but I think you need to be more specific. Many factors affect outboard longevity. Are you talking about a kicker that is mainly used for trolling? Or is it your large main motor, is it run at wide open throttle for all its hours of use. Is the motor on a boat that is moored in the chuck year round, or does it mainly see use in fresh water. How regularly is the engine maintained? Are you talking 2 stroke or 4 stroke, big differences there?
Once you provide a little more info, someone may be able to give you a general idea of what the average life expectancy for a well maintained engine of that size under the conditions you are using it.
Once you provide a little more info, someone may be able to give you a general idea of what the average life expectancy for a well maintained engine of that size under the conditions you are using it.
TheBigGuy
Well-Known Member
Neither am I, but I think you need to be more specific. Many factors affect outboard longevity. Are you talking about a kicker that is mainly used for trolling? Or is it your large main motor, is it run at wide open throttle for all its hours of use. Is the motor on a boat that is moored in the chuck year round, or does it mainly see use in fresh water. How regularly is the engine maintained? Are you talking 2 stroke or 4 stroke, big differences there?
Once you provide a little more info, someone may be able to give you a general idea of what the average life expectancy for a well maintained engine of that size under the conditions you are using it.
Once you provide a little more info, someone may be able to give you a general idea of what the average life expectancy for a well maintained engine of that size under the conditions you are using it.
Lipripper
Active Member
well the new four strokes..... are not gunna last as long as a constantly run 2 stroke...imo... fours wear out just as a car motor, only a certain amout of klicks till shes done.. where as a 2 stroke if they run as long as you keep her running, no probs... the worst thing you can do is leave a 2 stroke for a year +, or even a couple month through the winter without porper de-fueling etc... personally id take a constanly/good running 20yr old 2 stroke over a 1000 hour four stroke anyday....my .02
to bad the 2's are getting phased out
.....cept for a couple honda/yammies they seem to have some good mileage
Lipripper
Active Member
well the new four strokes..... are not gunna last as long as a constantly run 2 stroke...imo... fours wear out just as a car motor, only a certain amout of klicks till shes done.. where as a 2 stroke if they run as long as you keep her running, no probs... the worst thing you can do is leave a 2 stroke for a year +, or even a couple month through the winter without porper de-fueling etc... personally id take a constanly/good running 20yr old 2 stroke over a 1000 hour four stroke anyday....my .02
to bad the 2's are getting phased out
.....cept for a couple honda/yammies they seem to have some good mileage
Tailspin
Active Member
Mama, don't rely on an hour meter to tell you the truth.
-Compression test will tell the tail especially with the 2 strokes. Oil mix ratio and oil types are key to a two stroke. As an ol' motocross race guy i have seen what diffrent oils will do prior to a top end rebuild.
Always do a compression test first.
-Compression test will tell the tail especially with the 2 strokes. Oil mix ratio and oil types are key to a two stroke. As an ol' motocross race guy i have seen what diffrent oils will do prior to a top end rebuild.
Always do a compression test first.
Tailspin
Active Member
Mama, don't rely on an hour meter to tell you the truth.
-Compression test will tell the tail especially with the 2 strokes. Oil mix ratio and oil types are key to a two stroke. As an ol' motocross race guy i have seen what diffrent oils will do prior to a top end rebuild.
Always do a compression test first.
-Compression test will tell the tail especially with the 2 strokes. Oil mix ratio and oil types are key to a two stroke. As an ol' motocross race guy i have seen what diffrent oils will do prior to a top end rebuild.
Always do a compression test first.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
a compression test will tell you how well the rings are sealing to the cylinder.. thats it. It wont tell you how much of the piston crown has been etched away, the condition of the lower unit, the upper or lower seals, reed valves(if its a 2 stk),if its been overheated, effects of electrolysis,condition of the ..... ad nausium. So, the hours, in my opinion, are critical information. A carburated 2 stk as a rule is good for about 1000 hrs. Buyiung a used engine is always a gamble as you will never know the true history. I see alot of yamaha 4 strokes(main engines) last a long time.. 3500+ hrs.
Island Fish Lifter
Well-Known Member
a compression test will tell you how well the rings are sealing to the cylinder.. thats it. It wont tell you how much of the piston crown has been etched away, the condition of the lower unit, the upper or lower seals, reed valves(if its a 2 stk),if its been overheated, effects of electrolysis,condition of the ..... ad nausium. So, the hours, in my opinion, are critical information. A carburated 2 stk as a rule is good for about 1000 hrs. Buyiung a used engine is always a gamble as you will never know the true history. I see alot of yamaha 4 strokes(main engines) last a long time.. 3500+ hrs.
Tailspin
Active Member
True, but a compression test will give you a good place to start.If the engine is new technology with an Engine Control Computer, you may also be able to dump the fault codes stored in the motor. Some motors require a visit to the dealer where a special hand held diagnostic terminal is used to perform this. In the case of Optimax motors, you can get a count of overheat events, and the total amount of time in minutes that the motor was run while overheated. If any of the motors sensors have problems, or if the injectors are generating faults, you would see the fault in the diagnostic data dump. You can also dump a Histogram of RPM versus hours run in increments of 1000 rpm. Finally, you can get a count of the number of times the motor bumped up against the rev limiter. This is all good information to tell you what kind of abuse a motor may have suffered at the hands of the previous owner.
One other thing to do when you run a compression test is to carefully examin and compare the spark plugs to each other. They should all look nearly the same with equal amounts of deposits, and about the same color on the ceramic tip inside the plug that surrounds the center electrode. Variances in the plugs' color can be a sign of lean running which can damage a motor. Excessive oil or carbon deposits on one plug versus the other can be a symptom of a faulty ignition coil or plug wire. And, a plug that is extemely clean compared to the others is almost certainly in a cylinder wear the head gasket is leaking water into the cylinder. Worst of all is a plug that looks as if it has droplets or spatters of aluminum metal on the electrode or tip. That indicates that engine damage has already occured due to overheating or running with an extremely lean fuel air mixture.
As for hour meters, they are often disconected once they have reached the users optimum resale #, then reconected at time of sale.
One other thing to do when you run a compression test is to carefully examin and compare the spark plugs to each other. They should all look nearly the same with equal amounts of deposits, and about the same color on the ceramic tip inside the plug that surrounds the center electrode. Variances in the plugs' color can be a sign of lean running which can damage a motor. Excessive oil or carbon deposits on one plug versus the other can be a symptom of a faulty ignition coil or plug wire. And, a plug that is extemely clean compared to the others is almost certainly in a cylinder wear the head gasket is leaking water into the cylinder. Worst of all is a plug that looks as if it has droplets or spatters of aluminum metal on the electrode or tip. That indicates that engine damage has already occured due to overheating or running with an extremely lean fuel air mixture.
As for hour meters, they are often disconected once they have reached the users optimum resale #, then reconected at time of sale.
Tailspin
Active Member
True, but a compression test will give you a good place to start.If the engine is new technology with an Engine Control Computer, you may also be able to dump the fault codes stored in the motor. Some motors require a visit to the dealer where a special hand held diagnostic terminal is used to perform this. In the case of Optimax motors, you can get a count of overheat events, and the total amount of time in minutes that the motor was run while overheated. If any of the motors sensors have problems, or if the injectors are generating faults, you would see the fault in the diagnostic data dump. You can also dump a Histogram of RPM versus hours run in increments of 1000 rpm. Finally, you can get a count of the number of times the motor bumped up against the rev limiter. This is all good information to tell you what kind of abuse a motor may have suffered at the hands of the previous owner.
One other thing to do when you run a compression test is to carefully examin and compare the spark plugs to each other. They should all look nearly the same with equal amounts of deposits, and about the same color on the ceramic tip inside the plug that surrounds the center electrode. Variances in the plugs' color can be a sign of lean running which can damage a motor. Excessive oil or carbon deposits on one plug versus the other can be a symptom of a faulty ignition coil or plug wire. And, a plug that is extemely clean compared to the others is almost certainly in a cylinder wear the head gasket is leaking water into the cylinder. Worst of all is a plug that looks as if it has droplets or spatters of aluminum metal on the electrode or tip. That indicates that engine damage has already occured due to overheating or running with an extremely lean fuel air mixture.
As for hour meters, they are often disconected once they have reached the users optimum resale #, then reconected at time of sale.
One other thing to do when you run a compression test is to carefully examin and compare the spark plugs to each other. They should all look nearly the same with equal amounts of deposits, and about the same color on the ceramic tip inside the plug that surrounds the center electrode. Variances in the plugs' color can be a sign of lean running which can damage a motor. Excessive oil or carbon deposits on one plug versus the other can be a symptom of a faulty ignition coil or plug wire. And, a plug that is extemely clean compared to the others is almost certainly in a cylinder wear the head gasket is leaking water into the cylinder. Worst of all is a plug that looks as if it has droplets or spatters of aluminum metal on the electrode or tip. That indicates that engine damage has already occured due to overheating or running with an extremely lean fuel air mixture.
As for hour meters, they are often disconected once they have reached the users optimum resale #, then reconected at time of sale.
wolf
Well-Known Member
You are right there Justin when my buddy hooked up the comp to my moter I couldnt believe the things it tells you amount of hours between 0 to 1000 rpm 2000 to 3000 and so on all the way to 5000 and above which was a total of 20 mins obvisiouly for WOT puroses and testing props from that computor he can check each and every cylinder for problems by killing that particular one and seeing what it does and then re testing it.
The only down fall to all these new motors is you really need a TECH to work on them gone are the days of wrenching it by yourself look at an old 350 chev I could probably take one of them apart with some vise grips and a few screwdrivers not now I look at all that stuff on these new motors and say NO WAY!!!!!
Good luck Wolf
The only down fall to all these new motors is you really need a TECH to work on them gone are the days of wrenching it by yourself look at an old 350 chev I could probably take one of them apart with some vise grips and a few screwdrivers not now I look at all that stuff on these new motors and say NO WAY!!!!!
Good luck Wolf
wolf
Well-Known Member
You are right there Justin when my buddy hooked up the comp to my moter I couldnt believe the things it tells you amount of hours between 0 to 1000 rpm 2000 to 3000 and so on all the way to 5000 and above which was a total of 20 mins obvisiouly for WOT puroses and testing props from that computor he can check each and every cylinder for problems by killing that particular one and seeing what it does and then re testing it.
The only down fall to all these new motors is you really need a TECH to work on them gone are the days of wrenching it by yourself look at an old 350 chev I could probably take one of them apart with some vise grips and a few screwdrivers not now I look at all that stuff on these new motors and say NO WAY!!!!!
Good luck Wolf
The only down fall to all these new motors is you really need a TECH to work on them gone are the days of wrenching it by yourself look at an old 350 chev I could probably take one of them apart with some vise grips and a few screwdrivers not now I look at all that stuff on these new motors and say NO WAY!!!!!
Good luck Wolf
Tailspin
Active Member
Way too Over Engineered for our little pea brains to sort out[
] There is a reason Striper Jack and i run carbuerated 4.3 chevys, 350 - 2 holes...same bore and stroke but still heavy clunks of iron at over 800lbs with leg. A fresh new 225 zuke would give me almost half the weight with the posotive buoyency of a POD and i would not be tripping on my doghouse all day. Could also keep up with the howl of the wolf as he dodges pirates corking hali spots[^],
] There is a reason Striper Jack and i run carbuerated 4.3 chevys, 350 - 2 holes...same bore and stroke but still heavy clunks of iron at over 800lbs with leg. A fresh new 225 zuke would give me almost half the weight with the posotive buoyency of a POD and i would not be tripping on my doghouse all day. Could also keep up with the howl of the wolf as he dodges pirates corking hali spots[^],Similar threads
