Flushing outboards off the grid

A

Augie

Member
My plan is to take a 1000L tote and a sump pump connected to a garden hose. Then hook up my outboards to the garden hose to flush after use.

We don’t have running water on this property but we do have electricity. I didn’t want to use a barrel to stop the open water from attracting mosquitos to lay their eggs and go into larva. No nearby lakes either.

Has anyone done this before? If so curious how strong your pump was? Home Depot has some that are 1/6th, 1/4 and 1/3 horsepower. Any advice or ideas is appreciated.
 
Its possible but don't think you need to at all. Most guides will run all season without flushing their motors then do it before they put the boat away for the winter. Now let me go grab my popcorn..
 
How long will the boat be at the property, probably overkill unless your there for a long period of time. Collecting rainwater and pumping is probably the easiest just add some bleach to the water to take care of mosquitoes. One of the blue 40gal barrels left open should do it or if you have a stream near by and could carry some 5gal pales over or a long enough hose but again it’s more than likely overkill for a couple months use.
 
I’ve never flushed a motor, except for servicing ever. Was told to me by someone who is at the top of the Mercury food chain that it’s not necessary
 
Augie said:
My plan is to take a 1000L tote and a sump pump connected to a garden hose. Then hook up my outboards to the garden hose to flush after use.

We don’t have running water on this property but we do have electricity. I didn’t want to use a barrel to stop the open water from attracting mosquitos to lay their eggs and go into larva. No nearby lakes either.

Has anyone done this before? If so curious how strong your pump was? Home Depot has some that are 1/6th, 1/4 and 1/3 horsepower. Any advice or ideas is appreciated.
Click to expand...
I've used this setup. I can't remember what the HP rating on that pump is, but it's pretty minimal. Maybe the pic will help to compare to the pumps youve seen at HD.
 

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Unreel said:
Its possible but don't think you need to at all. Most guides will run all season without flushing their motors then do it before they put the boat away for the winter. Now let me go grab my popcorn..
Click to expand...
One of my buddies bought a brand new Yamaha F70 in 2011 and runs it in salt water.
I doubt it has ever been flushed and still runs like a top.
 
I agree you don't have to do it all the time.. but salt water sitting in the cooling passages will eventually start caking up and blocking things??
 
JohnS said:
I agree you don't have to do it all the time.. but salt water sitting in the cooling passages will eventually start caking up and blocking things??
Click to expand...
Maybe if it sat for an extended period of time.

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If iam using my boat daily, or even a few times per week I dont stress flushing. If worried about downtime at the property, just run your boat daily so you dont get build up in any passages.
 
Perhaps a mechanic could chime in. Doesn't the engine have to run long enough for the thermostat to open up so flushing water can get to the cooling passages?
Fortunately my bottom end fits into one of those blue rectangle plastic totes and I can submerge the intake.
 
I recently had to deal with some salt blockages in a 2016 outboard that were causing it to overheat even at idle. The previous owner never flushed it. In addition to other routine maintenance, I removed all thermostats and poppet valves and hooked up a bilge pump to the flush port. I cycled salt away through the outboard for about 5 days. In the end, there was a big pile of debris at the bottom of the tote and my overheating issue has been solved for the past few years. This saved me having to pull the head. After doing a ton of research and given my past problems, always flush my outboard after use if I don't plan to use it for a week or two. I also periodically do a hot soak with salt away. I had read that Rydlyme is an acid that can damage aluminum... haven't heard any horror stories, but would recommend flushing well with water after a Rydlyme treatment. I personally am a huge fan of saltaway after the miracle it worked on my motor. Since then I have also treated used kickers that I like to fix up and flip... a hot soak in saltaway often increases the output of the telltale by 2-4x.

Overall I think the best approach is to not stress out too much about this - flush it when you're able to or if the motor will be sitting for a while, then hot soak with salt away a few times a year.
 
We bought a boat with a 10yr old Yamaha 9.9 kicker that was over heating. Mechanic pulled the top off the motor and scratched around getting the accessible bits of salt out. It was all blocked up. There was some corrosion around the head gasket from the salt. Then I bought 6gallons of vinegar at Costco and ran the leg in a drum of the vinegar a few times letting the engine get quite warm.
There was still quite a lot of salt /debris in the bottom of the barrel after.

Seemed to work quite well… we sold it a few years later and upgraded to a newer 9.9.
 
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