Outboards in or out of the water while moored

Sculpin

Sculpin

Well-Known Member
I'm being lazy like Jeff lol. Just curious folks. There are lot's of folks that leave em down and a lot of folks that tilt em up.

All I know is air or oxygen is your enemy. I have always owned trailer boats, but grew up on straight shaft inboards and inboard/outboards that were moored and weren't part and parcel to the question. Do you flush em after every use like the trailer folks? Do you worry about the oil and air effecting the engine while tilted in the up position for long periods of time? Especially with the new four strokes and the oil thing.
 
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Hi Sculpin,

I have my boat moored most of the year and I flush em after every use and wash them I have never had any problems knock on wood :)
 
I have 1997 Yami 2 strokes that during the summer when the boat is moored (beginning of June to end of Oct) the leg only comes out of the water once a month when I haul out for 2 hours to do maintenance. The legs are as new inside and out. Sure I get the green fuzz growing on the leg that I have to bleach off during the 2 hour haulout for maintenance but that is it. Just keep the zincs in good shape. During the summer the motors (main and kicker) never get flushed. They both go through periods of extended daily use or up to a week without running. The only issue has been replacing a couple of t-stats on the (2006) kicker over 8 years. I do flush the motors after every use during the time the boat works from the trailer. Inner water passageways of both engines are corrosion free.
 
fresh zincs on the hull every year... motor is always up when moored.... if your motor bobs or touches the water, then i would keep it all the way in/down so the motor zincs can do they're job. i have learned the hard way that a partial submersion or bobbing in and out is the worst.
 
Bleach is the ticket for dissolving the green fuzz off the hull and motors. Just don't go longer than 4 weeks or the barni's start to stick to everything.
 
profisher said:
Bleach is the ticket for dissolving the green fuzz off the hull and motors. Just don't go longer than 4 weeks or the barni's start to stick to everything.
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That is highly illegal by environmental laws. You can't throw bleach all over the place and then not disposed of in an environmental friendly manner.
 
Legs out.

Think of it this way....a car kept in a garage or kept out on the street for years on end. the reaction with air is far les than the magnitude than the effects of electrolysis and the effects of the ocean exposure.
 
Could you explain the environmentally friendly way of disposing of it? Use it in the wash so it goes down the drain and makes it way into the ocean? Ever ask an Octopus diver how they get them out of their dens? I spray a minimal amount in the hull with an adjustable garden sprayer, let it sit and work then take the boat to the local car wash to rinse. I think those pipes go to the same place everyone's washing machines go to.
 
Fishin Magician...I disagree.....what are you supposed to do with a submerged engine....leave it in the water and take it into the shop submerged if possible or haul it out and take it in exposed to the atmosphere? My motors have 18 years of submersion during the summer months and no pitting, salt issues, even the paint is good. Do inboard outboard legs rot out from being submerged if kept properly zinced?
 
My motor is out of the water, the etec has water cooling holes around the leading edge of the leg and it barnacles and algae grow on it I don't think it would cool as well.
 
leave the leg in the water for a couple of reasons. 1. with it tilted up the gear oil in the bottom of the leg may not fully cover the gears, especially if you happen to be a little low on oil, which you will not know for sure. 2. inn winter if it freezes, all your water in your cooling system will not drain properly and could freeze internally causing damage. 3. read your manual, the preffered method of storing an outboard is iin the upright position. 4. you are keeping pressure on your tilt motor by leaving it tilted for extended periods. 5. I just bought a new outboard and asked this same question to the mechanics that installed it, they said leave it down.

I am presently trailering so it is not an issue for me now, but if it was, my engine would be down, i would (and always have) flush the motor after every use. i would also raise the leg every week or 2 and just give it a light scrub with a ribbed sponge to keep the algae from getting entrenched.
 
The monthly 2 hour summer haul outs to do routine maintenance is what keeps barni's from any chance to get established. Spray on bleach, drive up to car wash to give the boat a good scrub and rinse, change the kicker oil and filter, grease the steering pivots on both engines, clean the scale off all the zincs and back in the water for another month.
 
My buddy left his yami 9.9 down for 1 month, and due to a power Leak in the marina, electrolysis ate through his gear case. He had to replace it unfortunately. What blew my mind was how fast it happened. The rest of the motor looks mint but the gear case looked like Swiss cheese. The zincs were relatively new.
I always keep my legs up. Bleach in a weed sprayer is my friend!
 
sounds to me like his zinc wasn't in the water, if it was the zinc would have been gone first. I used to moor is horseshoe bay and it was always a bit of a worry about the electrolisis with the bc ferries there, just had to keep a close eye on the zincs. i certainly wouldn't leave my leg up just because there might be an off chance of a power leak at the marina. i would definitely tilt my kicker up if just a few inches of it were in the water with the bracket raised.
 
weird, I didn't even think this was a debate. Salt is more corrosive then air, isn't it?

I don't know but if you walk down a marina dock you'll see 99% of the boats with the outboard tilted out of the water, does that mean that 99% of people are doing it wrong?
 
Up is best in saltwater, just make sure it's all the way out of the water otherwise leave it down so the zincs are submerged. Fresh water leave it down.
 
just make sure it's all the way out of the water otherwise leave it down so the zincs are submerged. Fresh water leave it down.
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YES ive said that before my buddy whos a mechanic just shakes his head over some boats that tilt it out of water but the last 3 inches in water unprotected ... exactly what can happen eaten gears... also a zinc WILL not work as well if it is whited over from too much air they need to be cleaned with a SS brush as you dont want any iron on it from a normal wire brush keep them as clean as you can
 
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