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Outboard Survival
by Tom Neale
Here are a few tips about survival with outboards—or
maybe I should say
“survival of outboards,” since most of us spend
so much time wishing we
could throw them overboard.
1. Most outboards have water pumps within the lower unit.
They have
rubber impellors. These always fail eventually. They fail
more quickly
if you run in a lot of silt or if you run without a full supply
of water
to the pump. It isn’t unusual for them to fail without
giving you much
warning. Any diminution of the water stream may be a clue.
These can be
very difficult to replace. On many motors you must separate
one section
of the lower unit from another to get access. If you loosen
the wrong
bolt or drop the shaft too far, you may disengage the drive
shaft and/or
gear shift mechanism. Putting it all back together can be
very
difficult. Learn how to change out the impellor and fittings
on your
motor. Carry a spare pump assembly in your spare parts kit,
and be
prepared to replace it (You’ll probably have to have
the stern up to a
beach to do it.) But don’t wait until your impellor goes
bad. This is a
job that is usually worth having done by a qualified repair
person as
regular preventative maintenance.
2. Outboard motor oil is expensive enough in the states, but
sometimes
two to four times more expensive in the islands. We buy it
in bulk,
carrying it in a 5 gallon container on deck. We fill the small
quart oil
cans (with the clear white strip and ounce markings) from
this, so that
we can carry them with us in the dinghy.
3. It really pays to filter your gasoline fuel with a high
quality
sediment/water separator filter. We use the Racor S 2502 and
replace the
elements frequently. In areas of questionable fuel, we filter
the fuel
as we load it into the tanks with a Racor funnel filter.
4. Regularly drain the fuel from the bottom of the carburetor
bowl(s).
If the drain screws are of a different metal from the bowl
(and they
probably are), beware that electrolysis may deteriorate the
screw or the
threads around the screw, even though you have only a small
amount of
water in the bottom of the bowl. Do not buy an outboard without
easy
carburetor bowl drainage.
5. If you use external outboard tanks (usually they are six
gallon
capacity), you can count on water from rain and spray eventually
finding
its way in through the caps, vent, and/or hose fittings. Periodically
check the bottom of the tank when it’s empty. If there’s
water (it’ll
look like grey sludge), turn the tank upside down and drain
into a
container. There will still be a little that won’t come
out. Sop it out
with rags or paper towels. Dispose of it legally and carefully.
There
will be explosive fumes.
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