Maintenance for c-dory kept in slip

[jflug]

Good grief!

Three facts:

1) When the engine (my Yamaha F80 in this case) is running, water comes IN through the inlet in the lower unit and goes OUT through an outlet (the "pisser" port). In order for the hose fitting flush to bypass the water pump, Yamaha would have to go to lots of extra trouble to cast in bypass passages with check valves. Why would they do this? It makes no sense.

2) I installed this motor myself, and when the dealer (Guenter himself) came by to run the engine in my driveway for the warranty sign-off, guess which method he used? Right, the hose fitting at the top of the motor, and not the muffs.

3) If the hose fitting doesn't do a complete flush and we what we REALLY need is a muff flush with the motor running, why doesn't the manual (not usually known for its good-enough-for-government-work/devil-may-care attitide towards motor maintenence) say so?

OK, that's enough ranting for one day.


Jim F.

[New Hampshire Guy]

At least I said on the outset that I was only speaking for Suzuki.

Again, big picture. These freshwater washdowns are for the 90+ % of people who trailer their boats and want to park it in the driveway, stick a hose on it and wash the insides free of salt. You can do it, or your wife, or your kid. No engine starting, no minimum volume of water in the hose to avoid burning things up, any hose will do.
I had never heard of an engine where the side attachment works with the engine running, but let's think about THAT set up. If you think of the engineering, normally the water pick up is low and it pisses out high. Now there's gotta be MORE check valves in the Yamaha because the low pick-up now has to be valved shut or all your water from the freshwater port is going to go straight out the bottom.
Try explaining to your customer that his engine burned up because the "Freshwater washdown check valve somehow got stuck closed and your engine was without water and melted the water pump. " Or..." The engine cracked over the winter because water was trapped because of a stuck valve. Not your fault Mr. Customer, just something that rarley happens."

Most C-Dory owners tend to their boats better than some people take care of their families. In the saltwater environment, we recommend a lower unit inspection EVERY YEAR! A waterpump replacement (which really means 'impeller' unless you melted it -see above-) is about $25 in parts and all the rest of the cost is labor. OK, maybe a gasket too, but the point is that if you're on that yearly schedule, the impeller will be fine between inspections, and a low cost addition when you do since you're going to open her up anyway. If you tend to stretch things out- which you can do with more involved periodic maintenence- then the more involved 'muffs washdown might be a consideration.
I am not pretending to tell everyone what to do. Each boat in each slip has its own salinity, slime, and access to water issues.
These new 4 strokes are great! They can handle it. These are issues that make a difference after YEARS! The thing is that the C-Dory will last that long, so might as well mention it early.
Hope this was of some help and I don't sound defensive of the Suzukis (because they are awesome!).
Take care of your engines and they will take care of you!
Fair winds...

[dan365]

I suppose that each manufacturer is different to some degree. But Jim, you may have answered this already but - when you connect the hose do you get water out the pisser port also?

Does your owner's manual suggest this flushing method with the engine running? My Honda manual suggests this method but says "DO NOT START THE ENGINE."

Clearly there must be differences in our manufacturers designs...I hate the idea of using the rabbit ears in the slip - driveway is fine but not the slip.

Thanks for the dialog,

Dan

[jflug]

Dan - I get water out every possible port with the hose fitting flush. With about 70 psi of pressure from the hose, that's not surprising.

My manual also advises not to run the engine this way (in spite of what my dealer did), and that might make some sense. In that case, the impeller pump is working against a 70 psi discharge pressure, which it certainly wasn't designed to do.

Jim F

[Sneaks]

Jim, I was in Santa Ana at my dealer this morning, fondling the "Jenny B" and making last minute rigging choices, and the dealer (Steve at Elco Marine) agrees with New Guy. Yamaha 4 strokes, like Suzuki 4 strokes, should not be run by using the flush connection. Either use a lower unit earmuff connection or stick the lower unit into a container of water big enough to cover the lower water intakes. NO danger to the engine itself, but the water pump impeller is at risk.

[Papillon]

I saw something very interesting today that I think belongs in the thread. While cursing today I saw a guy standing on his dock with what appeared to be a long pole ( Approx. 6 foot ) pointing it at his running motor. I had to turn around and come along side to ask what it was all about, and to my surprise he was flushing his motor.

The long pole turned out to be a piece of galv. pipe with ear muffs attached on one end and his water hose attached to the other. It allowed him to reach the lower unit from the dock and provide fresh water to the motor. The ear muffs were the ones with the side connection and he would attach the muffs and turn on the water then lower the motor just enough that the water intake was below the surface.

He told me it was doable single handed but was nice to have someone in the boat to lower the motor and start it up.

I thought this system might work for some of us who keep our boats in the slip for long periods and have a water supply at the dock.