Engine Maintenance on Long Trips

[20dauntless]

How do people deal with oil changes on long trips? I'm estimating that I could put upwards of 300 hours on the engine during my Inside Passage trip and Honda recommends engine and gear oil changes every 100 hours.

Is my best bet to have dealers along the way haul the boat and service the engine? Or is there some way to do this while the boat is still in the water?

Will shops along the way likely be swamped with work, resulting in long waits for service?

Can service intervals be extended by running synthetic oil?

I want to ensure that the engine is well taken care of since I'll be critically dependent on it and lack of maintenance could lead to expensive problems later on.

[Grumpy]

I am interested in the answer to this question for the same reason and would add that if your engines are under warranty do not expect any Canadian dealer to honor it. Apparently it CAN be done but...

I will also pm you with the name of one particular place to be avoided from bitter experience from last year.

Shop maintenance manual is on my wish list with Santa Routine oil changes etc. should be no problem but if you need diagnostics and / or parts then that is another matter.

With two engines you do have some diagnostic ability from swapping parts and seeing what happens but you will probably need a good contact with your Honda dealer back home to express you a part. If you have any repairs or parts changed in Canada remember that they should be declared at US customs

Merv

[JamesTXSD]

Hi Sam,

We have run beyond the 100 hour point on long trips. Our local servicing dealer said that with regular running like you'd be doing, you could run to 200 hours and be fine. You can pump oil out of the motor with one of those pumps that goes down the dipstick, but I haven't found a way to change the lower unit lube with the boat in the water. It will be interesting to hear from those who have done that trip... dealers/shops along the way with the ability to pull the boat, or deal with it when you get back?

Best wishes,
Jim

[Pat Anderson]

Neither David nor I had any service done on the entire Blaine - Ketchikan round trip, not sure how many motor hours, but certainly more than 100. It is not as though your engine falls apart at 101 hours!

On the other hand, when we do the Great Loop, we will need service along the way. 5000 miles at an average 10 miles per hour, probably 500 engine hours (I would defer to Bob and Betsy and others who have done it). So we will need to find places that do service on Honda outboards. Fortunately we wlll be going by Wefings, and there are probably lots of other Honda places along the way. But we found in Canada that Honda parts and service are scarce as hen's teeth...

[NORO LIM]

Engine service can be a significant issue on longer trips. I actually chose my engines based in large part on my plans to take the boat up the Inside Passage. I had a Honda on my CD 16 and was very happy with it. When we bought our current boat 6 years ago, however, the lack of a reliable Honda dealer at our likely turn-around point on the Inside Passage, gave me some concern. We went with Yamahas, which are very popular where I usually end up, and there is an excellent dealer in town.

I've found that changing the engine oil is not that difficult. I've done in many times crouched in the splash well using a hand vacuum pump. I think a haul out is just about imperative for the lower unit. Maybe someone has a method, but I see nothing but disaster in trying it.

I agree about the small likelihood of damage from not meeting the 100 hour schedule exactly, especially when presumably the boat won't be sitting for days or weeks at a time without running. I'd just make sure everything's freshly maintained just before you leave, and then depending on your route, look for someplace you might have the boat serviced if you're nervous about it, or at least do oil changes yourself.

[starcrafttom]

I run the boat about 200 to 300 hours a year and only change the oil once a year. I make sure that the oil is always topped off after every trip so I am never low on oil. I was told by a honda tech that 100 hours is what most people put on a engine every year and that is why the recommended 100 hour service. If Honda said 300 or every year people would wait for 300 hours even if it took 5 years. If you are running every day on a long trip I would check the level Evey time you fuel and top it off if you need any.

Another thought is why are you changing the oil? Oil does brake down but not that fast. Its the filter that needs to be changes the most. It has the hardest job of filtering the oil and removing any metal that may be present. if its dirty that could cause a problem. I would carry extra filters and change those and just top off the oil until you get home after your trip and then do a complete oil change.

[Will-C]

I would be tempted to run a synthectic like Mobil One and change it when you get home. As far as the gear oil in the lower unit goes our Yamaha has a magnetic drain plug and always looks good even after a season of use I would not concern myself about that unless something happened that you felt might cause water contamination like a hard hit or fishing line wrappped up ruining the seal behind the prop. This is just my opinion of course. I have an 07 Honda Civic and I change the oil once a year and have been using mobil one since it was new. My annual mileage is about 15k per year. At 67k it uses very very little oil through the course of a year. I do the same with the wife's CRV. The only reason I change my lower unit oil once a year is to make sure there is no water in the gearcase that would freeze and break the casting. Since I run my engines like they are my friends running longer intervals between changes I wouldn't think would hurt anything. I mean I avoid idling for long periods and never run much more than 4500 and mostly around the 3000 to 4000 range. Engines that run longer (highway verus around town) have a chance to dry out the moisture and gasoline residues and the highway type mileage has always been thought to be able to handle longer service intervals. I do change my Yamaha outboard engine oil at the end of every season just because of the winter time not really based so much on the hours. If I lived in Florida and had a longer season I would be running a synthetic and going longer intervals between changes. Just my 2 cents.
D.D.

[20dauntless]

Great info, thanks. Hopefully a Honda dealer won't be necessary at all. Engine and gear oil changes are straightforward enough that I'm sure any outboard shop could do them. The only reason I'd need a Honda shop is if I encounter a serious problem which hopefully won't happen.

I'm picking up the boat from EQ on Friday and I'll ask Les what he thinks.

It sounds like I shouldn't have any problem if I have the outboard serviced just before leaving and then maybe half way through the trip as a precaution.

[thataway]

As far as the lower unit--remember that the tides in Alaska are up to 25 feet, and many large boats have bottom jobs done "on the grid"--for a C Dory 22, this could mean placing the stern over a log, and some other logs or supports and letting the tide go out--then just drain the old and put in the new lower unit lube. Not a big deal.

I happen to like the electric pumps for changing the engine oil thru the dip stick--but would go with a hand pump for the AK trip. Again not hard to do. We have crossed oceans, and changed engine oil every 100 to 200 hours depending on the engine etc. In that case we had built in electric pumps for both the engine and genset. Filters--same way--just keep some baggies around to catch the oil.

If necessary there are enough C Brats , or other like boaters who have trailers which could be borrowed--but I don't see that necessary in AK. The lower unit oil is changed on the ramp with a borrowed trailer.

There are commercial engines which run as much as 20,000 hour without being shut down. They use oil refiners--or remove and add oil on a regular basis.

I don't think you will get that much more out of synthetic oils for a low HP outboard...but that can be debated.

Also remember that both engine and oil "wear" are more related to amount of fuel used, than actual hours. If you run the engine at no more than 2000 RPM, you can certainly double or triple the time between changes.

[Discovery]

I have changed the oil in our twin Honda 135 s twice at Campbell River. This was mid trip on our Broughton excursions. I used a vacuum type hand pump. Slow but can be done. There was an oil drop off place there. I carry oil and filters with me on long trips. For the lower units I just change the oil once each year regardless of the hours of opperation.

Brent