Raise or lower your motors in salt

browntdb

Hello C-Brats,

I have a 22ft Cruiser with twin Yamaha 50's. I moor the boat in saltwater in Puget Sound for about a week at a time. I have heard so many conflicting views about tilting the motors up or leaving them in salt when docked. At the marina on Anderson Island I have seen both. I currently leave my motors down all the time thinking that if I raise them, then when the water evaporates in the elevated position, salt incrustations will form. I have no idea if this happens or not.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Terry

thataway · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 6:15 pm Post subject:

Up, the water basically drains out, less corrosion--plus you should be flushing with fresh water, or running in fresh water for 5 minutes before you put the boat up.

What bottom paint do you have on the lower parts? What zincs are you using? Are you hooked up to shore power?

browntdb · Posted: Sun Jul 27, 2014 9:58 pm Post subject:

No bottom paint. Sinks in place and working.
Thanks for the info

DuckDogTitus · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:36 am Post subject:

Can I build up on Terry's question?

is the verdict the same for a boat that is not moored but spending say a week on a trip? I am always torn when I'm on a three-four day trip on whether I should pull the motors on overnight marina stays. I always flush the motors thoroughly the day I pull the boat from the water though.

gulfcoast john · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 10:38 am Post subject:

My boat is in warm saltwater all season. The Yamaha manual specifies storing in the water in the down position, (not specifying why) and flushing in the up position with built in hose connection...not muffs...with the engine off (supply tubing is too small to cool properly with engine on). I speculate it's concern that in the up position the rear cowling air intake points straight up, and in a very heavy rain (we got 6 inches in one hour in April) it could overwhelm the air separator and send water down into the engine air intake, which would not be a good thing. I asked my 5 star Yamaha service chief and he says 'I keep mine up.' Looking around the marinas every Sea Tow and commercial boat has them up. I flush after every outing, keep a waterproof fabric engine cover on it on return, so no water can get down the air intake. I run the rams all the way down so they're not exposed (Dr Bob's idea), which leaves 3 square inches of skeg in the water. I replaced the Guest galvanic isolator with a fail-safe Pro-Mariner and check with a Marinco GalvanAlert monthly. Every 3 months I pull her out and have Accu-Prop fix any dings, replace the engine transom bracket anodes (which are always under water and collect growth that's too dense to wire brush off for $40), clean up the skeg, brush off the slime line, Hydrocoat the drain plugs and Tuff-gel the brass plugs in the aluminum engine bracket, and swipe on a couple coats of Poli-Glow in the high-wear areas. Down here, you can't wax in the sun, and you can't wax in the rain, so you can't wax at all between April and November. No more waxing ever again. Now that Poli-Glow has an aerosol stripper it's easy to remove. ( I acknowledge I'm an outlier fan here, but I loved the stuff on the Regal 2665 in years 5 through 9 too after lots of UV oxidation gelcoat damage. Count on several days de-waxing, wet-sanding initial prep). Fill up with 150g of ethanol-free gas + Yamaha Ring Free + Star-Tron and we're good for the rest of the season. Compared to re-building and flying antique jet aircraft, this hobby is cheap.
Bottom line, I ignore the manual, trust my service guy, mitigate against rain/hose water ingestion, and see ALL the other owners of all engine brands in the 8-350 hp range doing it the same way. Your mileage WILL differ.
Cheers!
John

bridma · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 11:05 am Post subject:

My boat stays in salt water 1st April to 1st Dec every year. I have twin 40 Yamis and I always leave them up. I look around my marina and everyone has their outboards up, including the Search & Rescue boats which both have twin 250 Yamis. I do a fresh water flush after every trip or if out on a cruise, when ever I can. If I moor alongside in another marina, I leave the engines down until a boat has docked behind me. Lessens the chance of the lower ends getting hit. I raise them after the other boat has tied off. When I am getting ready to set off, I lower the engines for a couple of minutes before starting them. This is to allow oil levels to settle down again. When fired up, I leave them running for a few minutes to warm up before setting off. I replace the engine zincs every winter. My third season doing this and never had a problem.

Martin.

DuckDogTitus · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:12 pm Post subject:

doubles · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:16 pm Post subject:

Up if you can get the entire motor out of the water. Down if not, so the zinc can work it's magic...

bridma · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:22 pm Post subject:

NORO LIM · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 1:22 pm Post subject:

bridma · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:02 pm Post subject:

I usually take my boat out of the marina for the winter months. Get the engines serviced and winterized, then she sits in my driveway waiting for Spring.
I hate it when I'm not using my boat for 4 or 5 months of the year. So change of plans for this year. I will still get the engines their annual service but forget the winterizing. Keep the boat back in the marina ready for a few hours boating at the drop of a hat. We do get the odd days of nice weather in winter and I want to be ready to go. My boat has no leaks and it has a heater, so why not ? Reading the above posts, I shall keep the engines raised while not in use. Unless anyone knows with absolute certaintity as to why I should keep them lowered.

Anyone for Desolation Sound New Year's Eve ? Laughing

Martin.

Byrdman · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:13 pm Post subject:

I have been doing it right....kinda. Toss the kinda in there because Yamaha F150 manual seems to lead you down 2 different paths...based on a time line of 2 months or more of non-use.
Basically. in the water flushing, motors tilted up and out of water using the flush-out hookup on the motors for 15minutes. Do not run motor as you may screw up water pump/overheat motor. Pages 53-54area. On these pages it did not state put them back in the water or not...so I have used the 32 degree rule. If any chance of temp getting below 32, I put mine all the way down, salt or fresh water. If at a marina I think props may get stolen or hit by another boat, no matter the temp, motors go all the way down. Tight marina fairways like Everrett Marina in WA, returning Friday after noon...always down to avoid combat docking drills from weekenders that do not understand boat steers from the rear...and their are no front tires to turn the front or bow. But, they always know how to hit the throttle.
2 MONTH set up on page 50- takes you thru hooking up the ears, low idle flushing, with motor cowling off AND prop removed, motors all the way down. (that prop removal is new to me Disgust

) then....fog, treat fuel ext.
So I guess I am OK. Up and out fresh or salt water if over 32 & safe area, flushing when can in the water (I generally only let the water run thru for about 5 minutes Crook

). Never have used muffler type, pulled the prop to flush or fogged motor....but, very rarely will I go 2 months without boating!

Good topic...but the pictures in the manual were not that exciting.

Captains Cat · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:33 am Post subject:

Lucky here with the ETEC 90. I can run it on the lift out of the water with the hose connected to it. Wink

Charlie

Almas Only · Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2014 7:16 am Post subject:

Whether you leave the motor up or down, be aware that at least on the Honda 90, tilting the motor up before cooling water has had a chance to drain out of the head area will result in pockets of water being trapped inside the manifolds, where it will remain until it eventually evaporates, or leaks through the gaskets. Even with fresh water, that's not a good situation. With salt water, even more so, since evaporation will leave all the salt behind.

So, either way, I'd suggest you leave the motor in the down position for a few minutes after turning it off, or finishing flushing, so that the cooling water can drain thoroughly.

hardee · Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 3:22 pm Post subject:

For my Yamaha twin 40's, I am taking this (thread content) to mean, leave them down unless I can raise and flush them. (the Yami 40's have hose flush ports, so can be flushed in the down position (even in salt water) then raise and rinse for mooring at a marina for overnight occasionally (like on a 2 month SW cruise). Last summer, on of my concerns when moving (on the trailer) from one area to another, I had to really work to find places to get a good washdown after I loaded onto the trailer.

Harvey
SleepyC Moon