honda bf90 maintenance

B

blackfish

New member
was wondering ?
there's been a few posts lately about honda carb problems and seeing that a lot of c-dorys are powered by the bf90 I was curious about how the carb problems relate to hours used per season (letting gas sit and go bad for extended periods of time)and routine maintain done after each outing.

so you bf90 owners out there-- how many hours do you put on your motor per season , what is your routine maintenance schedule when you return to the dock ( drain carbs, seafoam with every fill up etc.) and finally have you had any carb related problems.

blackfish
2003 bf90
49 hours over three seasons (previous owner)
zero dock side maintenance done
carbs rebuilt (the dirties carbs I have ever seen)

would like to hear from you guys that have not had any problems as well

dave
 
With so few hours I would sure use a product called Starton. I have used it for years on my Honda and my motor home. Never a carb problem caused by stale fuel.

Fred, Pat, and Mr. Grey(the cat)
 
My sense is that the more you use the boat, the less problems you'll have with dirty carbs. If the boat will be unused for a while, store with tanks near full and stabil or startron in the gas and run the engine dry by pulling the full line. You shouldn't have much problems otherwise.
 
With so few hour on you motor I would park it in the sales mans yard until he fixed it or replaced it. There is now reason your new honda should be having any problems at all. I have almost 1000 hours in the last 4 years and have had very few problems with it. I did have a control cable go bad, but that is all. Nothing else but maintance.

As for routine.. I rinse the motor after every use and pull the fuel line while the motor is idleing so it runs all the gas out of the carbs. my boat does not sit often but this wintere it say for 4 month, a new record. I started right up the first time I went out for the year.
 
I’m on my second season now, put about 200hrs on motor last season and will probable put 250 or better this year. I run it hard so change oil and filter on power head and lower gear lube every 100 hours along with Racor fuel filter. Only time I run the gas out of the carbs is prior to off season storage, we use the boat regularly during boating season so gas in carbs don’t stay there for long.
Motor has about 270hrs on it, had 30hrs when purchased.
I just checked my valve clearance a couple weeks ago, only required minor adjustment.
Other than draining the carbs for off season storage I make sure the fuel tanks are topped off and first trip out each tank gets a can of Seafoam.
Plan on changing out the water pump end of season, and will probable do every other season.
Boat lives on the trailer between trips so pressure wash her off after each outing and flush motor.
.
 
Levity is equipped with a 2003 BF90. My first season was 2004. The 90 has 392 hours logged on.
Every gallon of fuel that has gone into the boat has been treated with either Stabil(before ethanol) or Startron (ethanol fuels).
If the schedule calls for 3 weeks between outings the carbs are run dry.
End of the season; carbs are run dry and each carb is drained.
So far: no carb or fuel related issues. (knocking on wood)
If run in saltwater; flush the engines within 24 hours using muffs.
Other maintenence items follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

Mike "Levity"
 
I must be the odd one out on running the carbs dry before storage. Years ago a mechanic told me to leave the treated gas in the carb of my two stroke lawn mower. I was unsure if it would work. The first year we did it his way the old mower started with just a couple of pulls. I did not have to remove and clean the carb. I followed his advice with a Honda 50 for several years, no problem. The same for a RosboroughI/O and my C-Dory Honda 90. All started and ran with out any carb problems. I did of course change the Racor filters each year.

Fred, Pat, and Mr. Grey(the cat)
 
Perhaps a chemist who works in the manufacturing of fuels has the accurate information, but I suspect that one of the significant variables that plays into the equation of Honda carb problems is that not all gasoline is of equal quality for marine use. How is a boater to know that he is getting what the distributor claims is being delivered? Clean, proper additives, octane, etc.? I have a friend with an old Honda on his sailboat. Probably 25 years old. Used infrequently. Runs motor until carb bowl is empty. Never has a problem starting it. Had about 400 hours on my 90 when the carb problems began. Now have EFI which is winterized for about 7 mo. Starts in 2-3 seconds after sitting all winter. Too bad Honda doesn't have conversion kit from carbs to EFI. John
 
Since commissioning in Oct 2004, and ~330hr on both HONDA 90s, I
started to have BURPS at acceleration from idle to 2400rpm.; sometimes
they would stall. Idle dropped to 760.

I had them checked and they needed a good cleaning to remove an algea
buildup from the carb discharge ports (?). My mech set evrything like a
fine watch. Now the power curve is smooth and my max sp with 3 large
POB, full fuel & water got to 28.9kts, running heavy with all my
usual 'stuff' on board. My previous max was 26.9kts last month.

An interesting note to me of stuff to try:
My mech suggested I add abt 16oz 2 cycle motor oil to my 110 gal fuel
tank when I fill - which I did today; along with a a stabilizer called,
'Full Throttle'. My90s jump like they never did before with this 'new'
blend fuel we get at the docks here. This has been tried here for abt 2 yrs
and no negative side affects have been noted other than if you add too
much 2 cycle oil and the 90s will smoke. Mine did not smoke with todays
setup.

Has anyone else tried this approach?

Art
 
Hello Art,

My mech suggested I add abt 16oz 2 cycle motor oil to my 110 gal fuel
tank
Click to expand...

Yikes! Adding oil to the gas supply for a 4 stroke outboard...that doesn't make sense to me. Others here with wisdom on this issue should weigh in. I have never heard of doing what was suggested. My personal experience is limited to an incident when the "2 stroke gas" (i.e., gas + oil) was used to fill my 4 stroke lawnmower gas tank. The mower was never the same after that. Granted, my 2 stroke gas/oil is 50:1 and your talking about 880:1, so it's far more dilute in terms of how much oil is in there. But it bothers me to think of all the 'clean' internal engine parts likely to become fouled by the burning of oil in places where that shouldn't happen on this kind of engine. All Honda outboards are 4 strokes, right?

/david
 
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