Raise or lower your motors in salt

B

browntdb

New member
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
 
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?
 
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.
 
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
 
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.
 
bridma":1cybm6r5 said:
I do a fresh water flush after every trip or if out on a cruise, when ever I can.
Martin.
Click to expand...

is this utilizing a water connection/hose/muffs dockside? I'm curious of the process of doing a freshwater flush when still on the water. motor is down during this process?
 
DuckDogTitus":29l9z86a said:
bridma":29l9z86a said:
I do a fresh water flush after every trip or if out on a cruise, when ever I can.
Martin.
Click to expand...

is this utilizing a water connection/hose/muffs dockside? I'm curious of the process of doing a freshwater flush when still on the water. motor is down during this process?
Click to expand...



Yes, I use a dockside hose to the fresh water connection (not muffs). Motors are down during this process, I give them 10 mins each. When finished, I raise them. Both motors just clear the water.

Martin.
 
DuckDogTitus":1vxbpqve said:
bridma":1vxbpqve said:
I do a fresh water flush after every trip or if out on a cruise, when ever I can.
Martin.
Click to expand...

is this utilizing a water connection/hose/muffs dockside? I'm curious of the process of doing a freshwater flush when still on the water. motor is down during this process?
Click to expand...

Don't know about other engines, but with Yamaha's you can flush the engines while the boat is in the water if you raise the engines and attach a hose to the flush fitting. Engines are off - not running. I do this every time I return to my marina, and whenever I can on extended cruises.

On edit: I see there may be some difference in practice regarding engines up or down during flushing. Here's what my Yamaha manual says for F50's, 60's, & 70's: "When flushing the engine with the boat in the water, tilting up the outboard until it is completely out of the water will achieve better results." So, that's what I have always done. I don't know about other brands or other models of Yamaha.
 
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 ? :lol:

Martin.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_055.highlight.jpg
 
Suzuki mechanics in Everett told me to store with the motor up, except in freezing weather. Rain can get in parts of the lower unit, and later freeze. Not a worry this winter - about two days just a little below 30 degrees F.
 
I have twin Honda 90s.

This from the manual:

"Wash the outside of the outboard motor with clean, fresh water, and flush the
cooling system as follows.

Disconnect the flush port connector (FPC), attach a garden fresh water hose,
flush 10 minutes, reconnect FPC.

Tilt up the outboard motor and move the tilt lock lever to "lock" position."

While the units are in the "up" position, I rinse all exterior portions especially
the lower units, exposed zincs, props, etc.

It does not make sense to me to leave different metal parts of something that is
important to you in salt water when not doing so is so simple.

Aye.
 
We went through this debate at work a couple days ago!

Because of the temps we see, often with freezing temps at night through winter, and on some days (not too many the last few years!) we have tradeoffs.

I've discussed this at length with our dealer/service provider and there is no real solution for winter storage. You trade one problem for another and just have to choose.

In the summer we flush our motors with FW, let them drain down, then tilt up. In the winter we leave salt water in the motor and leave the motors down. This gives the greatest chance of nothing being destroyed by ice as SW resists freezing better than FW. The lower units in the water won't freeze, and won't evaporate, and with the motor tilted without flushing the passages keep the SW in them and don't freeze like they would if flushed with FW.

This risks some salt in the lines, but it hasn't been an issue. We flush very thoroughly and run our motors regularly if not in use.

There is no real right answer. Whichever works best for your situation and peace of mind.
 
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