i/o vs outboard

Boater1010

Seaman
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
Messages
53
Hi Everyone
I was looking for all you experts opinions. I have owned boats with outboard motors, but not i/o's. I am looking at a nice boat now that has a mercruiser 3.0 in nice condition. I have no experience with i/o's and am a little scared to buy one based on what I have heard about maintenance and difficulty in repairing them. I see a lot of people with cracked blocks also the maintenance on outdrives ie: gimbel bearing, bellows. Should I stick with outboards. Any feedback would sure be appreciated, I just do not want to buy a i/o and find out that the maintenance cost is expensive.
thanks in advance
 

alldodge

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
40,581
Hi Everyone
I was looking for all you experts opinions. I have owned boats with outboard motors, but not i/o's. I am looking at a nice boat now that has a mercruiser 3.0 in nice condition. I have no experience with i/o's and am a little scared to buy one based on what I have heard about maintenance and difficulty in repairing them. I see a lot of people with cracked blocks also the maintenance on outdrives ie: gimbel bearing, bellows. Should I stick with outboards. Any feedback would sure be appreciated, I just do not want to buy a i/o and find out that the maintenance cost is expensive.
thanks in advance

An I/O requires more maintenance then an outboard, but there is more rower delivered with an I/O. All the crack blocks you see are folks not doing proper winterization. The winterization can take 20 minutes for a pro, and a bit long for a novice. It's not hard, you just need to do it if your in a cold climate. If your skidish about doing it then yes, stick with out boards. My thought is just about anyone can do it, just need to decide to do it.

And yes, the cost of maintaining an I/O is more then an outboard, but so is a larger boat
 
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southkogs

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Jul 7, 2010
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I made the switch 6 years ago to what is probably the oldest and most cantankerous I/O you can get your hands on. It's not been a difficult switch at all. I'm a mediocre mechanic and still manage to do all of my own maintenance and repairs.

I think if you're having someone else do your repairs and maintenance, it's just expensive no matter what the drive is.

The drives operate differently with advantages and disadvantages to both. Have you run any I/Os to see if you like the way they run?
 

Boater1010

Seaman
Joined
Sep 24, 2009
Messages
53
Thanks for the feeback . Thats what i figured about the cracked blocks on i/o's is lack of draining for winterization.
 

southkogs

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Boat maintenance is something that many (if not most) boat owners don't enjoy ... understand ... or really wanna' do. So, even up to the risk of doing winterizing properly, many (if not most) boats get neglected in that sense. I/Os are very popular - and the 18 to 20 foot bow riders are the norm out on the lakes - with that many out on the market, that's what you'll the most "damage" to ... mostly from being ridden hard and put up wet.
 

Macca1500s

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 19, 2015
Messages
32
Personal experience forget the 3 litre and get a V6 you are going to be way happier

The 4 is a seriously noise dog motor

However this is just my opinion based on my experince
 

Silvertip

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
28,758
Before you buy that boat, stick you head into the engine bay and then think about how you get the starter out. On a four banger plugs are easy to replace. On a V6 or V8 not so much. And if you do decide to buy an I/O and intend to do most service work yourself, make your first post-sale purchase a factory service manual for the engine and drive. It will save you countless hours of frustration and potentially costly errors.
 

flyingscott

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
7,985
check with your insurance company your insurance may go up due to the fact fire hazard is greater on an i/o. I/O do not deliver more power than outboards
 

eavega

Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
1,377
I've now owned both, and to me it depends on what the boat is going to be used for. For watersports I believe the I/O is best, because of the ability to have a good swim platform and not having to deal with a harness or other contraption to get ropes around the motor. wakeboarding is an exception since the preferred tow point is a tower. If fishing is your thing, the outboard allows you to have slightly more dekspace as the majority of the engine lives off the stern of the boat. In my experience, outboards were easier to work on (of course I only ever had carbureted two-strokes so I never had to deal with the fancy computer-controlled outboards available now), and accessing the various components was much easier than on the I/O. Repowering seems to also be an easier task with outboards should that be necessary. As you have mentioned, winterizing was barely a concern with the outboard (I live in GA, and the boating season goes for 10 months if you include fishing), but in the winter I always have to drain the block on the I/O in case we have one of those freak weather weeks.

Oh, and I would second the PPs comment about looking for a 4.3 at least. My 17.5' Stingray has the 3.0L, and although it has enough ponies to ski, wakeboard, tube, and move 4 adults at about 40 MPH across the lake, I think the 3.0 is at its limit on a boat under 18'. My next boat will probably be in the 20'+ range, and I will definitely be looking at a bigger motor.

Rgds

E
 

boobie

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Messages
20,826
I've been a marine mechanic for over 45 yrs and worked on both. I'll still stick with the outboards !!
 
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