life of outboard motors

[delsol]

with good maintaince 50hp-200hp outboards .how long is avg life. i see boats like new that never been rebuilt asking high$$$ with over 200 hrs is this normal. i would just like avg life

 

[rschnack]

Re: life of outboard motors

DEL SOL,

The general feeling seems to be that outboards usually die from abuse or lack of maintenance rather than wear. This topic has been discussed several times. Enter your question using the "search" feature of this site. You will find lots to read about this.
RCS

 

[delsol]

Re: life of outboard motors

i understand what you are saying, but their has to be a basic rule of thumb honda last over 150000 miles today. l would like a basic estimate a late model outboard motor say 2000 what would be avg hrs to get a guide to see if its high hrs..
bob

 

[delsol]

Re: life of outboard motors

but also how do you buy a 2005 outboard motor well maintained at retail price if it has 500 hrs on it?????????
thanks bob

 

[JB]

Re: life of outboard motors

"Average" life of outboard engines is around 1500 hours.

That includes a lot that die of abuse and neglect well before that many hours.

A well maintained and well cared for outboard should be good for 4,000-5,000 hours. That is about the equivalent of an automobile lasting 200,000 miles, as many modern autos do.

 

[delsol]

Re: life of outboard motors

thanks jb

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: life of outboard motors

Yep, if you maintain it well, it will give you alot of hours ...... my racing motors that I abuse heavily don't last longer than 100hrs .... so spot on JB ...

 

[Texasmark]

Re: life of outboard motors

Hey dee, somehow I have this feeling that you are being very very honest with your answer. 8) 8) 8)

Mark

 

[delsol]

Re: life of outboard motors

thanks this is important as i might not rebuild my powerhead and look for a used boat and the hr meters are confusing. if they were miles it would be fine but hrs are confusing?
bob

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: life of outboard motors

dont go by the hour meter on a used boat. you can by a new one at ANY marine store, and install it anytime you want.

i can put one on now and say my motor only has 10 hours, when its actually got a few hundred.


have the motor checked for compression. thats the biggest clue. make sure that all cylinders are within 10% of each other.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: life of outboard motors

Multiply hours by 40 or 50 to get you the idea of appx. miles on an auto engine. But like others said you almost never see them worn out, just killed.

And a low hours engine is something to think twice about too. Sitting can be harder on things than moving. For example regular relubrication with a 2-stroke. And don't forget to consider where it's been sitting.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: life of outboard motors

I think there are too many variables to say what the lifespan of an engine is.

Salt or fresh?

Idle or wide open?

Routine maintaince or what is a spark plug?

Run hard, or care taken during operation?

Also, metalurgy isn't an exact science. A microscopic weak spot in an engine component can make an engine fail a few hundred or a few thousand hours short of normal life span.

Too many variables.

Oh yea, I've heard of people getting 400000 miles out of modern automobiles.

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: life of outboard motors

Hey dee, somehow I have this feeling that you are being very very honest with your answer. 8) 8) 8)

Mark

hahahahaha, yep, some of them don't even last 40 hrs, but I won't mention which brand motor ....

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: life of outboard motors

I'd have to say a LONG time also. I just picked up an 81' 115hp evinrude with 3000 hours on it thats NEVER been opened up yet (knew the owner who bought it new and he killed the lower unit on a rock pile 2 years ago and bought a new 115 suzuki 4 stroke to replace it). I needed the block and crank to rebuild my 88' 88spl with and with 3000 hours on the 115hp it still had 105-118psi compression on all 4 holes with VERY even .003-.004 wear on the cylinders. If I knew is was going to be this good I probibly would have just dropped in on my mid/lower units and ran it for a few more years before rebuilding.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: life of outboard motors

If you think about it, on a carb'd 2 stroke there really isn't much to wear out. We've seen a 10 year old motor with very few hours have more issues than a 10 year old motor that was used every weekend.

It's kinda common to see a motor with a scuffed piston and the owner screaming about how little time is on it. Most times it turns out that th carbs were plugged or partially plugged and it ran lean. Motors used every weekend rarely get gummed up carbs.

 

[gss036]

Re: life of outboard motors

You have to consider the fact that the motor is being ran under full load 90% of the time. Would you think a Honda would run 400K uphill, in low gear, pulling a trailer for 400 hours.
Not really a fair comparison using an auto engine. The average boater runs about 50-75 hours annually, some may hit 100 hrs, but not that many unless it is a charter boat or rental at a busy resort and those engines get changed out every 2-4 years on average. That is why there are so many used motors around.
The newer large engine have a computer that records the hours of useage at the RPMS being ran.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: life of outboard motors

Well, my 125 horse Merc is 37 years old, still has compression in the 120s, and runs fine. I can't even imagine how many hours are on this thing....