any suggestions for excess use preventative maint.

So my engines rarely sit still. They are working boats. And work from all year round. Im do crabs / eels / nets / and basically make my living on the water. aside from basic stuff like stabil & impellers thermostat & housing cleanings & l/u oil changes is there anything i can or should do? anything to add to the fuel now and again for extra cylinder lube or crankcase lube? keeping my small fleet going is cruicial to paying the bills so every step i can take makes it worth it for me.

Re: any suggestions for excess use preventative maint.

I'd make absolutely sure the fuel was clean (clean the tanks if possible), and add a fuel/water separater to the main fuel line. Other than that, you've got it all covered (replace all fuel lines with ethanol resistant ones?). Running outboards regularly will pretty much take care of a lot of problems.
JMo,
JBJ

Re: any suggestions for excess use preventative maint.

Using a good quality oil such as Mercury or Yamaha outboard oil. Walmart stuff will just end up building up carbon in the heads and when the pistons tag the carbon it throws the rods out. Also do you decarbon regularly with engine tune?

Re: any suggestions for excess use preventative maint.

Regular use is good for outboards. I've seen far more issues caused by neglect, rather than over use.

Assuming you're running 4 stroke outboards, I agree with adding a high quality fuel filter and water seperator unit like a Racor.

I am NOT a fan of constantly dumping additives, gunk, goo, and assorted snake oil in every tank of fuel. There is an urban legned out there that all these additives somehow "undo" or neutralize ethanol. They do not. Also, no chemical can remove water from fuel. That is a scientific fact. Only a mechanical device can remove water, it cannot be "eaten" by chemicals.

Outboard systems for the last 10 years have been designed and tested to run with ethanol blended fuels. They have NOT been tested to run with high concentrations of additives. Since you're running your outboards every day, your fuel should not be sitting around getting stale. The filter/sep unit will take care of out-of-pump contamination and that's all you should need.

I'm a huge fan of synthetic oil and I have been since the early 1980s when I saw firsthand the difference they could make with aircraft engines. The difference in parts wear between overhauls is dramitic. If you're not running synthetic now, I'd look into it.

Grouse

Re: any suggestions for excess use preventative maint.

Thanks every one. I change my fuel lines every spring the winter and salt seems to take its toll on them. I have the racor filter and separator in place that was a pricey little upgrade but I must admit well worth it. I appreciate the advice I was confident I was doing the right thing but a second opinion never hurts. Heck I've had my first 150 for 12 years now and other then an old fuel problem which I found to be mischief (sand in the tank) it's been a great engine never let's me down.