Re: 2000 hrs W/O flushing
Maintained religiously.... in all aspects other than the routine flushing that a motor should receive after being run in saltwater. Oils are clean, lube points are greased, shafts are not rusted away. Engines run perfect and have all the power they should. There is the normal cosmetic corrosion under the cowl that you'd expect to see from a five year old motor that has been run and moored in saltwater; lightly rusted hardware and clamps and dried up salt deposits on areas of condensation. The lower units and exterior look great; they should though since the lower units were replaced less than a year ago due to being worn out from constant "shifting with stainless props" as the owner states. He said that he had a guy running the boat for a while that had a tendency to grind the gears rather than assertively shifting. I'm just a little concerned about internal corrosion issues after the last never flushed motor that I bought (that 1999 Yamaha F100 with the cyl head corroded through to the oil passages). That motor came from Florida however, and I don't think that our cooler climate and colder waters here on the Oregon coast are quite as corrosive as the sweltering heat down there. I fixed that motor with some welding and milling though and that was the only serious corrosion that I found on it. I was surprised that was the only part that suffered, the block looked new. How is Honda's corrosion protection now-a-days? I might post a couple of pictures of the motor I'm concerned about later. You can only tell so much about what's going on in the cooling passages by looking at the outside of a motor. I'll pull the thermostats out but they seem to always look like crap.
