OBM .....life expectancy

pond monkey · Jan 17, 2005

O.k all you experts please help me out with your opinions.... I know that certain variables must be considered, but generally speaking how many hours of use can one expect out of a modern outboard? I mean how long before a rebuild would likely be needed? ....For simplicity's sake let's stay with freshwater use and the use being roughly 1/3 of the time spent cruising, 1/3 at wot and 1/3 trolling . And how about any diffrence between 2 stroke vs. 4 stroke?....or????? Thanks Pond Monkey

Dhadley · Jan 17, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Any 2 stroke thats set up properly (not lugging) and maintained properly will last several thousand hours. Its not uncommon for rental motors to see 3000, or more, hours even in salt water. I know a rental place in Australia that gets very upset if the motors dont last 5000 hours. Motors that get run all the time like commercial or rental motors tend to last a very long time. Obviously they always get fresh fuel run thru them etc. Motors that see very little use are the ones that seem to have problems.

DJ · Jan 17, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Agree with Dhadley. The same,use vs non use, holds true for four strokes too. Very few outboards die from wear. The VAST majority die due to lack of maintenance.

ziemann · Jan 17, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

I think we could all agree, that it is very common to see 40 year old 2 strokes Mercs, Jonnyrudes etc. out there. It is like anything, it is all in how you maintain them and where you use them. As an example, you can expect to go around 4000 hours before experiencing any major rebuilds on a Nissan/ Tohatsu. These kinds of hours are similar on most modern outboards regardless of manufacturer. Certainly, neglect in salt water or poor maintenance.....you know what I am saying.... In other words your mileage may vary..... If you think about it, a properly maintained outboard can theoretically be around for life.....

rodbolt · Jan 19, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

hello I am with Dhadley and the rest in 30 years I have seen two motors actually wear out. both were 70 jonnyrudes and both crabbed and fished nets daily year round, both had 100 hour services and regular maint sometimes two water pumps in a year. I rebuilt a 140/120 out of 3 different motors for a crabber friend in 1998 and as of last spring he had run over 13,000 gallons of gas through it. its still vro and gets a daily ration of wally world TCW-3. however it gets t-stats and a pump yearly and always has fresh fuel. empty the engine will turn about 6200 and I tell him to cruise about 42-44. no coking that way. so how many hours will it go? normally depends on how it gets run and maintained. engines that run year round with proper maintence go for years. operators who need a water pump usually end up needing a piston as well. you would not believe how many motors burn up due to bad pumps. when I ask when was the last pump invariably the reply is it never needed one. trust me the cost of the pump is the same with or without machine work and pistons.

TOHATSU GURU · Jan 20, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

In terms of wear being the real engine killer...I agree with eveyone else. But, reality is that engines usually fail long before they "wear out". Back in the 60's,70's and 80's Mercury's standard was that if an engine reached 800 hours before a failure it was having a normal life cycle. OMC was 1400 hours. Then came the Japanese. Their idea of normal failure was 2500 hours. In todays world it's hit or miss on service life. Japanese engines hit 3000 to 4000 hours all the time. Mercury and E & J are probably better, than they used to be. But, people who depend on their engines and use them in govenment service do not try to get a whole lot out time out of Mercury's. Two years or two thousand hours seems to be the magic number before replacement today. There are lots of exceptions to this, but I oversee three different law enforcement marine units and hear about every single engine failure. Since they keep written logs on hourly usage its pretty clear on failure versus hours.

rodbolt · Jan 20, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

internetoutboards sadly I have to agree ith you in the mid seventies if you had a japanese product it was of low qaulity,sluggish to down right slow. hard to start hard to keep running and had about the same 70K service life of the average small block chevy. most of the outboards were the same way. however while the americans slept the japs pulled another pearl harbor and the american corperations have been crying foul ever since. however go into any large merc or jonnyrude dealer and they will have on the shelf a wide variety of coils,stators and powerpacks(switchboxes) most yamaha dealers dont even stock the stuff. no need to. it rarely fails. its not uncommon to see 3 or four coil failures on a jonnyrude in a crabbing season. so far I personally have not had a coil failure on a suzuki or a yamaha. CDI failures are almost unheard of. so while the american corperatiopns allowed quality control to slide the japs apperantly got it right. now if you want a car or an outboard to outlast the payments it seems japanese is about the only choice. it seems that they are masters at copyiung a product and making it better. now you can buy a honda accord that with routine maint will go 250K with no major failures. try that with a chevy corsica or impala.

tee-boy · Jan 26, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

I would believe and think I have heard that no 1 reason for failure is result of an initial failure in the cooling system. i think a chevy small block will easily last 20 years if you keep manifiold sealed, water pump working, and engine coolant fresh. By doing that, you prohibit all the other problems like warped heads, burnt valves, etc... I imagine same type of thing for the o/b--but I am not near the expert as these other guys.

DJ · Jan 26, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Rodbolt wrote,

however while the americans slept the japs pulled another pearl harbor and the american corperations have been crying foul ever since. however go into any large merc or jonnyrude dealer and they will have on the shelf a wide variety of coils,stators and powerpacks(switchboxes) most yamaha dealers dont even stock the stuff. no need to. it rarely fails. its not uncommon to see 3 or four coil failures on a jonnyrude in a crabbing season. so far I personally have not had a coil failure on a suzuki or a yamaha. CDI failures are almost unheard of. so while the american corperatiopns allowed quality control to slide the japs apperantly got it right. now if you want a car or an outboard to outlast the payments it seems japanese is about the only choice.

I agree and disagree. The Americans (us) woke up. Plus, some of the stuff we built, in the past and present, was/is bulletproof. My son drives a '94' F-150 with 300K rounds, on the clock. The engine/trans have never been touched other than plugs, filters, oil. Can we Americans ever realize that there is not much difference, if any, anymore? I doubt it, the die has been cast. The American public is far more in tune with maintaining a "foreign" product than they are an American one. Seen it, lived it, don't understand it. We Americans are sowing our own future. With all that said, I've seen: American cars/trucks (TAXIS)(fleet maintained), go 500K plus with regular maintenance ONLY. They are then sold into Mexico to continue the tortuous lifestyle. The taxi fleets I speak of are run 22/7-365. They are "pulled" daily for two hours to check brakes, fluids, etc. and sent back out. In four years they run 500K miles with 50% engine idle time. Talk about TORTURE. The taxi fleets have tried "foreign products", many given "free" for durability testing, they say-NO THANKS. "They are maintenance nightmares". The WORST outboard I ever bought new was a Suzuki DT-140. My dads Honda 8 (kicker) was/is a similar experience. I rely on a good dealer and choose American whenever I can. Just my $0.02 worth.

TOHATSU GURU · Jan 26, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Lack of maintenance does seem to be the great equalizer anyway. Most people refuse to spend anything on upkeep and wait till it breaks to spend a dime. Having said that, I really do see a service life difference on equally non-maintained engines. I wish I didn't. I was raised to buy American. I was also raised to buy the best I could afford. Sometimes that's not the same thing. Is BRP American? Or Mercury? More so than the Japanese labeled engines, but how much more? I know the BRP and Mercury's are decent products. But, I'm not convinced that they are better than the Japanese lines when it comes to service life.

DJ · Jan 26, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Elvin, I think we agree. The REAL key to OB life is MAINTENANCE. People tend to, as I said before, maintain a perceived "foreign" product better than they will a perceived "American" one. I don't understand it, but it is a fact. As I said: "been there, seen it, lived it" Still, I don't get it.

TOHATSU GURU · Jan 26, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

We do agree. I get a lot of people who will only buy a Honda or a Yamaha because " well, its a flawless engine". I don't really see a quality difference from brand to brand. I remember back when we were selling Chryslers in the 60's that Mercury and OMC owners perceived that they were better. The Mercs ran faster...when they ran at all. The OMC's were reliable, but they were pricey. I felt then, and still do now, that the Chrysler's value was in it's low price and that it allowed a lot of people to get out on the water. Those people who bought the Chryslers tended not to spend on maintenance like their rich cousins who owned the other brands. It hasn't really changed all that much today. Everyone has their favorite brand for whatever reason, but there is that perception today that foreign equals better.

DJ · Jan 27, 2005

Re: OBM .....life expectancy

Elvin, Great. To most, perception IS reality. Bogus or real.

OBM .....life expectancy

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