tips for buying second hand o/board

N

nz

Cadet
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
16
gday. does anyone have any tips for buying a second hand motor? anything special to check, look out for?
 
C

castneter

Cadet
Joined
Aug 21, 2002
Messages
13
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

the list of possibilities is vast. some things i would check for sure are: do a compression check on each cylinder, check the lower unit oil for water and metal shavings, have the seller give you a test run in the water. that is just the begining. good luck to ya.
 
B

BassMan283

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Aug 26, 2002
Messages
277
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

First thing I would do is check the prices of new motors of the same hp and think about it a while.<br /><br />The test on the water is probably the most important. A lot of motors will start and run great in the barrel but it's a different story when they're hanging on the back of a boat. If it's big enough (or the dollars are) I'd consider having a mechanic look it over.<br /><br />I've bought 3 used motors. All were clean as a hound's tooth and ran great in the barrel. Two were junk.
 
N

nz

Cadet
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
16
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

thanks for that. the motor is a "90 yamaha 40hp. i have seen it run in a tank and it seems sound. my only real problem is the amount of smoke it blew. the guy selling it explained this in three ways. firstly it had been sitting for ten weeks, second it had been fushed with "carbon clean" (whatever that is), and thirdly the gas he was using was a light oil mix. does all that sound above board?
 
C

castneter

Cadet
Joined
Aug 21, 2002
Messages
13
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

"light oil" is not good, "carbon clean" could be anything from wd-40 to engine degreaser, also not good. ten weeks of sitting up is o.k. as long as it wasnt out in the back yard hanging on the fence or some such. what kind of $ is he asking and will he give you a run on the water? still should at least do a compression test on all cylinders. can you get a good marine mechanic to check it out?
 
N

nz

Cadet
Joined
Sep 18, 2001
Messages
16
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

the motor is actually at a marine mechanics. they are selling it on behalf and claim it is a sound motor, having given it a basic service and checking impellors and such. i will get a one month waranty with the motor so will get plenty of time to sea run it.
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: tips for buying second hand o/board

nz,<br /><br />If you trust the seller, the one month warranty is worth its weight in gold.
 
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