Why don’t outboard motors have air filters?

[Elkins45]

Everything else does. Outboards breathe the same air that cars do, and I wouldn’t dream of running my car without a filter in place. Does the cowl really somehow block all the particulates?

Of course I realize there’s a huge difference between being on the water and driving on a dirt road. Just wondering if maybe motors would last even longer before losing compression if they weren’t breathing in pollen and other airborne stuff that’s possibly abrasive.

 

[ajgraz]

My 2014 Optimax has an air filter element. My old 70's Merc 70hp did not.

Maybe the air is dirtier today than it was 40 yrs ago?

 

[Scott Danforth]

cars travel down gravel and dirt roads for hundreds of thousands of hours. the majority of what is in your air filter is bugs and bug particles and the occasional bit of dirt

boats generally travel down water for tens of hours, the air is much cleaner and nobody on the planet, no mater how much they say they would do it....would actually maintain the filter enough to keep the air flow and the AFT consistent.

in the grand scheme of things, your motor will die of lack of maintenance or some other issue issue that kills it well before it would ever wear enough to lose compression from ingesting a dust particle every once in a while.

the average outboard motor lasts more than 3500 hours.

 

[jimmbo]

3500 hrs, that's far above average. Most will never see 1000 hrs, even after several decades.

I will concede a number like that to commercial engines, but not as an overall average

 

[dingbat]

Most will never see 1000 hrs, even after several decades.

Unlike lake and river boaters, the coastal crowd really racks up the hours. Not hard to rack up the hours with unlimited boating / cruising opportunities and a 9-12 month boating season. I've put almost 1000 hours on my boat in the past 4 seasons and I don't fish anywhere near the hours I used to. A fishing partner of mine racked up 740 hours on a 275 Verado the first year he owned it.

3500 is high for a 2 stoke, but certainly not a 4 stroke outboard. I know a lot of guys running 4 strokes with hours in excess of 3000 hours. A friend has over 5,000 hours on his 250 Honda.

 

[Sea Rider]

3.5K run hours is too much for a 2 strokes engine, doesn't matter how well you treat or care for your beloved outboard. I guess that duration will depend on manufacturer brand, HP, number of cylinders. Some brands may last way longer than others. Carbon build ups is a real outboard serial killer...

Happy Boating

 

[Tassie 1]

Drive down a dirt road, see how much dust is raised,
heaps
not as much on bitumen roads but is still there,

Very little dust on the water, specially offshore.

 

[MTboatguy]

Simple reason is, they don't need it for the environment they are operated in.

 

[Mohawkmtrs]

Just like snowblowers...ain't much dust or pollen out there in the winter...also, I think they're cold-blooded.

 

[Elkins45]

Just like snowblowers...ain't much dust or pollen out there in the winter...also, I think they're cold-blooded.

Snowblowers don’t have air filters?

 

[444]

Snowblowers don’t have air filters?

Mine doesn't. Neither has any snowmobile I've ever owned.

 

[Scott Danforth]

nope, never had, never will. Snowblowers have a heat box that uses muffler heat to prevent carb icing and new snow blowers are EFI, however do not have air filters.

 

[hardwater fisherman]

My eskimo ice auger came with a foam pad/filter. I had nothing but problems keeping it running and starting. One time I forgot to put it back in after having the carb cover off. I have not had any problems since. I have a friend at work with a similar auger and he was having problems until I told him to try it with the filter removed.

 

[dingbat]

3.5K run hours is too much for a 2 strokes engine, doesn't matter how well you treat or care for your beloved outboard. I guess that duration will depend on manufacturer brand, HP, number of cylinders. Some brands may last way longer than others. Carbon build ups is a real outboard serial killer...

Happy Boating

I had over 2,500 documented hours on a 200HP Ocean Pro before we did a short block rebuild because of corrosion issues. Nothing wrong with the motor otherwise.

To put thing into perspective, 3,500 hours relates to 1.5 years at 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. A lot of motors used in commercial operation see those hours then some.

Lack of use kills more engines than over use.

 

[Sea Rider]

Not saying that's impossible, can't put all 2 strokes OB's on same sack. Commercial extended usage is much different than non constant recreational one. 2 strokes OB's likes to be run constantly hard middle to max wot rpm range, will last longer with less carbon build ups that kills 2 strokes OB's run at idle or at non fast speeds.

Happy Boating

 

[Guest]

My 1973 Johnson 25 has an "air breather", but my 93 Evinrude 25 does not. The dealer I bought the Eviinrude from, said that outboards don't really need them. But bigger motors like the 40, 50 and 70 Johnsons I've owned had airboxes, but no filter, as does my 200 OceanPro.

 

[jbcurt00]

.... .

CaptErich please stop posting to inactive topics.

after 90days w no new posts from the original poster (OP), consider the topic closed until the OP returns.