tommymonza

Before I even had moved to naples yet I came down for spring break and got hired to rig outboards at a marina that a buddy worked at.

This is back in 84. People would bring in their 1970 glastron with the old Johnson on it that they towed down from Ohio the year before and has been used in saltwater for that year.

Motor needs a waterpump. You spend 3 hours with the torch trying to nurse out the bolts so you can drop the foot and still break 2 bolts. Now your welding nuts on the broken bolts Praying they will come out so you don't have to drill and tap or helicoil new threads in.


Guy comes in to look at his motor because the owner said it is going to cost a lot more than quoted.

Mr Ohio goes Apechit saying I have owned this motor since 1970 and it has been perfect never had a problem until you worked on it .

You can not educate people to what happens to aluminuim and stainless when it is put in saltwater.

Owner of the marina was in business for 30 years and he knew his chit.

He just said no more working on old boats or boats people did not know how to care for.

I don't care how well you flush it and rinse it. It's night and day working on outdrives and outboards that have been in salt over freshwater.

I had a blown power head once. Could not get the block to come off the mounts.

Damn vertical shaft had corroded and was stuck in the crankshaft of the power head that had only been on there 3 years.

Had to holes saw a hole through the midsection and torch the vertical shaft. Funstuff doing it on a boat in the water because it's to wide to be trailered.


I can tell you Yamaha outboards hold up really well from my experience. Other brands I do not know.

Mercuiser has only gone downhill for corrosion and wear protection in the last 30 years.

Try to get your trim hoses off a 3 year old saltwater Merc . Or remove the propshaft carrier.


Frozen in the transom assembly shift cables are one my favorites also.

tommymonza

You guys up north do not have near the salinity as us down in the Gulf

If you call BS. You have never worked on a saltwater motor.

Speedracer29

So this weekend I pulled the poppets to replace the springs, diaphragms, and gaskets on a motor that is 23 years old, of which the first 21 years were spent in saltwater. The anticipation and anxiety were killing me, thinking about how many thousands of gallons of saltwater had been through the delicate motor in hundreds of hours of use. Certainly I would be able to blow away chunks of aluminum like dandelion fuzz. Hey, a local freshwater marina told me saltwater powerheads were utter garbage after about 5 years and, anecdotely, their saltwater counterparts always recommended replacement at that point.

This is what I found when I pulled the poppets:
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Imagine opening up a 23yr old saltwater motor to find (GASP)... some flaked paint. I've seen worse than this on cars that run antifreeze.

I can't wait to stop back into that marina the next time I need a part and tell them they're full of malarkey.