2007 496HO & salt water
04-04-2012, 02:38 PM
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2007 496HO & salt water
Hey guys, I've been boating for a few years in fresh water. I found a boat that has been in salt water its whole life. Owner said the boat is in great shape. The motor and outdrive have 250hrs on it. What should I be concerned about with the salt water? Thanks!
04-04-2012, 05:10 PM
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The most important determiner will be how it was flushed after every salt water use and how it was maintained and washed and cleaned. If it had any sizeable amount of salt water in the bilge when running the salt will rust up the lower areas of the engine like starter, oil pan, mounts, front pulleys, etc. and hardware etc. and shorten the life of those steel and lower engine compartment components. A good visual down there will prbably tell you if the boater keep his bilge dry and flushed it regularly after use and before storage.
The Merc 496 is a fresh water cooled engine so the block internally will fare just as good in salt as in freash as long as the coolant levels and quality of coolant is maintained. The items on this engine that take the biggest beating from salt water are the exhaust manifolds, especially if this is a pre-2005 engine with aluminum exhaust manifolds. (magnet to them will tell you what they are made of.) The newer iron exhaust manifolds can easily go 750-1000 hours if properly flushed and maintained. If this is a slip kept boat where its in the salt water for long periods then the life of these parts will be shortened significantly.
In any event as a buyer of an expensive product, you should have a good marine engine surveyor or qualified experienced marine mechanic check out the engine for compression, leak down and general conditions and give you a report as to the existing condition of the engine, what may need to be done at this time and an estimate of engine life left on the engine.
Don't take checking out the engine and drive carefully lightly, as many sellers will not always tell you the whole truth and some may not really even know the true condition of their own engine.
Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar
The Merc 496 is a fresh water cooled engine so the block internally will fare just as good in salt as in freash as long as the coolant levels and quality of coolant is maintained. The items on this engine that take the biggest beating from salt water are the exhaust manifolds, especially if this is a pre-2005 engine with aluminum exhaust manifolds. (magnet to them will tell you what they are made of.) The newer iron exhaust manifolds can easily go 750-1000 hours if properly flushed and maintained. If this is a slip kept boat where its in the salt water for long periods then the life of these parts will be shortened significantly.
In any event as a buyer of an expensive product, you should have a good marine engine surveyor or qualified experienced marine mechanic check out the engine for compression, leak down and general conditions and give you a report as to the existing condition of the engine, what may need to be done at this time and an estimate of engine life left on the engine.
Don't take checking out the engine and drive carefully lightly, as many sellers will not always tell you the whole truth and some may not really even know the true condition of their own engine.
Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar
Last edited by Raylar; 04-04-2012 at 10:27 PM.
