posted 01-24-2005 03:57 PM ET (US)        

If you ask a dealer they beat around the bush and basically avoid a honest straightforward answer. Let us get real life data. List what kind of two-stroke model , horsepower, year, and how much you got out of it before changing.

This info will be useful to us that are near or will eventually have to re-power or are considering buying a used rig.

I will start with mine.

1987 Johnson 70-HP 900 hours still going strong.

posted 01-24-2005 04:09 PM ET (US)            

I owned a 1985 70 HP Evinrude since it was new. I put 600 hrs on it until I sold it in 2003. I also had a kicker motor on my Montauk so this helped to reduce the hours on the 70 HP.

posted 01-24-2005 04:18 PM ET (US)         

Johnson 1996 - 90 hp carburated (2 stroke), over 600+ hours and still going strong. Sold the boat/motor early 2004.

Merc 2003 - 90 hp carburator (4 stroke), over 100+ hours and still gong strong.

Honda 2001 - 15 hp carburator (4 stroke), no idea on hours, but not used to often. Still going strong.

posted 01-24-2005 04:20 PM ET (US)            

My 2000 200-HP Evinrude has 1,300 hours and runs better than most new engines.

The 1992 Johnson 150 I ran for almost 10 years on my V20 had 3,900 hours on her. The guy that bought her is still running her very regular--like every week--and absolutly loves that engine. She has had NO re-building in any way except for a new starter, rectifier, stator, water pumps, and carb re-builds.

I believe the shortest time or lowest hours I've ever gotten rid of an engine was 2700 hours. That was a 3 cylinder Evinrude 60-HP, and it still ran beautiful, just needed a bigger boat and engine so I sold her.

It all boils down to preventative maintainance. Regular de-carbon treatments, changing lower unit grease at 50 or 70 hours, running the correct oil through her, and--mainly--propping the engine so it is allowed to reach its maximum rpm rating, not as some people think. I've had people tell me they want their engine over propped so it dosen't turn to high RPM. DUH !

Correct propping is probably the main key to a long life for an engine as long as the engine hasn't been run at WOT for its entire life.
An engine that is run at 3500 - 4000 RPM will surely outlast an engine that is on a bass boat run at 6000 RPM constantly.
Than there's just the opposite, an engine that is on a house boat and run at max RPM but can only get 4200-4500 RPM will die long before its intended time.
Sal

posted 01-24-2005 04:21 PM ET (US)            

My dad has a 10 HP Scott/Attwater 1940 (ish) vintage with hundreds and hundreds of hours on it.

My dad also has a 1976 6 HP Johnson Seahorse with hundreds and hundreds of hours on it too (Mostly WOT, as my brother and I used it every day, every summer, all day growing up...that motor knew two speeds...idle and WOT, pushing a 14' Aluminum boat).

I agree with Joe here....they last until they break. I also think it depends on the environment they're used in. In the Florida, subtropical saltwater environment, I would think that motors succumb more quickly to corrosion and gasket rot than do motors in the cool, freshwater great lakes. That said, my 150 was in salt/brackish water in the Houston, TX area it's whole life and besides some gasket and thermostat corrosion, checked out A-OK by my mechanic this fall. Compression is good (120 - 125 on all 6 cylinders) and everything else in good shape. I had them replace all the rubber hoses, etc. as a precaution...but then again, you can never be certain that it won't just crap out on you one day. If it happens, it will end my season for sure...but saving all that gas money will put the savings for a new motor into overdrive.

posted 01-24-2005 04:49 PM ET (US)            

Sal...looks like you have used them a lot.

Seems reasonable to expect the motors to last in the thousands of hours when maintained and used.

I think that for airplane engines, they are taken apart after 1000 to 1500 hours for preventive maintenance.

These outboards are probably good for twice that. Engine failure on a boat isn't as critical as in the air.

Thanks for all of the info again folks. The power of combined experience and knowledge is great.

Now, i can feel better about my 900 hours if I choose to sell the boat to someone.

posted 01-24-2005 07:30 PM ET (US)            

Still going strong today.

posted 01-24-2005 08:00 PM ET (US)            

I would learn to maintain the engine myself, but yamaha considers the valve adjustment a "dealer level" service and it might be in the fine print to void the warranty on those grounds. I think that is a sham but oh well. Lower unit grease might be a major chore too.

Always great to read your posts Sal. Speaking of overpowered bass boats, there was a guy on Lake Sonoma with a 225 merc on a 16 foot hull. The guy smiled, passed the 5mph buoy, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He said the hull tops out at 70 or so. Those boats are useless in anything bigger than 1 foot of chop.

posted 01-24-2005 10:24 PM ET (US)            

I can't say for sure that old gas killed the motor. But the motor was never run hard. It did sit around alot in between uses though. The original owner was a friend and was sold to another friend at a discounted price. We told the person to dump out the gas in the 12 gallon tanks before firing up the motor and using it. He didn't and ran through the gas. Pretty soon after, the motor blew. Sounded like a bunch of nuts and bolts clanging away. Needless to say we were all surprised at the low hours when this happened.

The two strokes need good gas and oil for lubrication and cooling. Old gas and or poor oil will do damage to these motors. I don't know how long stabilizers and additives will
maintain the integrety of the gas.

Who know exactly why the motor blew. But 240-250 hours is all that it lasted.

posted 01-25-2005 11:56 AM ET (US)            

Hello.
Again, i can't say for sure that the old gas is what really killed my friends 90 johnson. The motor was not used regularly enough. It had low hours on it which is why my other friend bought the montauk. We all thought that the boat was in great condition because it had such little use. Unfortunately, he did not dump the gas and ran the old gas through the engine. The boat was set up with two 12 gallon tanks. I would guess that the gas was over a year old as well. Can we assume that the gas was the major factor in the early death of the engine? I really don't have enough knowledge to say either way.

One year old gas is pretty old. Did you put stabilizer in it? personally, I wouldn't run that gas through my engine.

I always use 6 gallon tanks for exactly the reason of having fresh gas. Except for the rare times for tuna fishing around here i rarely, use more than 6 gallons for a day of fishing.

This might be a good topic for the wisdom of the forum.

What do you think guys? Do you know of any articles on the effects of old gas/oil mixtures for 2 strokes.

I vaguely remember reading an article years back that showed the effects of using improper mixes and different brands of oil mixtures. They ran different types of mixtures and showed the pictures of damage done to the pistons and rings. The bottom line on the article was that you can do damage rather quickly if the oil gas mixture isn't right.

We need the wisdom of mechanics and engineers here on this.

As for your immediate problem. Maybe you could siphon it out and mix it up with some fresh gas and burn in your car. Lets leave it up to the wisdom of the people of the forum to discuss this. I really can't tell you with any expertise what you should do.

posted 01-25-2005 12:46 PM ET (US)            

That is exactly why I always have a kicker motor.
I have had to use it too!!

Do you have a kicker motor for your plane?

The point on the hours is that small plane owners are regulated and must maintain their motors. I am pretty sure that for flying schools, they have to tear down their engines right around the 1000 hour to 1500 hours.

posted 01-25-2005 02:03 PM ET (US)         

20 Hours on my 1998 Optimax 135hp.

225 Hours on a pair of Yamaha 200 HPDI's

posted 01-28-2005 12:04 PM ET (US)            

I then had a 1977 Johnson with a 115, it blew up after 600 hours.

1993 Evinrude 88 Special, 1000 hours when I sold it. Minor problems with the thermostats.

However, on my current 25' Revenge, the 1985 OMC Sea Drive blew up with only 400 hours. I spent 5K to fix it, and only got an additional 100 hours out of it before it blew up again. I have heard similar stories from other OMC Sea Drive owners.

posted 02-08-2005 03:07 PM ET (US)            

The engine was still working, but I was concerned about it deciding to die while I was out in the ocean, so I upgraded to the new engine.

I also couldn't tilt it anymore, since the tilt tube was frozen and it got to the point where I couldn't lift it while trailered in the back yard with both feet on the ground.