It was this issue that started the investigation as the engine would not run properly with salt water mixing with the fuel. However, eventually the salt won and as also seen in Figure 5 it corroded through the casting behind the valve seat. In Figure 5 the blocked water cooling spaces can be seen clearly, it was a testament to Suzuki engineering that it ran at all without a catastrophic overheat. The second owner fastidiously flushed with fresh water at a dry stack after each use but unfortunately the damage had been done in the early years and the blockages and corrosion took hold. The engine cylinder head in Figure 4 was about 12 years old and had been owned by one owner for the first eight years. The next pictures show the damage to a far greater scale after years without flushing. That’s a lot of salt that does not need to be there. This is only here due to the complete absence of flushing with fresh water between services. The salt build up on the Yamaha engine in Figure 3 has accumulated between annual services. Figure 3: 2007 Yamaha, regularly serviced but still accumulating salt All the anode protections ports on this engine had a similar salt plug. No real harm done but only because it was cleaned out before corrosion could do more than discolour the surface of the block. Figure 2: Unblocked anode protection portįigure 2 shows what the port looked like after our engineers cleared it out. The bad news is after removing the anode the salt is clearly against the block and able to do its corrosive work. The good news is this was stuck to the sacrificial anode, if you look closely, you can see the shape of the anode in the salt. The salt plug was about 4-5mm thick and is indicative of not flushing the engine. Figure 1: Salt blocked anode protection portįigure 1 shows an anode protection ports on a one-year-old Suzuki outboard blocked with salt. While it feels like a thankless task without a visual result, not flushing has a real – and often expensive – consequence, as the below pictures show. It is important to remember that the water galleries around the engine are not readily accessible (like your arteries) and for the most part require expensive engineering work to repair. When this salt dries it is rock hard and then becomes hard to move by fresh water flushing alone. The salt in the water is also very corrosive and if left to dry out in the cooling system galleries, as well as blocking the flow of essential cooling water it corrodes the engine from the inside. If we neglect the engine (heart) we will get hot spots (chest pain) or worse a full overheat (heart attack). To prevent the need for surgery, we clean out our outboard engines with fresh water after use to prevent the water galleries (arteries) becoming blocked. The salt is the fat that blocks your arteries (water cooling galleries). Your engine is the same, but we only need to flush it out with fresh water rather than take it to the gym and feed it broccoli! There are things we can do to offset these with healthy diet and exercise etc. All the things we know that clog up our unseen arteries we know are bad, but we do them anyway. To understand why the flushing is important, it may be easier to think of it like heart disease. The salt is the greatest issue to your engine, but silt, mud, sand, shells, and brackish fresh water are also things to flush out of the cooling system. But most outboards are built to use water cooling so when on the sea you have no option. The reality for all boat engines is they simply do not like salt water full stop. Why Fresh Water Flush Our Outboard Cooling System? Advanced options for higher maintenance or to remedy weak flow.How long to flush your outboard engine.Two methods of flushing the cooling system – on flushing muffs or using a flushing port.Understanding the flow through the engine of the cooling water.Why we fresh water flush our outboard cooling system – including examples of what will happen if we do not flush.Why Fresh Water Flushing Your Outboard Engine and How to Flush It? – topics covered in this post For a bit more detail on why and how read on. The easy answer to this question is a very definite “yes”. Should I fresh water flush my outboard engine?
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