FLushing an outboard

[RookieHunter]

I have a Nissan 5 hp outboard and the anticavitation plate (as they call it) is vertically located in the fin above the foot of the motor. Those little muffs you buy to flush a motor out of water will not fit because it goes straight up into the motor. The exit for the flushing water is higher up as well. It is a 2-stroke with a forced water pump for cooling. Is there any way to flush this. Everyone I know insist it must be flushed after each use or the saltwater will corrode the parts. The previous owner denies ever doing anything to flush it. Only tilting it up and all the water flowed out.

[pirateofcapeann]

Part of my Mr. Fix-It business is to get a bit more use from older stuff so my customers have the time look for the best deals for new things. This includes older outboard motors. I have a 55-gallon drum filled with fresh water to test run and flush motors with. I''ve had to remove the heads from older motors that were stored, unflushed for the winter, to remove the aluminum oxidation "salts" from the water jackets. It’s rare that I run into a motor where the corrosion has degraded the aluminum castings to the point where they are no longer usable. But it does happen.

Now, I really doubt that you need to freshwater flush the motor after each use in seawater. I would recommend it if you plan to let the motor go unused for a period of time, say greater then a month or so. I would also recommend that you run it up in seawater once say, every other week for 15 minutes or so to heat it up and flush the old seawater and oxidation out.

[hamiam]

You can go one of two ways with the Nissan: 1. Stick the bottom of the engine in a bucket of fresh water. Start the engine and let it run for a bit. 2. Nissan has a "nipple" that screws into a port on the engine to which you can attach a tube and flush it that way. All that being said, it is only really nessessary to flush the engine at the end of the season or anytime you indeed on not using it for long periods of time. Good Luck.

[cyberlord]

I have a Nissan 3.5 and have motored a small boat for 2 seasons and used it for an outboard on my C22 this season. I have only ever run the motor once in a freshwater tub and it''s still running fine and squirts out warm water.

I will tend to agree, flushing after each outing is not required. However, it can''t hurt the motor either. A seasonal freshwater run will be what I use from now on.

Tim

[JeffC_]

I''m sure that there is a Nissan part that can be ordered to fit your outboard. I have a Honda that won''t accept that generic attachment either. I used a motor stand and a 55-gal PVC barrel with the top cut off, as is described by others above, and as long as I kept the water pick-up submerged, it worked fine. If you don''t have a stand, I''m sure you could get your motor to clamp onto a sawhorse or something…<p>Spraying off the <u>outside</u> of the motor after daysails is much more important to me than flushing fresh water through the innards. I wait until the end of the season when it''s back in my garage.

[ronbuckles]

I always flush, because life is uncertain and I cannot be sure when the boat will be back in the water. Like last year there was an unexpected six month period when the boat never moved.
Ron

[terry-gufshoz]

Likewise, I always flush. I learned the hard way. The entire cooling system on my Honda 7.5 coroded to the point it was cheaper replace the engine. Later I learned about the fitting for flushing the engine. A friend of mine has that set-up and it really makes the job easier.
I have yet to see damage caused by excessive maintainance.
Terry

[bullseye]

i think it depends on the engine, i used to have a Mariner(mercury) 8HP, with the gear shift on the tiller it was made in america, it was a very good motor (i hate giving the yanks credit for anything,but credit where its due!) it never got flushed & started first or second pull, but i also have a japanese made Tohatsu 3.5HP that i would occasionally flush, & the cylinder head just recently corroded off it, so i would suggest finding out where the motor was made.

[jbanta]

bullseye
Just so you don''t feel too bad I have a merc 9.9 on my 29''er that runs like a drean and I was told it was built in Canada. My wife is also Canadian. And Canada has some of the most beatuiful countryside in the world and I would dare to say some of ther greatest sailing as well. I love having Canada as a niebour and as one of the US''s cloestest fiends. may our tow flags always wave togreather in friendship and respect. You guys make a good motor too

[BigRed56]

Ahoy ye Iron wind scoundrels, de hardest thing I had when flushing me engine was getting the flapper on the head to re-seat. Any good Pirate will tell you "We don''t need no stinking motors!" Pirate of Pine Island