Re: engine life
It's a matter of preference but the books show about 100 hours/annually, suggesting that 100 hours a year is typical. Because the south doesn't require winterizing, lots of boaters don't have that annual reminder to do what needs to be done.
Outboards don't require a lot of
apparent periodic maintenance like winterizing, changing oil, etc. so it's easy for owners to skip on the "runs fine" theory. So when you buy used, if you can, find out if the seller checked/changed the lower unit oil and replaced the water pump impeller often. Those are the two most important items. The others, like changing plugs and wires, is more of a performance than maintenance/care issue.
There are 2 types of aging when it comes to outboards: hours and years.
Every motor in normal storage conditions will age over the years regardless of how much it is run, especially in salt air. Rubber breaks down; impellers crumble; bolts seize and eletronic connections get funky. So a 25 year old motor is not the same as a 5 year old no matter how much or little it's run.
On the other hand, hours work both ways. Too little use is not good; they need to be run. So a 15 year old motor with 40 hours is not a good thing, unlike a collector car or bike. 500 hours a year is a lot of wear and commercial guys wear them out in 2 years, so way too much is not a good thing, either.
A hidden factor is the prop. If your motor's top RPM is 5000 and it's propped so that it runs at 6000, you are running an extra hour of life for every minute--and you get into wearing it out like a commercial user. BTDT.
Thanks for the info, but what is the regular maintenance schedule on outboards/ Up here we winterize every year.
