Hours Of 4 Stroke

[pauljm]

Hi all.... Can anyone tell me the average hours you would expect to get out of a v6 4 stroke outboard.... i was told around 3 to 4 thousand so when you start to get up around this mark what would you expect to happen? Just wondering..... Full rebuild possible or is this not viable or too expensive and not worth it?

[achjimmy]

Hi all.... Can anyone tell me the average hours you would expect to get out of a v6 4 stroke outboard.... i was told around 3 to 4 thousand so when you start to get up around this mark what would you expect to happen? Just wondering..... Full rebuild possible or is this not viable or too expensive and not worth it?

Would depend largley on the working envrioment and service history. Regular oil/filter changes and long contionous run times like say water taxis or charter and the motors could go for a very long while.

[stingray]

Full rebuild possible or is this not viable or too expensive and not worth it?

I doubt it would be too expensive and not worth it, especially with outboards of say 40hp and up. It would not be a difficult task. Think motorbike or car rebuild, same kind of effort and expense involved.

[pelican]

Shame the manufacturers won't release acurate load and longevity test results as they all do test motors to destruction. You think hey would be proud and could justify the expense that they do xx hours and only charge $20000 - a bargain compared with XY brand.

I think some brands are just happy to exceed their warranty when you look at corrosion and some metal parts used.

As for my bugbear being computers on motors they should be warrantied for the life of the motor not a miserable 3 or 5 years. Did they design to only last 5 years? - doubt it so why not stand behind it and warranty it for life or 5000 hours since it isn't user error that causes failures.

With pure fuel and service they will last a long time but bad fuel and any part failures and any hrs is the wild guess and gamble along with if the motor was correctly rigged and suitable for the boat it is on to start with.

Total rebuilds aren't worth the labour cost of doing individual motors but in the states there is companies who do complete short and long powerheads (block with all new bearings , reno or new heads but no electroonice etc) . A lot of non genuine rebuilders in the USA but I think they are struggling when doing 4 strokes as opposed to the older 2 strokes and don't have avaliable the propietary coated pistons and bore finishing coatings some are using so not sure what the longevity of rebuilt motors are. So many parts for a mechanic to measure the tolerances on and confirm condition of makes it easier to replace them.

I had seen an article of XX brand outboard and what it costs to buy the motor bas parts as seperate components - that was horrific - like 2.5 times original purchase price.

Edited February 19, 2009 by pelican