2 stroke engine life

[TimberXX]

I am hoping to get a 2 stroke 40 hp aluminium fishing boat from the old man. I was curious if anyone knows the amount of hours until one of these motors require an overhaul? How about just the engine itself? It is a pre mix engine... please help

 

[hobbyfarm]

TimberXX,
2 strokes have a really long life. What seems to kill boats (outboards), though is the sitting around doing nothing but corroding.
You got to pretty much go with your gut on this.
Good luck.

 

[TheKid]

If it's been sitting for a few years it's a good idea to replace the water pump before you use it the first time. Fairly easy to do and not very expensive.

It's hard to wear out an outboard. I've got an old 1940's Mercury Super 10 that will still move a 12' jon boat a lot faster than I want to go in a 12' jon boat.

 

[SkyPup]

I've operated our Johnson 40hp outboard motor on our Boston Whaler for tens of thousands of hours in salt and fresh water since 1966 and it still works great.

Also, my Stihl 026 chainsaw is over twenty years old too.

 

[meledward23]

This may not directly apply to the outboard motor, but at my company we have about 120 pieces of 2-stroke equipment. I would say averaging about 25 hours per week 51 weeks per year. Average life before some minor mechaning (beyond my level) seems to be about 2-3 years, and just plain slap worn out is the 3-5 year range for most of our stuff.

Stihl blowers, weedeater (String Trimmer), Stick Edgers....

just a FYI

 

[fishman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I've operated our Johnson 40hp outboard motor on our Boston Whaler for tens of thousands of hours in salt and fresh water since 1966 and it still works great.
)</font>

It might work great, but there's no way you've operated it for tens of thousands of hours. You would have to have operated it a thousand hours per year for the past forty years. A thousand hours is six months of full time work. Methinks you might be overstating the number of hours just a bit. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Anyway, in my opinion the number one killer of outboards is loss of compression due to improper mixing of fuel and oil or improper carb adjustments or a broken gasket allowing air in or just plain dirty carbs. This is followed closely by inadequate cooling. I've also noticed that the smaller the engine, the longer they last. Big block v-6's regularly crater long before 10 years of life.

If the motor you're talking about runs to your satisfaction and looks like it has been taken care of, then you're probably ok. To be even more sure, after running it you should do a cylinder compression check to make sure the cylinders all read within 10% of one another. Total compression is less important, but if you know what it's supposed to be, that's good info too. Also check the lower unit oil for water.

 

[slowrev]

tens of thousands of hours ?? He must get his oil tested regularly /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bully]

I had a 71 Johnson V-4 100 hp. always ran 50 to 1 mix. in it. I put 60-70 hrs. per year on that boat. I sold it to a friend, and it's still running. I have found that the newer 2-stroke motors with the oil injection won't last long if there is any type of problem with that unit. A lean mixture is death to a 2-cycle motor, It will run very hot and not get enough oil for lubrication.

 

[hayden]

I agree that the "tens of thousands of hours" has to be over stated. Boats used recreationally tend to have very low hours. I've had a boat for 10 years now with an hour meter on it and I still have less than 350 hrs on it. Now I admit my usage is on the low side, but 5 hrs run time every weekend day from May thru Sept is 5hrs x 2days x 20 weeks, or 200hrs per year, and that's pretty heavy usage for a weekend water warrier. Even if you only expect 2000 hrs in it's life, it will last 10 years. Engines will typically last 5000 to 10,000 hours before needing an overhaul. An outboard I'd expect to be on the lower end of the range since they tend to run closer to/ at wide open throttle for much of their run time.

If the engine runs well now, it will likely keep running just fine for a long time to come.