Steven Keplinger
Severna Park MD 21146
Boat Name: Nifty
Model/Year: 1978
Hull No. CTYH7999M78B
Hailing Port: Round Bay |
 09/20/2010 9:46 AM Pacific Time
Most outboards never need to be "rebuilt" in the sense of completely going through the engine and bringing all components back to specs. But there's plenty that can (and will) go wrong; largely because of lack of use and failure to maintain the creatures and their accoutrement [read fuel tanks and hoses!].
That said, most repairs can be effected with two or three hours of knowledgeable work, and parts. At today's labor rates that means you'll spend two to three hundred dollars to get a dead one up and running. 'course, if you twist a few simple wrenches yourself, the same job will cost less than fifty bucks...
And, if you don't mind Outboard Motor Maintenance 101 for bed time reading, your year-year cost won't amount to much more than fuel and fittings; 'cause you'll never wear one out on the back of a sailboat! But, if you do nothing to maintain the beastie, it will self-destruct from non-use in less than two seasons!
You can have a good motor, neglect it, and spend five or six hundred dollars just to check every system and (hopefully) bring it back to do it's duty. Rebuild it? Forget it. Find one someone has taken care of. Wet test it. Better yet buy it on the condition it will work all week end, and then use it all week end!
Finally, bear in mind a few uglies: 1) If you don't do periodic maintenance any outboard will fail; 2) any outboard over a few years old hates today's fuels, all kinds of hoses, rubber seals and valve thingies are self-destructing because of today's fuels; 3) at today's labor and parts cost, any rebuild worth the appellation will cost more than an equivalent new motor... |
