salt water motors

[ggoldy]

What makes a salt water motor, a salt water motor?
100% non-ferrous material?

[phil]

Running it in salt water. They are worse if they are not run in fresh water after running in the salt. I have a lake on the way home, so I back the rig in and run the motor a few minutes.
The outside of it needs a fresh water bath from your hose at home. The warmer the water you run in the worse it gets, eventually all the fasteners get aluminum corrosion around them making them very hard not to break on removal.

http://www.omc-boats.org
http://www.aerocraft-boats.org

[outboard315]

I think what makes a newer salt water option motor different. I would say heaver coatings of paint and maybe some different metals in key areas.

[ggoldy]

Phil, as usual, I worded my question poorly. I HAVE to stop doing that. I meant motors whose manufacturers’ "claim" to be for use in salt water. (Sorry about that.)
Outboard315, the key areas….everything below the powerhead? Would they use stainless steel drive shafts, prop shafts? What about the cyclinder head?

[fleetwin]

Well, I guess it depends on the manufacturer and the engine. Some of the OMC "Ocean Pro" engines had a better paint job (EDP coated parts) and SS tilt tubes. Some of the exhaust housings were a little different as well in an attempt to alleviate some of the paint peeling at the exhaust hsg/gearcase split line.
Needless to say, these things might help, but the salt water usually wins the battle. In other words, don’t buy a "salt water" motor thinking there will be no corrosion issues. The key is proper lubrication (I’m not talking fuel/oil mix) when the engine is new. I was always so frustrated when dealers never even took the time to grease the fittings, latches, or steering cable properly while rigging new engines. I was never very popular with my poor boss, I used to have new engines in pieces before rigging, in an attempt to give them a fighting chance in the salt water. I still remember customers complaining about grease stains on their new engines, perhaps a few on the boat too I’ll admit. I always told them that grease wipes off/cleans up, torch marks/helicoils are forever!

[kees]

can you go to a dealer and ask; "Do you have a saltwater model ?"
if you have a choice between two similar models?
I don’t think so. ( or OMC like fleetwin wrote )
After a run, again and again seriously and proper maintenance is the key.
In the last century, everything was different.
You could make a choice for a motor with a bronze lower unit
instead of an aluminum one.
the good old days of the 30s
😉
.

[outboard315]

https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/cor … protection

Here is the mercury site explaining what they do for salt water engines.

[frankr]

Well Merc can brag about their stainless steel shafts if they want to. I say it is about time they caught up. OMC has been using SS shafts since the early 1950’s. Except for a few cheapo models. OMC also has been coating the inside of their water jackets since the 1950’s. But I don’t know if BRP has continued the practice or not. It’s a whole different company now than the ones I knew. Most exposed screws are SS also. But that is not the blessing you might imagine. SS screws actually corrode in place worse than steel ones. But they do look better on the surface that you see.

[outboard315]

quote FrankR:

Well Merc can brag about their stainless steel shafts if they want to. I say it is about time they caught up. OMC has been using SS shafts since the early 1950’s. Except for a few cheapo models. OMC also has been coating the inside of their water jackets since the 1950’s. But I don’t know if BRP has continued the practice or not. It’s a whole different company now than the ones I knew. Most exposed screws are SS also. But that is not the blessing you might imagine. SS screws actually corrode in place worse than steel ones. But they do look better on the surface that you see.

Frank, are they using stainless prop shafts. If so do you know what grade stainless.

[fleetwin]

Frank is so right about the SS fasteners, a mixed blessing at best in some areas. The aluminum and SS together promote salt build up faster than plain steel fasteners, especially in areas like cylinder heads or gearcases. The shoulders on many of the SS fasteners in these areas helped reduce the salt build up though. I just wish the manufacturers would treat the bolts with gasket sealer before installing them, but this suggestion always got cut down due to cost and making it tougher to paint afterwards.

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