Average costs / Yearly or Hourly service?

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HeavyHook

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Hey everyone - I am fairly new to having a boat and knowing when is the proper time to service the engine and was wondering if you guys could help.

I picked up a 2011 Mercury 25hp EFI and the PO said he had just had it serviced within the last month in which it only had 20-25 hours.
He had no paperwork etc but gave me a number to the dealership he uses (where he purchased the boat brand new with motor) and they told me it was just serviced as he said where they did oil change and check up including replacing the prop seal etc. The mechanic said I had a year easy before I had to bring it in for another check up.

What is the average price to get a check up? Is this something I could do at home easy or is there certain things I should just have a shop do?

I imagine the oil change is easy but is it worth just paying the shop to do? I have run the boat for only about 2-3 hours in the past 2-3 weeks and it idles amazing and runs perfect - I'm trying to keep it that way haha.
 
If you get a SHOP SERVICE MANUAL for your particular motor, and don't mind getting
your hands dirty, you can do your own scheduled maintenance. Which, for some of us,
is just plain fun. Same as changing the oil in your car and lawn mower to keep it running
in good condition.

or, you can run it through your service department every 12 months.

your call


in the Orlando area, the hourly rate is $85 per hour. So my motor will not see the inside
of a shop unless it is something life threatening. (to the motor - not me).
 
Thanks for the reply - Any certain way to keep track of motor hours without a meter or should I invest in one?
 
Ahhh just go fishing and do the maintainence on a periodic basis. Change oil at end of season

Change lower unit oil each spring

Plugs wires and impeller

As was mentioned above get the manual
 
Annual service normally includes oil, oil filter, fuel filter(s), gearcase oil change, pull prop, ck for fish line, grease shaft, spark plugs (not plug wires), grease engine.
Can also include water pump impeller depending on the years of service.

How about when you call the dealership to verify the service you just ask them? Simple enough.
 
First question is, do you use premium non ethanol gas? A little difference in end of season work. If you have the old style fuel filter, the screen can be cleaned out which will save you about $20. With gearbox oil, engine oil and filter change, grease, and a check over, it'll probably run you about $120. If you decide to do it yourself, pick up a hand pump for the gear box lube and don't forget the 2 gaskets on the bolts for the lube change. If you haven't done it before, ask your shop if you can watch the mechanic do it. There is a little more than this to it, but it's not hard. If you don't have the Mercury engine manual that came with it, give Mercury a call or possibly it's on line at the Mercury site. That's a excellent engine and I recommend this is all done at the end of the season. Any questions, PM me and I'll try to help.
 
Heavy Hook, such as myself and Pappy, is in FLORIDAAAAAAA

LOL we don't have "seasons" for boating !! we boat 365 days a year.

so, HH, just pick a month, such as your birthday month, and use that as your
annual boat checkup month. Get a Shop Service Manual and you can easily do
most or all of the above mentioned services yourself.
happy boating
 
Not being familar with the technical aspects of that motor (which is a Tohatsu, BTW), how often do they call for a valve adjustment?

I'd say, oil & filter once every 20 hours or so (which is about once a year for most recreational boaters), new set of plugs once a year (they're cheap...), new impeller and water pump housing inspection once a year, and whatever they call for on a valve adjustment. Aside from valve adjustment, with the right tools and some know-how, the rest of it takes less than an hour generally speaking.
 

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