Outboard repair book?

[AaronM]

I know pretty much nothing about outboard repair or maintenance, but would like to learn. I know the best way would be to have someone teach me, but that's not an option. Are there any good books out there that can enlighten me? Thanks for any help!

[marine_man]

A good service manual for your motor would be the best way to learn. That way you've got it as a reference manual for any repairs going forward. I purchased one for one of my vehicles and it has saved me several times from repairs that I could make easily with the right instructions.

It will cost you some dollars, but is worth it in the long run.

marine_man

[Eric Wettschreck]

Like marine_man said, a good service manual is worth it's weight in gold. Trust me on this one.

I found one on the popular on-line auction site, dropped like 30 bucks for it and it's since then paid itself off.

[AaronM]

Yeah I hear you guys, but it would be nice if there was something out there that would be useful, I'm looking for more general info than a specific brand of motor.

[Valv]

You can try the Chilton manuals they are somehow easy to understand but when needed to actually address an issue they are almost useless. A good shop manual is very useful, and will guide through many routines and troubleshooting correctly.

I had the ones from Mercury and even my wife thought they were great, they explained many things very clearly and easily.

[Surface Tension]

A service manual specifically for your outboard will walk you through most of the problems. Trouble Shooting and Diagnosing symptoms, the manual will even have a section for that but can't replace years of hands on experience. You might be able to find a Continuing Ed class in your area that'll help get your feet wet.

[jwhjr]

You can also check your local library for manuals. I've had great luck at mine.

[wishing for walleyes]

For $10 you can go on hsolist and buy a mercury manual that covers 2 stroke and 4 stroke models from 1990 on up.Covers many size mercury motors.I bought a disc on a saturday and the guy emailed me all the info on my motor with pictures and diagrams.Just on my motor there was over 200 pages alone.Bad part was i ran out of printing paper.

[shizzy]

the Seloc manual I got for my Johnson does have lots of basic outboard info and Maint stuff. its a good read.