General Outboard Tune-Up Question

[Fish Fry Guy]

Hello Everyone, I run a 95 Yamaha 25 HP outboard. I bought the boat used a couple years ago and have been very happy with it and have had no problems. The guy I bought it from stated that he had some "general tune-up" items completed the year before I bought it (tuned up in 2005). Since buying it, I have run it pretty regularily (around 20 hours per week on the water) and have done no maintenance other than filling the oil rez. I'm not much of a troller so your guess is as good as mine is as far as the number of hours I've put on the engine. The motor is running just fine but I'd like to do my part to keep it that way. What would you all recommend for general maintenance/tune-ups come this fall prior to putting it away for the winter? Thanks in advance!

[Fish Fry Guy]

Oh, I forgot to add. The engine has been winterized including changing the lower unit oil & fogging for the 2 off season's I've owned it. It is an electric start & I do not need to mix oil as it has a rez.

[Eric Wettschreck]

This is just a general list.

Put either Stabil or Seafoam in the tank and run long enough to get the stabilizer in the carbs.

Remove spark plugs, add fogging oil, turn motor over a couple times so the oil can cover the whole cylinder. Put plugs back in.

Replace lower unit oil.

Clean things up and look for the obvious.....fuel line leaks, loose electricl connections, etc.

[Surface Tension]

Winterizing is the important thing. That would be draining and replacing the lower unit gear oil. Using a gas stabilizer throughout the open water season will help to ensure your carb stays gum free and one less step in winterizing. Lastly fog the engine through the carb while running with muffs on.

Next Spring burn that fogging agent out with muffs on, then replace the spark plugs. You can use a decarb during the open water season. So winterizing is a general and preventative maintainence thing. Other then that a new impeller would be nest thing in line if it hasn't been changed. As BG said a visual inspection of fuel lines and wire condition.