Outboard flushing

[Ziffius]

Hi, just waiting for a new Suzuki df2.5 four stroke to be delivered - any one own a newish one? I was looking at getting some flush muffs to flush it when I'm away from marina but the dealer recons I can't use flush muffs on it and have to stick in a big bin full of water instead - not possible on the boat lol. Any one got advice on flushing, I never flushed my evinrude 2.3 2 stroke except the outside of it.

[mikeiso1192]

Had the Suzuki for 4 years up until last year. The design meant that it would not take the flushing muffs.
What I found pretty successful was to cut the top off one of my old fenders (discard the top) and then pull the fender up over the leg of the outboard then fill with fresh water and run the engine to flush it.
This worked well with the engine on its bracket on the stern rail; beats a bucket every day.
Mike

[Ziffius]

Ok thanks for that info, didn't look at the water intake when I was in the shop. How often did you flush it? Not sure I can spare that much water to do it after every days use.

[Salty]

I got around that problem by buying an air cooled Honda 2.5 hp engine. It doesn't take in sea water, so doesn't need a fresh water flush other than an overall squirt with a hose to remove any external salt.

[Ziffius]

I would have gone for the Honda but SWMBO insisted on having a proper neutral/forward gear

[dawntreader]

Ok thanks for that info, didn't look at the water intake when I was in the shop. How often did you flush it? Not sure I can spare that much water to do it after every days use.

You only need to flush if you are leaving the engine out of the water for a while - say a couple of weeks. This is to prevent the build up of salt crystals in the water cooling system. If you use the engine often then flushing is not necessary. As a SCUBA diver I owned several ribs and maintained them successfully this way. A drop of washing-up liquid in the water is very useful too 

[Neil]

They take a lot of abuse. I have left mine un-flushed and unloved out of the water on several occasions and had no problem. Any salt dissolves after a few runs. Run on lower revs if the flow isn't great until it starts to flow fully.

[Lazy Pelican]

I've a Mercury 3.5 4 stroke. I flush it on its mounting bracket on the transom, by filling a bucket with water and lashing it so the outboard intake is fully immersed in water. Then run the engine far as long as you need. Very easy.