TOPIC: A 165hp inline six in salt water?

Wife and I are thinking about getting a place down at the coast this summer and taking one of the boats. Choices are the '63 Aristocraft funliner or the 75 Aristocraft nineteen. The funliner has the '62 johnson v-4 75hp and the nineteen has the 165hp I/O. I'm fairly sure the 165 has tasted salt before. If I decide to run the I/O in the drink, what's some things I need to do besides flushing after of course. Neither boat will set in the water the whole week like I used to do with the funliner years back. Prolly pull it out after every outing and flush. I'm thinking the johnson will take the salt better than the 165. Any thoughts/all thoughts welcome.

Don't think it will matter much. I'd go with the 19 just to have the extra size and power for the 0cean. Not really much else you need to do. Make sure you change the zincs over to, well, zinc, and if you are only leaving it in a week or less at a time, you should be good. You would consider bottom paint if leaving in longer, ut f not, can clean it once a week when out on the trailer. Only thing to look out for are the manifolds, as Salt water does a number on them, but if you are flushing that often, probably not much of a problem.

Thanks for the reply. I have NO experience with I/Os in salt water. I've heard of some kinda stuff you can flush it with to neutralize the effects of salt.You heard anything on that? jim

There's one product called "salt away" that comes to mind Jim, carried by most marine supply stores and some others. I've heard guys on the coast use it to flush after ocean use, supposed to do the trick?

www.google.com/search?output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=salt+away&oq=salt+aw&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.83339334,d.eXY&biw=1366&bih=634&dpr=1&pf=p&sugexp=cnullwlo&gs_rn=60&gs_ri=psy-ab&cp=7&gs_id=rd8&xhr=t&es_nrs=true&ei=eNSvVP6qMYGjgwS8voHYCA&emsg=NCSR&noj=1

Thanks Mark, that's what I'll use. Looks like you can wash the boat and trailer down with it too. I'm gonna pull the exhaust riser sometime between now and spring to check/clean it up and also check the exhaust shutter to be sure it will keep the surf from backing up through the exhaust. I remember how intimidating the surf was when I'd come back in from the ocean through the inlet in the funliner.My children when they were little, loved going out or coming in through the Lockwoods Folly inlet between Oak Island and Holden Beach. I can still remember their eyes gettin' wide open when we would go over a 4' wave and come back down .

I have the 165 in my 72 Sea Ray. It is a good engine, very strong and simple to maintain and work on. Whether or not you should use it in Salt Water depends on the cooling system. If it has a closed system with a heat exchange you should be fine. If it is a raw water system I wouldn't do it unless you haul the boat frequently and flush it after each use. The exhaust manifolds are cast iron and don't take kindly to salt water. So find out if it has a closed system. Then salt never touches the manifolds.

It has the raw water system. That was why I said I figured the johnson would take the salt better than the 165. I know the salt won't do the v-4 any good, but I know from experience it doesn't seem to harm the johnson too bad. I used to flush it out as soon as I'd pull it out of the water. Which ever boat I take will get the salt-away used on it now that I know about it.

Ike wrote:

I have the 165 in my 72 Sea Ray. It is a good engine, very strong and simple to maintain and work on. Whether or not you should use it in Salt Water depends on the cooling system. If it has a closed system with a heat exchange you should be fine. If it is a raw water system I wouldn't do it unless you haul the boat frequently and flush it after each use. The exhaust manifolds are cast iron and don't take kindly to salt water. So find out if it has a closed system. Then salt never touches the manifolds.

Ike, I did a little checking on the closed water system and from what I can tell, I'd still have salt water going through my manifold/riser. Just fresh water in the engine block. I guess if the trip happens,the v-4 johnson will make the trip. Here's a diagram.

You're right. I looked it up and sure nuff the raw water goes through the manifold. I would still flush it after each use then. I had to replace the manifold when I bought my boat. As far as I could tell it had never been replaced in 40 years and it was completely clogged with rust. I have no idea if the boat had been in salt water or not because it had been sitting in someone's yard for 10 years, and he had no idea about it's previous use. But If that's what can happen then why not take a little extra care and flush it. Easy to do with a set of muffs and a hose.

Ike, a repair manual I have said something about you can clean a rusty manifold by soaking it in muratic acid and taking a small metal rod and pushing the rod through the manifold water passages to clean them. But they stressed you could only do this to a cast iron manifold. Apparently muratic acid and aluminum don't play good together.jim

Thousands of boats live in the salt water and survive. They will generally state that in salt, expect to change the manifolds every 2-3 years. That said, I know folks that have had theirs on up to 5 or 6. Not suggesting that, but it happens. I used to pull mine every 2 years to take a look and check the passages. I usually went a little overboard and closed off the end of the passages and blew air through them to see how they held pressure. You can get internal cracks you never see until water gets into the cylinders. this never happended to me, but it did to my neighbor. As I said earlier, if you are going to flush it fairly often, the difference will be negligible.

As an FYI, 2 types of closed systems. Mercruiser had both, block only, and block and manifold, at least for the V8's. OMC always only did the block only from what i ever saw - which is the big thing.

Clean that?? Not likely. And this is after a cleaned most of the rust out of it.



Previously it looked a lot like this.


It was simply easier to replace it.

Ike wrote:

Clean that?? Not likely. And this is after a cleaned most of the rust out of it.

Previously it looked a lot like this.

It was simply easier to replace it.

Wow, I hope mine don't look like that. I'm going to pull the end cap and check it soon. I've been pondering another reason to go with the Johnson instead of the mercruiser. I don't know how well the I/O would take hitting a sandbar or heaven forbid, a oyster bed.Water depth can change fast down there. I never lock my motor down on the outboard. I guess I just know what to expect with the outboard. Plus it's a lot easier to beach when the wife and kids (actually young adults now LOL) want to explore the inlet at low tide. I think I'll just keep the I/O for fresh water. Whatsleft, I'm thinking by the looks of mine, I say it has the original manifold on it.

Well,I pulled the end cap off of the manifold and the large hose going to the thermostat housing. OK guys, is this average rust for one of these or worse? I'd expect it to be rusted somewhat like most older truck/auto engines I've tore into in the past.

As stated earlier I'm no I/O expert, but that doesn't appear to me to be all that bad Jim. Looks like normal / average corrosion, I'd run some cooling system flush through it and call it good! (Wouldn't hurt to service the thermostat, gaskets, etc.?)

Looks fairly normal to me.

When it comes to I/Os hitting stuff I always think back to what a friend told me in the early 80's. He owned a boat yard and specialized in I/O work. He said (I'm paraphrasing here) I made enough money fixing I/O's to buy this shop and most of it is frm people hitting stuff with the lower unit.

So I am very careful. The lake I do most of my fishing on doesn't have a real problem with deadheads and other floating junk, and the shallow areas are pretty well marked. But if i ever take it out on Puget Sound it's a whole different matter. Lots of half submerged logs and unmarked rocks. I have heard too many stories about hitting logs.

Ike,that's what I'm hoping. I want to check the exhaust shutter, but that's not going to be easy. Speaking of hitting stuff, I remember when I was a kid (mid '70s) My dad and I were down on Tuckertown reservoir close to home and I was running wot and hit a stump with my then Dad's funliner. I remember the motor kicking up all the way out of the water and falling back down and not hurting a thing. I guess the skeg hit perfect on the stump as to not damage the prop. Another good thing about the johnson in the ICW and inlets is if I do mess up a prop, it's easy as pie to change out props. I have actually done it bobbing around in the water setting on a throw cushion

MarkS wrote:

As stated earlier I'm no I/O expert, but that doesn't appear to me to be all that bad Jim. Looks like normal / average corrosion, I'd run some cooling system flush through it and call it good! (Wouldn't hurt to service the thermostat, gaskets, etc.?)

Mark, I'll prolly put a new stat in it.Last summer, I noticed it would run a little warmer( not heating) at WOT than at normal speed, but that could be normal for these motors.

Yep, that looks fine. Agree change the thermostat, the inlets on the outdrive itself, take apart if you can. What you describe may well be normal, but the wildlife gets inside the inlet and can clog/partially clog them.