Maintaining A Saltwater Motor
All motor’s have one thing in common, regardless of what kind or what it is propelling. It can be the motor beneath the hood of your car or the motor on the back of your saltwater pontoon boats, they all need proper maintenance. Without proper maintenance the motor’s life expectancy can and will lower considerably. Every motor is going to experience issues eventually. Even if you take the best care possible to keep it running. The difference is that with proper maintenance your motor could last for a few years or more before experiencing it’s first issue. Without maintaining your motor you could see the first signs of trouble within the first year. It may experience lower fuel economy or it may generate more noise during operation. Even if you purchased your boat from a premier boat builder like Fiesta, you are still responsible for your investment. You just paid good money for your boat and motor, make that investment worthwhile.
Rinse with Fresh Water
Saltwater can cause your motor to deteriorate more quickly than usual. Some motors are created for use in saltwater, using higher grade materials and other features to maintain the engine. This doesn’t make them invincible though. After each use, the entire pontoon boat should be sprayed down with fresh water. This includes the deck, pontoons and bottom of the boat. Start from one end and just keep spraying till the entire boat has been rinsed down. This will remove the salt and help maintain the entire pontoon boat, not just the engine.
Flush the Engine
Rinsing the boat will help prevent corrosion on the outside, now for the inside. After using a motor in salt water, the motor should be flushed with fresh water. Even when boating in fresh water it is recommended to flush the engine regularly to keep anything that may have gotten inside from causing clogging or corrosion. Most modern boat motors will come with attachments or special procedures that will make flushing out an engine quick and easy. Usually the entire process can be accomplished in under 20 minutes. Just make sure to never leave the motor well it is being flushed out, and always use fresh water.
Seek out Professional Maintenance
Much like a car or truck, a boat motor should be serviced regularly. Typically the rule is every 12 months or every 100 hours of use. Depending on which comes first. This will keep your motor running smoothly and help detect any possible problems that may be coming up. It may seem like a small thing, especially when some people can put 100 hours on their boat in just a few months, but it can make all the difference in the long run. Having a boat motor serviced may cost a little bit but can be much cheaper than the cost to repair the damage that neglect caused to it.
These things may seem like little avoidable annoyances, but they can prevent the major annoyance of being stuck in the middle of the river or back in the wooded swamps. Routine maintenance doesn’t just keep the motor healthy, it reinforces your investment. You most likely spent at least a couple of thousand on your boat, maybe even over $10,000 if you went for a full sized boat. Don’t let those thousands of dollars sit at the dock because you can’t get your boat started. Be responsible about your purchase and keep your new found freedom properly maintained. This is especially true if you use your boat for business. Not only does a broken down boat cost money to repair, it stops you from using it to make money as well.