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On Sun, 18 May 2008 11:30:37 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:


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On Sat, 17 May 2008 23:50:28 -0400, Wayne.B

wrote:

On Sat, 17 May 2008 17:43:08 -0400, "Gregory Hall"
wrote:

I've run my 20 horse Honda in a 5 gallon pail when no other choice
was
available.


Just curious. Why would you do that? Don't you realize that 4-stroke
outboards store almost indefinitely without needing to be run to keep
the
piston from corroding and seizing to the cylinder? It's because the
cylinder and rings and piston are bathed by pure oil and not some
diluted
mist like in a two-stroke motor. Also, most of the time a single
cylinder
four-stroke engine, due to camshaft configuration, will stop with the
piston
at or near TDC with the valves closed. This effectively seals the
innards
from corrosion causing moisture.

It was a situation onboard my trawler where the Honda had ingested
some bad fuel. I needed to drain the carburetor bowl, clean the fuel
filter screen, and get it running again. It's much easier to do that
kind of work when the engine is not on the dinghy. I had a place to
mount the engine on the back deck and the 5 gallon pail was handy.

I have a Yamaha 9.9 High Thrust outboard on my sailboat. It has the
flush
system
where you connect a garden hose to a fitting and run water through it
without
the engine running. I do that probably every two weeks. I'm located up a
river,
so just motoring in from outside, the engine is running for a half mile
in
water
with little salt in it, especially when the tide is going out. Still, I
periodically lower a 5 gallon bucket full of fresh water and salt-away
on
a rope
and run the engine in that to make sure that saltway does it's thing
everywhere
including the water passages in the head, and the thermostat. The
saltaway
disolves all the salt buildup, and leaves a protective film. I have
never
been
confident that doing it just via the hose is a perfect system.
Thermostats
caked
with salt are trouble. The bucket flush once a month is no big deal
whether it's
really needed or not. Belt AND suspenders for any equipment I rely on.


This misconception about salt build up needs to be ended.

It simply does not happen and it does not happen because salt water
dissolves salt crystals. Hot salt water dissolves salt water crystals even
faster and it is, indeed, hot salt water that circulates through the
engine.
Anything other than very tiny, almost invisible to the naked eye salt
crystals simply do not occur. And these are dissolved immediately when a
flow of salt water is again established. Flushing an engine with fresh
water
is a placebo for those who can't really think straight. It is a totally
unnecessary practice and will do NOTHING to increase the life of the
engine.

And another thing. Salt water lubricates better than fresh water. It is
easier on the rubber impeller in the water pump. Running in fresh water
and
rinsing in fresh water decreases the life of the impeller. That's a fact,
Jack!

Wilbur Hubbard


Okay, we now know you have never torn down and rebuilt an outboard engine.
In
fact, you have never even removed and replaced the thermostat.



I used to make a living repairing motors. What you call salt crystals are
aluminum oxide crystals. Fresh water nor salt water will flush them out.
Muriatic acid will.

Wilbur Hubbard