How should I flush my outboard?
Your outboard should be flushed with fresh water for at least 10 minutes after every
time it is used in salt or brackish water. Flushing at the boat ramp will reduce the likelihood
of the salt hardening inside the water galleries but flushing when you get home is the next best thing.
Fresh water flushing is especially important for 4 stroke outboards. The internal exhaust
and water passages of most 4 stroke outboards are designed in a way that creates areas that
are much hotter than most 2 strokes and the salt seems to get baked onto the cylinder water galleries.
When fresh water flushing is complete, a treatment such as MACS or Salt-Away should be used to
coat the internal water galleries. In my observations of late I have found that fresh water
flushing alone is not enough to protect the internal water galleries of your outboard.
Some outboards have a flushing attachment moulded into the aluminium motor case under the powerhead. This will
harbour salt water and potentially cause serious corrosion damage over the long term if it is not used.
If you have a fresh water flush attachment, especially if it is moulded into the aluminium motor
case under the powerhead, it needs to be flushed out every time the outboard is used in salt water
and treated with a post flush water gallery treatment to avoid build-up of salt in this area.
This is in addition to your normal flushing regimen.
There are three main ways of flushing your outboard. Using a flushing attachment (earmuffs),
using the outboards’ built in flushing attachment or to use a drum. All of these methods have good and bad points.
- Earmuffs
- Flush Drum
- Flushing Attachment
- Post Flushing Treatment
- Contact Cairns Outboard Service for your outboard service requirements.