Kudos to the F series 3.3 liter

[ollie366]

BTW, I've owned the boat for 8 years and always flush the motors after use. The new powerhead was done 4 years ago. I can't comment on whether the original owner flushed the motors since I bought it as a repo with 160 hrs on the motors.

[pstephens46]

I have a pair of 2004 F225 motors and have done the mid section corrosion fix, but what I find unacceptable from Yamaha on these is the block corrosion caused by dissimilar metals, specifically the copper thermostat in near contact with the aluminum block. My port motor had this corrosion to the point where it went through the block and squirted salt water into the air intake. This meant a new $9K powerhead. Poor design. In 2005 or 6 they added an anode to the tstat housing to help mitigate this. I retrofitted my stbd motor with these housings and coated the outside of the block with 5200 to give me a chance to catch it if it corrodes through. I check all tstats every year and the block. The stbd block had started to corrode but the anode seems to have slowed it down. I also spray zinc chromate onto the area of corrosion - both approaches have helped.
Maybe not such a great motor, after all?

Maintenance matters.

[fairdeal]

My port motor had this corrosion to the point where it went through the block and squirted salt water into the air intake. ...I check all tstats every year and the block.

I'm going to politely and non-confrontationally offer a contrary view:

that while you may be checking every year now,

someone had not checked - for a long time -
before that housing got eaten through,
and it was packed with wet "salt".

otherwise, there is no 'dissimilar metal" activity,
as the thermostat is electrically insulated by the rubber gasket.

I'm also doubtful that those anodes in the thermostat cover provide any protection
to the block on the other side of the thermostat -
only perhaps to the housing itself.

(but I also 'updated' my engine with them - 'just in case')

[99yam40]

Fairdeal wrote what I was thinking too
it takes some time to eat thru.
could have been seen and done something about it before it got too bad

[boscoe99]

Maintenance matters.

So much easier and less expensive to defer maintenance and then just blame the manufacturer when anything goes wrong.

Strange, but I have found in my life that the more I performed maintenance the better the product was when it came from the factory.

[FabricGATOR]

So much easier and less expensive to defer maintenance and then just blame the manufacturer when anything goes wrong.

Strange, but I have found in my life that the more I performed maintenance the better the product was when it came from the factory.

Agreed. Yet I know a few too many 'employed' mechanics that this is not always the case. Being methodical and aware is a major part of keeping any machine reliable for years forward. That, and using quality parts, consumables, and practice. Of course the engineering must be sound to begin with.

[pstephens46]

I'm going to politely and non-confrontationally offer a contrary view:

that while you may be checking every year now,

someone had not checked - for a long time -
before that housing got eaten through,
and it was packed with wet "salt".

otherwise, there is no 'dissimilar metal" activity,
as the thermostat is electrically insulated by the rubber gasket.

I'm also doubtful that those anodes in the thermostat cover provide any protection
to the block on the other side of the thermostat -
only perhaps to the housing itself.

(but I also 'updated' my engine with them - 'just in case')

2300 hours now?

[HMBJack]

I have a pair of F250TXR's (2006). The older they get, the more I appreciate them. I do maintenance by the book but only learned of the weakness in the T-stat area 3 or 4 years ago. The T-stats and their housings live very happy now that I have added that item to my maintenance routine. Back in early 2018, I had the power head pulled and had my Yamaha Guy re-do the mid section manifolds. No corrosion noted! Now I can sleep a little better a night.

At just under 1,700 hours, my F250's continue to run perfect after 13+ years in the salt.

Are the newer Yamaha F250's and F300's better? Probably yes but there is nothing, I repeat, nothing wrong with a well cared for 3.3 Liter.
Just take care of it and don't abuse it on the throttle. My two cents.

[What The Fish]

I'm looking at buying a 2014 F225XA with 450 hours of salt water run time. Sea trial revealed no running issues. Visual inspection revealed some weepage of white substance (assume salt from cooling system) at a few joints in lower area of engine on the intake side. didn't tongue test to confirm salt, but suspect it anyway. Is this a know issue? Comments?

[What The Fish]

Anyone looking for a used Yamaha F150TXR? I have a 2006 F150TXR for sale. It has 1604 freshwater only hours on it. Just spent $1,300 on a very thorough annual, no repairs just replace the usual list of items.

[oldmako69]

My experiences are less sanguine. Namely,

1. The exhaust rot occurs above the point where saltwater enters the exhaust flow. Freshwater flushing does nothing to prevent the problem. The rot occurred while the engines were under warranty. I don't see how that is defendable, yet YAM ponied up for the best attorneys that money can buy and got away with it. If I were shopping for new engines I would take that into consideration and make the Suzuki dealer my first stop.

2. The fuel system on my engines was a constant headache, one engine a bit more than the other. Fortunately, it was the port engine since most of the bits are on the port side of the engine. I was fastidious with buying only fresh gas and adding amendments.

3. Basic maintenance items... Fuel injectors, T-Stats are a pain in the ass to access.

4. Parts prices are simply ridiculous. T-Stats $45. Short lengths of fuel line, $70. Fuel pumps, $500.

I was so disillusioned with maintaining them that I sold the boat.

All that being said, when those engines were "right" they were fantastic. Quiet and efficient.

[pstephens46]

My experiences are less sanguine. Namely,

1. The exhaust rot occurs above the point where saltwater enters the exhaust flow. Freshwater flushing does nothing to prevent the problem. The rot occurred while the engines were under warranty. I don't see how that is defendable, yet YAM ponied up for the best attorneys that money can buy and got away with it. If I were shopping for new engines I would take that into consideration and make the Suzuki dealer my first stop.

2. The fuel system on my engines was a constant headache, one engine a bit more than the other. Fortunately, it was the port engine since most of the bits are on the port side of the engine. I was fastidious with buying only fresh gas and adding amendments.

3. Basic maintenance items... Fuel injectors, T-Stats are a pain in the ass to access.

4. Parts prices are simply ridiculous. T-Stats $45. Short lengths of fuel line, $70. Fuel pumps, $500.

I was so disillusioned with maintaining them that I sold the boat.

All that being said, when those engines were "right" they were fantastic. Quiet and efficient.

You buy something else?

[pstephens46]

I have a pair of F250TXR's (2006). The older they get, the more I appreciate them. I do maintenance by the book but only learned of the weakness in the T-stat area 3 or 4 years ago. The T-stats and their housings live very happy now that I have added that item to my maintenance routine. Back in early 2018, I had the power head pulled and had my Yamaha Guy re-do the mid section manifolds. No corrosion noted! Now I can sleep a little better a night.

At just under 1,700 hours, my F250's continue to run perfect after 13+ years in the salt.

Are the newer Yamaha F250's and F300's better? Probably yes but there is nothing, I repeat, nothing wrong with a well cared for 3.3 Liter.
Just take care of it and don't abuse it on the throttle. My two cents.

This thermostat bore corrosion....No matter how much you flush and run the motor,
salt deposits build between the copper “shoulder” of thermostat and aluminum of the bore. I assume this creates an electrical connection and rapidly eats the aluminum to point that the contact is broken. More deposits and another connection is made starting the process again.

Hell with it. I bought a can of that spray Flex Seal that is advertised on tv. Sanded the metal on t-stat and taped off the spring area. Put two light coats of the flex stuff and let dry for a couple days.
I took the boat on a couple fishing runs and was shocked to see the stuff was still intact. It will be interesting to see how it holds up this summer.

[oldmako69]

You buy something else?

Yes, last August. 2014 Sea Hunt ****fish 30 with F300s. **** Not sure why I can't write **** fish as one word.... G A M E F I S H

Hell of an upgrade. I was headed offshore in the other one and the sea kicked up JUST A LITTLE. With over 20 miles to run I was down to 15knots to keep my teeth in my jaws and my back-bone discs from rupturing. Decided then and there to get rid of it while I could and it still looked nice. Put an ad on Craigs List that evening and found the Sea Hunt at the same time. Sold it that week for close to what I paid in 2015 to the first guy that came by. It cleaned up nice and had less than 500 hours on the engines.

A week later I drove down to Wilmington NC to look at the boat. A week after that I rented an HD pickup and went back and towed it home.

About the only thing the boats had in common was the overall length. This boat is a hundred times nicer in almost every respect, but ESPECIALLY the ride - which is the whole reason I wanted a different boat. 61-degree deadrise at the bow, 21 (I think) at the transom. It ignores boat wakes and smallish chop. But even in snotty water, it never slams or pounds. Along with that came the 300s that SO FAR are light years ahead of the 225s.

They have electronic shift and throttles. No more clunking. No more messing with throttles to synch the engines. No more cable friction. But sooner or later some component of them will fail and I'll be holding up Wawa's to pay the tab.

Just about the same fuel burn per hour to go several knots faster. And that really comes in handy when wandering 50 miles out. And if you want to haul bacon, these engines are good for it. Top Speed is 59, though I don't run it like that. I generally run it in the low 30s. It has a much wider sweet spot WRT fuel and speed as well. And, it will plane on one engine. The other boat would not, so if you shat an engine 30-40 miles you were coming home at 7-10 knots.

Battery leads. Two bolts. Nothing in the way. Two mins.
T-Stats - Two bolts. Nothing in the way. Ten mins.
Injectors - Three bolts. Nothing in the way. Ten mins.
VST - Pull the intake and you're on it. Looks much easier to access.

etc etc etc

The only thing I don't like is the cooling system anodes under the valve covers. Not a huge deal since you don't mess with them often, but more work when you do. And if they do leak, you're in a bad spot right off the bat.

It also has electronic steering which I don't like. I've already had issues with it. There's a brain box that communicates with the helm potentiometer and two independent HYD pumps, one per side. When the brain box farts one engine goes where it's told and the other one goes wherever the hell it wants. There is no interconnect between the two engines. I assume they do this so you can add a helm joystick but I don't need nor want one of those. I still enjoy moving the boat about in tight quarters using my head.

I have read disconcerting reports online of guys almost getting tossed from the boat when if failed at speed. I'm sure that it has its benefits but having had purely hyd steering for over 25 years with essentially zero maintenance other than replacing helm seals, I'm not sold. And the bits are crazy expensive. I've never used the kill switch, but with this boat, I might start.

[pstephens46]

Yes, last August. 2014 Sea Hunt ****fish 30 with F300s. **** Not sure why I can't write **** fish as one word.... G A M E F I S H

Hell of an upgrade. I was headed offshore in the other one and the sea kicked up JUST A LITTLE. With over 20 miles to run I was down to 15knots to keep my teeth in my jaws and my back-bone discs from rupturing. Decided then and there to get rid of it while I could and it still looked nice. Put an ad on Craigs List that evening and found the Sea Hunt at the same time. Sold it that week for close to what I paid in 2015 to the first guy that came by. It cleaned up nice and had less than 500 hours on the engines.

A week later I drove down to Wilmington NC to look at the boat. A week after that I rented an HD pickup and went back and towed it home.

About the only thing the boats had in common was the overall length. This boat is a hundred times nicer in almost every respect, but ESPECIALLY the ride - which is the whole reason I wanted a different boat. 61-degree deadrise at the bow, 21 (I think) at the transom. It ignores boat wakes and smallish chop. But even in snotty water, it never slams or pounds. Along with that came the 300s that SO FAR are light years ahead of the 225s.

They have electronic shift and throttles. No more clunking. No more messing with throttles to synch the engines. No more cable friction. But sooner or later some component of them will fail and I'll be holding up Wawa's to pay the tab.

Just about the same fuel burn per hour to go several knots faster. And that really comes in handy when wandering 50 miles out. And if you want to haul bacon, these engines are good for it. Top Speed is 59, though I don't run it like that. I generally run it in the low 30s. It has a much wider sweet spot WRT fuel and speed as well. And, it will plane on one engine. The other boat would not, so if you shat an engine 30-40 miles you were coming home at 7-10 knots.

Battery leads. Two bolts. Nothing in the way. Two mins.
T-Stats - Two bolts. Nothing in the way. Ten mins.
Injectors - Three bolts. Nothing in the way. Ten mins.
VST - Pull the intake and you're on it. Looks much easier to access.

etc etc etc

The only thing I don't like is the cooling system anodes under the valve covers. Not a huge deal since you don't mess with them often, but more work when you do. And if they do leak, you're in a bad spot right off the bat.

It also has electronic steering which I don't like. I've already had issues with it. There's a brain box that communicates with the helm potentiometer and two independent HYD pumps, one per side. When the brain box farts one engine goes where it's told and the other one goes wherever the hell it wants. There is no interconnect between the two engines. I assume they do this so you can add a helm joystick but I don't need nor want one of those. I still enjoy moving the boat about in tight quarters using my head.

I have read disconcerting reports online of guys almost getting tossed from the boat when if failed at speed. I'm sure that it has its benefits but having had purely hyd steering for over 25 years with essentially zero maintenance other than replacing helm seals, I'm not sold. And the bits are crazy expensive. I've never used the kill switch, but with this boat, I might start.

Errr Uhh, I might use mine as well or look at the wireless Fell Marine models. Nice boat!