How many hours can you expect to get out of a 4 stroke?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DB
  • Start date Start date
D

DB

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
149
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Ocean City, Maryland
I get so many conflicting opinions on how many hours you can reasonably get from a 4 stroke Yamaha I wanted to see what ya'll think....what about a 2 stroke Yamaha.
 
I'd say it depends. In many instances, the age of the motor is just as great a factor as the hours as people don't put that many hours on them. That being said, I've heard of 2K+ hours very frequently, 3K many times and even a few 4K hours for engines that are run a lot each season. Lets say the average hours per year is 350, then I'd guess 10-12 years if properly maintained and expect a few larger repairs mixed in.
 
I would say that they have not been around long enough to establish a good number - you hear some commercial guys talk about 3,000 hours and running strong
 
I've heard it's not the amount of time on the motor it's the amount of fuel burned through the motor...that will give you a better feel for how much time you have left...you could have 1000 hours trolling or 1000 hours running 5500 RPM which motor would you like to buy used? :hmm
 
I had a mechanic do an engine survey for me the other day and he owns a set of F225's with 8600 hours on them. He has only replaced a wiring harness and an oil pump of some sort. If you run them and maintain them they will last a long time. Yamaha, for the record states they are 3000-5000 hour engines. The average person only puts maybe 100 hours a year on their boat.
 
I PM'd a guy who reported 10,000 hours on a V6 4 stroke Yamaha (225 I think).
It was salt water use and he operated a charter boat business.
Original power head and no major repairs. He just said he maintained it "by the book".
I do close to about 150 hours per year and I'm sitting on 438 hours right now. So I hope to go a while before I need to even worry about this. These Yamaha four strokes are the best out there IMHO (close 2nd goes to Honda and only because their service network is much smaller).
 
I'm guessing it's like any other engine; The more you run it, the less chances for problems.
My 1999 Toyota Corolla has 367,000 miles on it and I drive it everywhere all the time.
The pro charter guys replicate the same scenario on the water; those engines stay lubed up and loose and don't sit idle. I've heard that's when the problems start.

Now if I could only run my F200's more often....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.