flushing

[never u mind]

hi guys ,luv your work. can any one tell me whether i need to flush my 9.9 yamahas after every use, or can i leave it for (how long?) a while when away cruising. thanks chaps.

[wayne McCarthy]

The people who have Tohatsu love them. However I prefer Yahaha as it has the Highthrust prop + alernator and electric start. I made the mistake of buying a 15 hp Sail engine. Save your money. I gave it away. Pieces kept breaking off..Wayne

[david duval-hall]

hi all, i have two 9.9 yams, and never flushed them and last winter i lost cooling on port engine, cost a lot to get salt cleaned out, the mechanic said it is common on these engines, i left them unused over the winter, now i have been told that if i run them up every week for 20 mins it will stop salt from blocking things up, i cant see how you can flush through will fresh water  every trip as thats one hell of a lot of water and waste, as  for changing engines, thats not an option for a retired limited income person like me, david and julie

[andy solywoda]

I have a single larger Yamaha and the alarm went off a while ago due to no cooling.  I was afraid the impeller may have failed, but did a simple test of removing the thermostat cover and the thermostat.  Then started the engine for a bit to see if cooling water was pumping through and it was.  I put in a new thermostat and it ran fine.  I suspect that I could have boiled the thermostat in some freshwater and it would have become unstuck.  The new one was not too expensive.

[wayne McCarthy]

Hi, I use the rabbit ears flush system which clips around the lower end of engine.  This can be put on when vertical in water.  (tie long line onto front of rabbit ears) lead the hose up into a bucket of fresh water ( add anti freeze to remove salt if required ) Start engine, run fresh water through engine and stop engine. Pull off rabbit ears with line. DONE. Tilt engine up.