Cheap Motor Owner Gets Pwned

[Cooper]

So I don't see a lot of customers in my marina job anymore, because I tear apart motors for a living. But I had to share why this motor arrived at my desk.

Background: There are two states of tear-down:

partial: I take all electronics off, the starter, and the flywheel. Then I take the powerhead and lower unit off, and that's it, it's done.

Full: I tear apart everything including the powerhead.

Full teardowns only happen if something went horribly wrong with the motor. The compression is bad, or in one case, there was literally a hole in the powerhead.

To tell if compression is good on a multi-cylinder motor, they have to be within 10% of each-other on each cylinder.

We write on the motor itself with permanent marker on the cylinder, so we know exactly what the compression is.

(Don't worry if that doesn't make sense to you, it wouldn'tve to me a few months ago.)

Story: So I start tearing down this motor, being careful, because I can tell, according to the 120/120 compression, that it's a partial. Then my boss walks by.

B: Just so you know, you're tearing down the powerhead too.
Me: But the compression is perfect.
B: That was before he didn't put premixed (gas with oil) in it for a whole summer. Now the bottom cylinder is blown.

The only way he could have managed that is if he didn't go to a marina for his gas, and instead went to the gas station for cars. And the only reason he'd do that is because on face value, it's cheaper.

But buying a whole new motor? That ain't cheap. It WOULD have been cheaper to go to a marina for your gas. (It didn't even have to be us.)

[sirwired]

Not to mention they sell big jugs of the proper oil in every Wal-Mart in the land.

[2gigch1]

I assume it's an outboard you're dealing with. I'm fortunate enough that the Evinrude I run mixes it's own oil on the fly (straight gas on fill up; 3 gallon oil tank gets filled every other month or so).

Regardless that's a 'owner's an idiot' issue.

[Argabarga]

Reminds me of the neighbor we had who blew up his riding lawnmower's engine because instead of putting oil in the crankcase, he put in 2-cycle engine oil, on the basis that "it was cheaper and oil is oil, right?"

[earl colby pottinger]

Different

Are there different types of 2-cycle motors, because the only time I tried running the old outboard with only gas the vibration, poor power pickup and stalls told me not to do it again.

Plus, it was pain trying to start it at first, if had not been a hot summer day I don't even think it would run.

[Cooper]

There's several brands of motors, the most common being Mercury and Johnson. (I could go on a rant about how evil Johnsons are for not using bolts at all, only screws, but that's a rant for a different place). But they should all tell you that they're not running the right gas. And anyone at a marina can tell you what gas your motor needs with a few simple questions, if not by looking at the motor itself.

[Sapphire Silk]

In other words, RTFM.

[dalesys]

... how evil Johnsons are for ... using ...screws ...

Isn't that what a Johnson is for?

(According to half the T-shirts I see)

[Gilhelmi]

I premix my own fuel (mainly for chainsaws) but I read this weird book that comes with the motor call *instruction man-u-al* (must be named after the inventor )

If I buy used, Mr. Manual usually has arrangements with companies to publish them online someplace. How does Mr. Manual write all these books by himself?

[earl colby pottinger]

Johnson bolts

There's several brands of motors, the most common being Mercury and Johnson. (I could go on a rant about how evil Johnsons are for not using bolts at all, only screws, but that's a rant for a different place). But they should all tell you that they're not running the right gas. And anyone at a marina can tell you what gas your motor needs with a few simple questions, if not by looking at the motor itself.

My Johnson 3.3 was held together with bolts. However, there were no lock washers or locking nuts. Once you loosen a bolt, you better tighten it every other trip or so or the lake would soon have.

[Cooper]

My Johnson 3.3 was held together with bolts. However, there were no lock washers or locking nuts. Once you loosen a bolt, you better tighten it every other trip or so or the lake would soon have.

Generally, Mercuries, Forces, Chryslers, and Jetskii motors are held together by bolts. Johnsons and Scott Attawaters generally are held together by a mixture of screws and bolts, while favoring screws. And I hate them for it. Screws are harder to "break" (meaning the initial loosening), then they often do the bad kind of breaking very easily, and then your only recourse is to drill them out; which is a long and loud process.


So your Johnson would have been loved by me (until it was in pieces) but it's a rarity, in my experience.

[protege]

But buying a whole new motor? That ain't cheap. It WOULD have been cheaper to go to a marina for your gas. (It didn't even have to be us.)

Even rebuilt engines aren't cheap. A decade ago, I spent roughly 2 grand getting the 1.8 in my MGB rebuilt. The block was in good shape, but worn, and the cylinder head was cracked. Totally standard, except the valve seats are hardened items...so it can run on unleaded. Since then, I baby the hell out of that car. I run it on premium and use the best oil I can get.

With that said, I've always found it interesting that some owners don't bother taking care of their vehicles...and then flip their shit when it throws a rod. Apparently, a $50 is more expensive than a $500 engine repair. Never understood that mentality, since a properly-maintained item will last for years.

[mikoyan29]

With that said, I've always found it interesting that some owners don't bother taking care of their vehicles...and then flip their shit when it throws a rod. Apparently, a $50 is more expensive than a $500 engine repair. Never understood that mentality, since a properly-maintained item will last for years.

"We've thrown a rod."
"Is that bad?"
"Yup"

[Chromatix]

The problem is that they don't perceive the $500 expense as being in *their* future. Broken-down cars happen to *other* people - or else, they are things that "just happen", and they don't see the connection with being a maintenance cheapskate.

[Sapphire Silk]

With that said, I've always found it interesting that some owners don't bother taking care of their vehicles...and then flip their shit when it throws a rod. Apparently, a $50 is more expensive than a $500 engine repair. Never understood that mentality, since a properly-maintained item will last for years.

I don't get that mentality either. I used to drive a VW Rabbit, 1980 (it was my dad's car, I "inherited it" when my first car went to car heaven). It was a lemon (literally, it was a bad year for the model). It was such a piece of shit car, even with all the maintenance done it was always in the shop. I finally bought a new car after I got stuck in Pennsylvania for FOUR days when the alternator blew (there were no German car repair shops in the area, the part had to be shipped in).

I'm not big on washing my cars, but the routine shit gets done. I've never had a car break down on me since.