We’ve all dealt with tight steering due to corrosion, lack of maintenance, and old age. But what’s up when connecting a new steering system to a new motor and it binds in the tilt tube? Check the boat’s transom! If the transom isn’t flat, the tilt tube can be tweaked enough when tightening the mounting […]
Category: Quick Tips
Quick Tip: Smoke Signal
Four-Stroke Outboard Smoking During Initial Start Up? Here’s a Storage Tip that Can Help Proper storage of four-stroke outboards is critical for many reasons. One more obvious reason for smoke during start up could be directly related to the position of the outboard during storage. When storing Yamaha four-stroke engines, either overnight or for any […]
Flywheel Cover
Flywheel covers serve multiple purposes; they direct airflow to cool components mounted on the motor and prevent objects from getting into the flywheel, timing belt, and gears, which could cause significant damage when the motor is running. Most importantly, they are there to prevent injury to users who have removed the top cowling while the […]
Throttle Friction Adjustment
Adjusting the Throttle Friction on controls is something that is unfortunately often overlooked by both boat owners and servicing technicians. Either too much friction or too little can make operation of the boat unsafe. Taking a few moments to check and adjust the throttle friction will help ensure that your boating season is both safe […]
Maintenance Minute: Battery Maintenance
Caring for the electrical system is a crucial part of the boating maintenance schedule and the battery is at the heart of this system. Here are some things to keep in mind and tips you can pass along to your customers to help keep them from having hassles on the water. It’s usually pretty easy […]
How Do I Flush My Motor?
How do I flush my motor? This is so common I can answer it in my sleep. We often get asked “how to” and “how often” to flush your engine. Yamaha has made this procedure about as easy as it can be by including a flushing attachment on the motor. You don’t even need to […]
Quick Tip: Injector Gaskets
Injector Gaskets, Where Are You? You just finished installing reconditioned injectors on a HPDI VZ225TLR. You were letting the engine idle while checking fuel pressure and noticed a sound coming from the engine. It sounds like a compression leak near the cylinder heads. You don’t see any indication it is the head gaskets and don’t […]
Quick Tip: Removing HPDI Fuel Injectors
Removing HPDI fuel injectors from the cylinder heads can be a struggle, particularly in saltwater applications. Corrosion can build up between the injector and the pocket in the cylinder head. To block corrosion build-up and ease future removal, apply a light coat of Yamaha WR#2 waterproof grease (pn 90790-74046-00) to the metal injector body when […]
Checking Cooling Water Pressure
When troubleshooting a cooling system issue or optimizing motor jack plate height, one of the first things to do is check cooling water pressure. Ideally, all boats would have a water pressure gauge installed, but we all know that’s not reality. Unfortunately, even installing a water pressure gauge temporarily if the boat doesn’t have one […]
Quick Tip: Hex Driver
There are a few places on our motors where hex drive fasteners are used, typically on upper casing aprons and water intake screens. A thread sealant is applied to the apron fasteners to prevent salt and mineral build up from making the screws impossible to remove. While minimizing the effects of salt, the sealant can […]