Boca Raton Outboard Motor Repair

TROUBLESHOOTING THE OUTBOARD MOTOR IN BOCA RATON

The Boca Raton, FL Intracoastal Waterway stays busy all year since the area offers year-round boating weather. The Boca Grande Channel, once a port of call for large ships, is now an inlet used mostly by pleasure boaters, and it stays busy. Wherever there are large numbers of boats of all sizes, there are outboard motors needing tune-ups, maintenance, repairs, and/or troubleshooting. Some troubleshooting you can handle, but it takes a good knowledge of how the particular outboard motor operates and, in many cases, special tools to perform diagnostics, maintenance, or repairs. There are many outboard motor brands, and each brand is unique in design. But there are also some common features, and those can be the target of troubleshooting.

• Compression – Every outboard motor relies on compression, so there are many parts and systems that impact compression. Any of the marine repair shops found on a resource like Mariner Exchange will tell you that compression is affected by things like stuck rings due to carbon buildup in the grooves or timing settings improperly adjusted. An outboard motor can run for a short period with low compression, but if the compression gets too low, the engine will quit. Next thing you know, you are trying to figure out how to get your boat to one of Florida’s east coast marinas by Spanish River Park or South Inlet Park. A marine mechanic in Boca Raton can do a compression test and a leakdown test to pinpoint the problem.
• Ignition system – It is probably safe to say that most boat owners need a marine mechanic to find a problem in the ignition system when your outboard motor starts acting up. The symptoms of an ignition system problem include the outboard motor cutting out or refusing to start. Another possible symptom is you cannot get the motor to run at the desired RPMs. The lengthy list of possible ignition system problems includes damaged wiring, timing issues, and electrical shorts. Some ignition system testing requires special tools, so a marine mechanic needs to check out your outboard motor to determine necessary repairs.
• Cooling system – Your outboard motor needs the cooling system to work efficiently. When the cooling system is not working right, the outboard motor will obviously overheat. What is not so obvious is that you need to have the water pump impeller replaced every other year. The replacement schedule should not depend on how many hours your outboard motor was operated. As nice as the Boca Raton Red Reef Park and South Beach Park is to visit, it should only be by choice and not because you did not have a marine mechanic keep your cooling system running efficiently, leading to the motor overheating.

A WORD ABOUT OUTBOARD MOTOR WINTERIZATION IN BOCA RATON

Just because the weather usually stays above freezing in Boca Raton does not mean you can skip winterization. There is a false impression that outboard motors are self-draining, so there’s no need to winterize the boat. In Boca Raton, FL you should winterize a boat when you take it out of the water for the last time or leave it in the water through the winter season but do not plan on using it. Marine technicians in Boca Raton are the first people to tell you that every outboard motor needs winterizing if there will be a period of inactivity. If you leave it in the water for continued operation throughout the year, be sure to adhere to a rigorous outboard motor maintenance schedule.