Salt Water Maintenance/Prevention

[Jaxkiter]

Hello all,

New to the forum and new owner of a 98 Air Nautique. The boat had been used in mildly brackish water for the last few hundred hours but always flushed. Open cooling system. Galvanized trailer. I'm going to be using the boat in a salty environment. I live in Jacksonville right by the intracoastal. So probably a split between ICW and the St Johns river.

My question is what all I should look at doing for corrosion prevention. I'm planning on flushing after every use with Salt Away as long as rinsing the boat thoroughly. I'm also going to be spraying the motor with corrosion inhibitor. What else should I look at doing? The rear motor mounts are showing some corrosion already. Thanks for the help!

Aloha,
Jason

[shag]

You'll never be able to totally prevent corrosion, operating in a salt environment. I used to buy wd40 by the case, soak the motor and tranny, mounts and all with wd40. I used wd40 because it was easy enough to wash off when needed but still provided decent protection. Even the galv trailer will rust. I have seen cheaper stainless steel rust. That said, as long as you are meticulous, you should have many years of fun! Just no bringing it home and letting it sit.... flush flush flush.

[laurie8888]

check the condition of the oil cooler, (may corrode inside) Manifolds/ Risers and manifold gaskets..........replace gaskets cheap insurance

use boat regularly

[Jaxkiter]

Thanks for the info. I just picked up corrosion inhibitor and a stock of Salt Away. I'm also about to order a cover from nautique parts (unfortunately it won't fit in my garage)

Next question, does anyone have any experience installing zincs? What type should I get and where/how to install them. First time doing this.

Also, how often are people changing the oil on these? Thanks again for all the help.

[flipflop]

Congratulations on the purchase. Post up some pictures when you get a chance. If you are serious about protecting your engine, go ahead and order a closed cooling system from SKIDIM. Assuming you have the GT-40, see below link:

http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=RK025009F

If you order today, you can save 12% (instead of the normal 10%) using the code PEACE. Not too difficult to install yourself.

Otherwise, I just flush after each use and keep things clean as possible. Investing in a good cover is a must. Good luck.

[sean950054]

I to live in Jacksonville and am
Over on doctors lake. I just sold an offshore
Boat that was made for saltwater and as stated above it's all about flushing. I'm about to get a 226 and will
add a fresh water flush to it. Get a good anti corrosive and spray the exposed mounts, tranny etc. it's somewhat common to the manifolds and risers to corrode out on a salt water inboard and be replaced at some point. You shouldn't really need Zincs unless your really running in full salt and leaving in the water a lot. You could consider putting on rudder, but true sacrificial zincs in the engine could be difficult to add.

[jjrowe]

The exhaust system is really the weak point when it comes to salt. If not replaced, the riser rusts out and water gets sucked in the motor. Out here in San Diego the standard is to check/replace the gasket between the exhaust manifold and riser every year. The manifolds and risers are replaced every 2-3 years. Also make sure you don't have leaks from your ballast or elsewhere that allow salt water to get into and splash around the bilge. A PSS system is nice to keep the bilge dry. Many nautiques have been running here for 10+ years in salt with no major issues.

[Jaxkiter]

Gotcha. Thanks for all the good info. Got on the water for the first time the other day and loving it. Keeping it flushed and using salt away! As for the manifold, risers and gaskets.....seeing as I have no idea the last time they were replaced, what's the best way to tell if I should go ahead and replace them? Or should I just bite the bullet and go ahead and be safe and swap them out? Also, I'm guessing it's a pretty straight forward job....unbolting and rebolting with new parts? I'm pretty handy (always done most of my own work on cars), but never done anything on this type of engine. Thanks again!

[shag]

Swapping risers/manifolds can be a pain. If there is corrosion there is a chance of breaking bolts... Might be worth having someone knowledgeable do it for peace of mind... my .02.

[nyryan2001]

I'd use spray silicone vs WD40... Sticks and stays to the surface better, not flammable, good for plastics vs bad IE WD40 = petroleums. And some marine manf actually prescribe silicone over the entire engine area. Doubt any prescribe WD40. And you can spray it everywhere: hardware, shocks, hinges, bolts, electrical... Won't stain vinyl or other issues.

with that being said, I keep a bottle of WD40 I'm the door of my truck specifically for my trailer plug which often gets dunked and corrodes.

[jonsquatch]

My manual recommended Boeshield T-9, got a can from Amazon and it works pretty good. Works great on the lock for my spare tire on the trailer since it gets dunked twice every time I use my trailer I had previously used a white lithium grease but it all washed out and made it hard to get the lock off when I needed it, with this so far so good.

[jjrowe]

Gotcha. Thanks for all the good info. Got on the water for the first time the other day and loving it. Keeping it flushed and using salt away! As for the manifold, risers and gaskets.....seeing as I have no idea the last time they were replaced, what's the best way to tell if I should go ahead and replace them? Or should I just bite the bullet and go ahead and be safe and swap them out? Also, I'm guessing it's a pretty straight forward job....unbolting and rebolting with new parts? I'm pretty handy (always done most of my own work on cars), but never done anything on this type of engine. Thanks again!

It is pretty straight forward. Unbolt the riser and loosen the large hose clamps from the exhaust hose, then wriggle it out. You will need to purchase two new gaskets and a bolt set, nautique parts has them. You will probably need to carefully scrape the gasket off, use a vacuum to make sure no debris gets in manifold. Once you have the gasket removed, use a flat file to make sure the surfaces are nice and flat. Again use a shop vac and rags to keep debris out of the manifold. Install new gasket and torque the bolts back on. I think I torqued to 30 ft-lbs.