Best maintenance practices
 

Trying to figure out what is best maintenance practice during offseason to ensure that I have a good running engine all season.

This is what I have so far
1) oil and filter
2) fuel filter
3) impeller
4) cap and the rotor
5) spark plugs
6) spark plug wire set
7) impeller for ballast bags

Anything else to add? I’m trying to find the maximum maintenance I can do to ensure a smooth summer of boating.

4-6 is a bit excessive every year, but you do you.

personally I do oil every 100 hours or 2 years. Impeller is 2 years as well. reminds me, I need to order supplies for my biannual service...

Good list, can't go wrong with your approach

A few more...

I replace transmission oil with every oil change (annually).
Check battery terminals for tightness/corrosion annually.
Replace batteries automatically after 5 years. Otherwise, they're going to go dead at the most inopportune time (I have experience with this).
Check serpentine belt for cracks on the inside. If there are, replace.
Check V-drive oil level.
Check for rust along gasket of exhaust risers indicating a sign that you need new gasket or possibly risers. This will prevent coolant water leaking into cylinders via exhaust manifold.
Check trailer brake fluid level.
Jack up trailer (each side at a time) and wiggle tire back & forth to check bearings. Should be no more than 1/8 inch wiggle. More than that and you need bearing replacement in that wheel.
Check trailer tires for buldges, excessive tread wear. Also check date of manufacture or track date you purchased each tire. I replace every 5 years regardless of tread or apparent lack of wear. (Learned the hard way after 3+/- flats on older tires over the years, always at inconvenient times on trips, often causing damage to trailer fender and more $$ to fix.)

As Denverd said, I'd also skip 4-7 annually doing instead about every 5 years. I do impeller every-other-year also and have done so for years. Keep old impeller on the boat just in case you have issues and are on a trip.

I keep a maintenance log with date, hours, description of maintenance item, often part #'s & cost. This makes it easy to track intervals.

Your engine manufacturer should have published specs on how often to do these things. I’d follow that. Most of these are 200-500 hour things. A couple of notes:

2. Sometimes you’ll have more than one fuel filter. On my current boat I have an in-line filter and a FCC filter. You can get away with changing the FCC less often than published, especially if you stay on top of the inline.
6. I’d just do this as needed. Wires don’t wear out. The connections from the wire to plug/distributor are what wear out. If you be gentle with them and stay on top of corrosion you may never need to change them.
7. I just carry spares and replace as needed.

Your transmission and v-drive if you have one will have their own fluids. Look up the maintenance schedule for those on how often or change them.

If you’re talking about smooth summer operation, I suggest you do maintenance at manufacturer specified intervals and carry some light tools and parts with you. Personally I carry a spare drive belt and impeller and the tools to change them I also keep a snorkel mask and knife in case a rope gets wrapped up in the prop. If something more complicated than that arises, I’m calling for a tow anyway.

1) Trans fluid every other year.
2) V drive - change v-drive oil every 3-4 years.
3) Raw water impeller every 2 years instead of every year.
4) Ballast pump impellers every year if you want your pumps to remain fast. They slow down once the impellers are a year old. I don't notice any difference in the look or feel of the ballast impellers after 1 year but I notice a huge difference in performance and how quickly they prime after replacement.

As other said, 4-6 only need to be done about every 5 years.

Depends how you use the boat. If you surf a lot or run lots of ballast it absolutely makes sense to up the oil change interval to every 30-35 hours or so (especially with a 5Qt oil pan).

I used to do my impellers annually. Now I do them every other year. Just pulled one with 125 hours on it and it looked really good. Probably could’ve just left it.

Great information everyone. Thank you.

Here is my current list with everyone input


1) oil and filter
2) fuel filter. could be more than one.
3) water pump impeller (every other year). cary spare
4) cap and the rotor (every other year)
5) spark plugs (every other year)
6) spark plug wire set (the connection from wire to plug/distributior is what wears out. Stay on top of corrosion may not need to replace.
7) impeller of ballast bag pump. cary spare
8) check to see when to change fluids like v-drive and transmission fluid can change with every oil change - v drive oil change 3-4 year. tramission 1-2 years.
9) checking and clean all electrical contacts for corrosion and tightness. Some examples are starter, neutral safety switch, fuel pump connection, all battery connections (replace battery every 5 years)
10) Check serpentine belt for cracks on inside. replace if there is.
11) check for rust along gasket of exhaust risers indicacting that need new gaskets or risers. This will prevent coolant water leaking into cylinders vias exhaust manifold.

Possible things to carry onboard: water impellor, ballast bag impeller, drive belt, knife goggles, prop and tools