Thoughts on Inboard/Outboard
 

Hi Everyone,

I'm interested in your thoughts about these engine types in salt water. Also, how do they compare to your standard outboard? I'll be looking at a boat this weekend, 11 years old -135 h.p. I/O motor. I can't help but think that the saltwater must do a number on the outdrives and engine. It has been used mostly in saltwater, but it was well taken care of (based on pictures). Are my concerns warranted?

And what specifically should be examined to make sure everything is in good order?
- Should the outdrives be painted? (I assume that if the boat is in saltwater, they better be painted)
- Fresh water cooled
- ???

Any feedback is appreciated. Many thanks,
Rich

Having had both I/O and outboard you will find many pro's and con's. The I/O need special attention to items such as exhaust manifolds, risers, the exhaust parts have passages that allow sea water around them and over a period of time they rot and if a leak occurs you can get sea water in your engine. The outdrive's are pretty hearty and if the zincs were installed corrosion can be kept to a minimum, they come factory painted of course, we broke out the spray bomb every winter and painted ours up, I see some use antifouling bottom paint IMO it looks like crap. Fresh water cooling would be nice but I would suspect that it isn't. You should have a compression check done on the motor and just visually inspect it for rot.

What Vectorfisher said. With any engine but especially I/Os you want to make sure you do a good fresh water flush after each use. I know many ride their boats hard on put 'em away wet and I did the same but I would always flush the engine out first.

Some advantages with I/O: Generally cheaper when you need to replace something. Repowering is more component based then an outboard - new/reman engine for a 135 I/O is probably less than 2K

Disadvantages like corrosion, sometimes more space taken up inside the boat...

I/Os systems take up valuable cockpit space on a small boat. The system weighs much more than eqivalent OB power. They are generally less fuel efficient at a given speed and corrosion issues make them unreliable unless you spend more time or $$$ on prev maint than an OB.

Try to find someone that has/had a small boat I/O that prefers I/O over OB. I've found that only water skiers liked them better (motor weight is centered = less wake and leg lifts in shallow water), but they generally only use them in FW where corrosion is not a big issue.

I started with an I/O, sold the boat, and now have an outboard. It seemed like there was always something happening to the I/O. I will always have outboards now - there is very little maintenance and it doesn't take up room in my small boat (21 ft). Outboards are designed specifically for thier purpose and it seems like I/O's are a just a less expensive way to power up a boat.

Want to see an I/O and all of its working parts come by my place, I have a project boat is just stripped down and you can see how when you neglect them what happens, and it may help you spot potential problems when you look at boats