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yamaha corrosion issues 2005 225hp

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baitfish

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Has anybody had problems with salt water corrosion getting into the powerhead?

My fishing Guide has a 2005 Yamaha 225 4 stroke with 300 hours on it,always maintained by the dealer and never abused he was very happy with it until it began missing and the top plug was heavily corroded and white-an indication of salt .The dealer says the head is corroded and allowing salt water in.The part costs $3900 plus installation.
These engines should last far longer than 300 hours....this is clearly a design flaw,but whether or not YAMAHA will take responsibility is another question.I know one thing-people don't pay top dollar for an engine to break down in 300 hours-I wonder if Yamaha marketing would like THAT to be known?
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

I'll play the advocate here - despite being dealer maintained was it flushed with freshwater after every trip out and tilted up out of the saltwater whenever it was not in use?

The 300 hours of use is not the number you need to look at - it's 5 years old and if the boat "lives in the water" it was exposed to salt 43,704 hours.

The industry, for the purpose of "averages", considers a motor to be on the water, running, for 100 hours a year.

So, a boat which is almost constantly in salt water over a 5 year period would have the engine directly exposed to salt for the equivalent of 437 boating "seasons" - not bad before a failure.

Even the best corroision "resistance" on the planet can't be expected to be "magic".
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

It is a known issues with the Yammies, you need to search it on the Internet. Depending on the year and the hours and how it was serviced, Yamaha may take care of it.
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

I would interject again - who is it "known" by - the guys who never flush their salt run motors?

Pick the best product in the world and do a websearch. You will no doubt find (someone) who has had a bad experience.

Before we blame the motor for the issues I would first want to hear the following -

"I have followed, to the letter, the recommendations in my owners manual, and despite that I still have this problem".

A lot of outboards come through my shop and less than 1% of the problems can actually be tracked back to either a mfg defect or a part that simply "died" all by itself.

If owners actually read and followed the owners manual with regards to care, storage and maintenance, I would be out of business....
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

galamb said:
I would interject again - who is it "known" by - the guys who never flush their salt run motors?

Pick the best product in the world and do a websearch. You will no doubt find (someone) who has had a bad experience.

Before we blame the motor for the issues I would first want to hear the following -

"I have followed, to the letter, the recommendations in my owners manual, and despite that I still have this problem".

A lot of outboards come through my shop and less than 1% of the problems can actually be tracked back to either a mfg defect or a part that simply "died" all by itself.

If owners actually read and followed the owners manual with regards to care, storage and maintenance, I would be out of business....
Click to expand...

<sigh> Do a little research.

Start here
http://www.yamahaoutboardparts.com/forum2/corrosion-controversy-w-yamaha-f225s-th11015.html

or here
http://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/280320-yamaha-f225-corrosion-teardown.html

It is an issue and Yamaha has covered the problem in many cases, and in many cases they have not. It depends on a lot of factors.

Galamb, I understand your point and it is well taken.
I love my yammy and have had not issues with it so far, but the corrosion problem was probably the biggest concern faced by Yamaha owners. Way less problems than other mfg's, but it was a problem that should not have occurred.

On the specific motor the OP referred to (the evidently does not even belong to him), who knows what caused the problem?
 
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Re: yamaha corrosion issues

And that's still my point.

If there really is a problem, then absolutely the mfg should step up and deal with it.

I just can't take these third of fourth hand stories that "I heard from some guy" out smearing any of the mfgs.

I have a little sign up in my shop that reads "If you had followed your owners manual and did all the required maintenance as scheduled you wouldn't need my repair services" - and that is true in 99% of the cases.

Did some Yami owners do everything right and there motor still corroded? Maybe.

Yamaha builds more outboards than all the other mfg's combined - that's a fact. So if they really had this "major" problem due to a defect wouldn't it affect "thousands" of outboards and be big news in all the mainline marine publications, instead of relegated to a few online chat rooms and maybe a few dozen guys?

But before I believe that Yami or Merc or anyone else is purposely hiding a known problem that would show up in all motors, I want to see evidence that every salt run motor is flushed with fresh water after every time it's used and stored with the lower unit tilted so the engine is sitting dry when it's sitting at the dock (not a very common site at any saltwater marina's I have been to).

And I did read through the other postings and a common theme is present - guys are looking for flushing solutions after the problem has started - how dilegent were they before hand? (now that the house is on fire you are discussing the pros/cons of a sprinkler system with the neighbour).

Would the motor still corrode but might it take 20 years (or 10 or 15) if they had followed reasonable care guidelines before hand.

And, if as they state, Yamaha still had the best corrosian resistance in the business, then just maybe that's as good as it gets unless they want to start chucking 50K for a 150 horse motor built entirely of stainless steel and titanium...
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

Yes, that is good and talks about a corrosion problem with the exhaust system. And it very much sounds like maybe this was something Yami was trying to hide.

Now, if we back-track to the start of this thread, the complaint was a corroded head.

And unless this was a second issue that was not discussed in these other threads - including the motor with over 2000 hours on it and no head problems, this particular case was probably due to a lack of care on the part of the owner...
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

The four strokes are maintenance intensive and many owners don't want to do everything that is required. Was the zincs in the block changed or checked yearly? Some owners think that changing the oil yearly is all the maintenance needed. The ones coming through our shop are usually the ones that never got the proper maintenance and if you want Yamaha to help, then show them where you dotted the i' and crossed the t's under their maintenance schedule.
 
Re: yamaha corrosion issues

Hi, My name is Ellen Obletz. I am a consumer protection litigation assistant at the law firm Girard Gibbs LLP. We are investigating consumer complaints that first generation Yamaha outboard motors rapidly corrode within 500 to 700 hours of use, and necessitate costly repairs or replacement. If you are interested in assisting our investigation or sharing your experience with us, please email [email protected], call 866-981-4800, or visit our website at http://www.girardgibbs.com/yamaha-outboard-corrosion/
 
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