Logo
FULL SITE MENU

2003 Honda 225?

Yes - a bunch of things to check out. I'm sure others will chime in. Is this a fresh water boat or a saltwater boat?

Generally...

1. Check number of hours. Low hours are just as bad as high hours, maybe worse because with low hours on a 2003, that means it sat around unused, which is generally bad for these big four-strokes. Ideally, you will want to see something over 750 hours and less than 2,000 hours. If very well cared for and very well maintained, you can expect to get 4,000 hours or better out of that engine.

2. Test the engine on the water. It should idle smoothly at around 650 rpm. It should accelerate smoothly. Wide open rpm’s should be between 5500 and 6000. You should get a very strong water pump indication from the “pee” stream out of the starboard side of the engine. There should be no “hunting” at various rpm’s. One exception to that – around 4400 to 4600 RPM’s you may see some variation in the rpm’s (less than 100 rpm) at cruising. That is the V-tech feature trying to figure out which configuration it should be in.

3. Immediately after the on-water run, pull the oil dipstick – oil should not have any milky color. Smell the oil on the dipstick for any smell of gasoline. If either, walk away.

4. On the lower end, open the lube drain plug and make sure there are no pieces of metal on the end of magnetic bolt – a little talcum powder size bits are normal, but no flakes or bigger bits. Lube oil should be clean and no cloudiness.

5. Do a “professional level” compression test. All cylinders should be over 200 psi and there should be less than 10% variation between the highest and lowest.

6. Pull out the thermostats and look for excessive corrosion around the thermostat seats and down inside the water passage. Make sure neither thermostat is stuck open. If that engine runs too cool, it can cause fuel to seep into the oil around the rings.

Things specific to the 2003 Honda 225:

1. Get the serial number and check with Honda to see if Service Bulletin # 56 has been performed on that engine. That SB requires that the exhaust tubes be replaced. Check for any other warranty work that was done. Honda Customer Service Customer Service number is 770-497-6400.

2. Make sure that the exhaust ports on the engine are 5.9” or more above the water line with the boat at rest.

3. A good number of older engines with the 30” long shaft (and a few with the 25” shaft) could have a serious problem with the drive shaft mid-bearing. They have been known to fail and eat right through the outer cowling on the front of the engine. If there is no record of a warranty repair, you, or a Honda tech will need to drop the lower end of the engine and inspect that bearing. It tends to freeze up then wobble in its bracket to the point where it can eat all the way through the cowling. While you have the lower end off, inspect or change the water pump.

4. If you decide to buy it, spend the $116 or so to purchase the official Helm Shop Manual. Do not rely on the cheaper aftermarket manuals – too many errors and omissions. Perhaps the seller already has one. If so, that is a good sign that he/she cared about the motor and probably took care of it. The Helm manual will pay for itself many times over in terms of troubleshooting, maintenance, and repairs that you can do.
 
Mako, Glad you made it over here.C-Hawk man has all great points, but I'd also search the site for all 225 postings. My motor has always run well, but I have had both the mid-shaft bearing issue and corrosion thru the block under the thermostat, and have posted some detailed pics. Helpful input from this site saved me thousands of dollars!
Good Luck and please report back your findings
 
Well,

I made the 1.5 hr trip up to test drive the boat and yep u guessed it. It would not get on plane! Appears to be a fuel issue right now he says. I did contact Honda as well as the one mechanic who worked on the motor. only one of the four warranty recalls was addressed. and none of the sb were addressed. He could not produce any maintenance records and it is clear the motor has been neglicted. So I gave him a lowball offer for the package, He declined. I will pass on this one, the search continues. The informantion you guys provided was EXTREMELY helpful. Thank you Chawk and otherline!
 
Good move! The 225 is a great outboard, but it is maintenance intensive. It seems like Honda was learning along the way with the 225 - serious issues with the exhaust pipes and intermediate shaft bearing. After 2007 or so, it seems like they got most of it right. In my early research on the motor I found that the main block and internal parts appear identical to the Honda J35A3 engine, which is the same engine they used in their Acura and MDX van. It is considered an excellent engine with a great service history. Their problems came with converting it to a marine outboard - thus the problems with the exhaust pipes and shaft bearing as well as a few others.

So, if I were looking at a boat with a Honda 200 or 225 (or two) as its power plant, then I would be looking at engines manufactured in mid 2007 or later and make sure the maintenance was done.

Having said that, there are some crabbers and commercial fishermen around here that have the older Honda 200/225's with 5000 plus hours on them, and about the only thing they do is change the oil and occasionally change the filters. BUT, they are running those engines most every day. The lesson I take away from that is that the more often the engine is run, the fewer problems you will have. The worst thing you can do to any outboard is let it go unused for long periods of time. The conclusion from that observation is to be leery of any outboard that is older but has "low hours" on it.
 
chawk_man said:
Good move! The 225 is a great outboard, but it is maintenance intensive. It seems like Honda was learning along the way with the 225 - serious issues with the exhaust pipes and intermediate shaft bearing. After 2007 or so, it seems like they got most of it right. In my early research on the motor I found that the main block and internal parts appear identical to the Honda J35A3 engine, which is the same engine they used in their Acura and MDX van. It is considered an excellent engine with a great service history. Their problems came with converting it to a marine outboard - thus the problems with the exhaust pipes and shaft bearing as well as a few others.

So, if I were looking at a boat with a Honda 200 or 225 (or two) as its power plant, then I would be looking at engines manufactured in mid 2007 or later and make sure the maintenance was done.

Having said that, there are some crabbers and commercial fishermen around here that have the older Honda 200/225's with 5000 plus hours on them, and about the only thing they do is change the oil and occasionally change the filters. BUT, they are running those engines most every day. The lesson I take away from that is that the more often the engine is run, the fewer problems you will have. The worst thing you can do to any outboard is let it go unused for long periods of time. The conclusion from that observation is to be leery of any outboard that is older but has "low hours" on it.
Click to expand...


Amazing imput guys,,,, all info dead on don't give up on Honda's mine has almost 2000 hrs and runs great minus all those issues in which I already corrected so you might find some with issues corrected like mine ... good luck
 
Back
Top