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GEAR OIL CHANGE - 2011 HONDA 225hp

805bigdrake

New member
My boat is in a ocean marine slip and can easily change my engine oil every 100 hours in the slip using the dipstick vacuum method. I cannot change the 90W gear oil until my mechanic can free up a trailer to come and get me in three weeks (trailer being used for project). My guess is that the gear oil will be approaching 190- 200 hours on it by then. I run mostly at 28000 to 38000rpm.

I know that Honda states to changed the lower gear oil every 100 hours. I have also read that this is very conservative and it is ok up to 300 hours. Does this should right?

Is it possible to change the lower unit oil while the engine is its tilted up? I could do that. Can I suck out the lower unit oil from the top vent screw with my vacuum method? I'm reading that it must be filled from bottom up?

I've read that many folks us the Mercury 90W on their HONDA outboards? It's blue I think.

Thanks
 
Is it possible to change the lower unit oil while the engine is its tilted up? I could do that. Can I suck out the lower unit oil from the top vent screw with my vacuum method? I'm reading that it must be filled from bottom up?

Nope,.... Ain't gonna happen, can't be done that way,....
'n, Yes, it's filled from the bottom up,....

I use high quality syn-oil,... Mobil 1, or Penzoil, in 75W-90,.... No dye for color, just high quality gear oil,....

Wait for the wagon to be freed up,... a few hours more shouldn't hurt a thing,....
 
Bondo is correct. It's really not possible to change the lower unit oil adequately without access to the bottom and top of the lower unit. The unit must be filled from the bottom while in the vertical position. Otherwise, air will get trapped in there and it will lack sufficient lubrication.

The change interval on the 225 has a lot to do with how old it is. New engines should have the lower unit oil changed religiously every 100 hours for at least the first 500 hours. After that, it's OK to spread it out to 200 hours or more. The reason for that is that once the lower unit is well broken in, there are (or should be) very few metal flakes that are released from the gears.

The lower plug on that engine is magnetic and that should be inspected carefully on each oil change. If it has any metal flakes much larger than talcum powder after break in, then it's signaling a problem in the lower unit.

Also agree that synthetic is the way to go with the lower unit. However, I don't waste money with synthetic on the engine oil because it should be changed every 100 hours, regardless.

BTW - the Honda Outboard Forum in this site is very helpful to Honda owners. There are several active Honda Tech's who hang out on that site, plus several other experienced marine mechanics. Go to the top left of this page, click on "Forum Home" and scroll down to the Honda Outboard forum, and subscribe to that and get alerts.
 
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