Cleaning/Maintaining yamaha boat in saltwater

[Coburndj63]

Fairly new here on the forum. Ready to order a Yamaha 252 SE for next year. Initially, I'll be using on Lake Erie, but in 3 years I'll be moving to Florida. Wondering about the amount of time and cost of taking care of a boat in saltwater? I've viewed many " how to" videos on you tube, but there are many conflicting opinions which has me a bit confused. What necessary steps need to be taken after every use? Do you need to flush engines right after use or can you wait until the next day after using boat in the evening? Do you need to flush engines with salt away, or similar product, every time you flush engines? Can you just spray boat down with pressure washer after use or should you add salt away to clean off entire boat? Should you wash after every use? etc, etc!!! Thanks!

 

[h2oskierfl95]

Like you said, everyone will have their own opinions and procedures, but I can tell you mine. Salt away is a must. I flush both engines ASAP each and every time we go in salt. After that, I take the salt away mixer and attach a garden sprayer to the end and literally hose off every square inch if the boat and trailer. Inside and out. Then go back and rinse everything with the hose. It definitely takes a while, but in my mind the preventative maintenance is easier than dealing with the corrosion once it has set in. And the time I get to spend with the family at the sandbars and exploring the intercaostal is completely worth it to me. Also, cover everything metal in the engine compartment and all the moving parts of the jets with yamashield or white lithium grease. Some will say this is overkill and some will say it's not enough. This is just what I came up with and its working so far.

 

[NewBoater]

Flush the engines for 3-5 minutes (I do 5) with fresh water after every outing then 1 minute flush with Salt Away. Then turn off water and low rpm blast of throttle once it twice to blow out excess water then shut engine down, then repeat on second engine. This keeps a little bit of salt away in the system to keep breaking down salt but not too much water in the system. Then I clean whole boat for 2 hours after every weekend lol. If trailing spray trailer good with fresh water and or salt away also. Also keep up with spraying engine compartment with preventative maintenance lube to keep salt at bay like CRC 6-56. Good luck!

 

[Dixemon]

You dont need to wash the boat until your done for the weekend. Definately rinse the motors and spray everything down at a minimum on every outing. Use the above recomendations for that. Also, get a 1 gal garden sprayer with an articulating nozzle, and 1 gallon of crc 656. Usually twice a season, while motor is cool, use diluted saltaway on motors, rinse, let air dry then aply a liberal coat of crc 656 all over the motor. Sides, underneath, wires, in the nooks ect.. also ill hit all the running gear with the crc occasionaly, definitely before putting the boat up for the season. Spray that shit on all the metal parts, intake grates, inside the jet nozzles, trailer components. Dont spray anything in the cockpit area, use some silicone spray for hinges and stuff.

 

[Coburndj63]

Like you said, everyone will have their own opinions and procedures, but I can tell you mine. Salt away is a must. I flush both engines ASAP each and every time we go in salt. After that, I take the salt away mixer and attach a garden sprayer to the end and literally hose off every square inch if the boat and trailer. Inside and out. Then go back and rinse everything with the hose. It definitely takes a while, but in my mind the preventative maintenance is easier than dealing with the corrosion once it has set in. And the time I get to spend with the family at the sandbars and exploring the intercaostal is completely worth it to me. Also, cover everything metal in the engine compartment and all the moving parts of the jets with yamashield or white lithium grease. Some will say this is overkill and some will say it's not enough. This is just what I came up with and its working so far.

Thanks for your response! Then salt away hasn’t obviously caused damage to your gel coat, like I’ve heard others claim. How often do you coat engines with lithium grease? Can you still spray down the engines with salt away even after coating with lithium grease or does that wash the lithium grease off? How often do you thoroughly wash your boat with boat soap product? Do you use scrub brush on an extended pole or hand wash?

 

[Coburndj63]

Flush the engines for 3-5 minutes (I do 5) with fresh water after every outing then 1 minute flush with Salt Away. Then turn off water and low rpm blast of throttle once it twice to blow out excess water then shut engine down, then repeat on second engine. This keeps a little bit of salt away in the system to keep breaking down salt but not too much water in the system. Then I clean whole boat for 2 hours after every weekend lol. If trailing spray trailer good with fresh water and or salt away also. Also keep up with spraying engine compartment with preventative maintenance lube to keep salt at bay like CRC 6-56. Good luck!

How often should I spray on CRC 6-56?

 

[NewBoater]

How often should I spray on CRC 6-56?

I do about 2-3 times a summer.

 

[Dixemon]

I dont spray saltaway on my hull or decks, ill spray it on the running gear and metal trailer parts. Im not saying i dont because it ruins gelcoat, because i dont know that it does. But i do know it expensive, and if i were to use it everywhere it could add up. I use dawn soap, or whatever marine boat soap you like. Could use regular automobile wash, doesnt matter. Wash it with soap if your not going to use it again for a week or so, i take my boat out maybe 2-3 in a weekend. Then sunday i clean the hell out of it, dry it, cover it. Then the next weekend if its good weather, ill take it out for a couple of days then clean it ect.. i like using a brush head on a stick, but sometimes ill hand wash parts as well.
I wouldnt use lithium grease on the entire motor, you would have to use a strong degreaser evertime you wanted to strip it off. The crc 656, and the saltaway rinse is good formula for sucess with these motors.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

I’m going on my 3rd summer with my boat used only in salt. Salt Away in the motors after every use. Usually right after use but if I’m overly tired, it’s storming, or we have other obligations I do it the next day. I rinse the engine compartment as well, sometimes with salt away, sometimes just water, no rhyme or reason, just depends on my mood. I also rinse all the nozzles and linkage real good, usually with salt away. Everything else gets a good water rinse, about 50% of the time with salt away. Every other weekend I spray down the nozzles/linkage (don’t spray the anodes) and boat buckles with Yamalube, it’s a silicon based lube. I don’t do anything else to the engine bay, still looks brand new (I occasionally do wipe down the engine bay with a rag, there are some low areas that collect water as the drains are slightly raised, and with the Florida heat and a little water a little algae/mold happens on the fiberglass). I rinse the trailer real good as well. Only thing I’ve noticed any corrosion on is the boat buckles (stock ones are not meant for salt) a tiny bit on the loops on the boat that the buckles attach to, and the stock trailer jack, which is completely shot.

If you get a new boat I would try to get a galvanized trailer, the painted ones, which usually come with boats sold not near the ocean, are not going to last in the salt.

I would recommend just a garden hose and not a pressure washer. There is no need for that pressure, my opinion, it’s easy to accidentally get to close and damage gel coat, graphics, seals, upholstery, touch screen, sea dek, etc.

 

[Big Wil]

I have two 2017 Waverunners and a 2022 252SD. Waverunners were first (3 years), and the lack of maint- zero issues- great quality of Yamaha led us to the 252. When I first started with the Waverunners I had a Yamaha mechanic, ‘Jet Ski Dave’ tell advise me to use a shot of Dawn dish soap in the engine clean out adapter. I have been doing it ever since. I rinse my engines for 5 min after every outing, regardless conditions. I use Orpine to clean them all and recently added a foam cannon that does a great job of lathering the soap. Ontel Car Wash Cannon Foam Blaster Hose Nozzle Spray Gun.

 

[ToddW850]

I boat in the salt water every weekend (same area as @Inthrustwetrust ) . I flush my engines and wash my boat with soap after every outing. I use a lot of soap. Never had an issue. If it's storming out when I get home, I'll still wash and rinse, but won't dry it. ?‍ Probably overkill, I know. I keep light coats of YamaLube (black and blue bottle) on my engines. Probably spray once a month, or if it looks like it's wearing off. I used T-9 on my previous jet boat and it seemed to gunk up on my engines. So now I stick with YamaLube.

I've used Salt Away in the past, but not in the past 2 years. But I flush each engine with freshwater probably 5 minutes while I wash the boat.

The biggest take away is, you will LOVE boating in Florida. Just wash and flush and go along for the ride. ?

 

[ToddW850]

@Big Wil that car wash cannon looks awesome. I think I'm going to order one. What soap do you use? And does it lather up like the advertisement?

 

[Thermobrett]

Being from Ohio and boating on Lake Erie my entire life we didn’t have to deal with salt water, I was new to the flushing process. A guy up the street from me has a 242 limited and stopped the day I brought my boat home. Told me the best thing I could use is Salt Away. I use this religiously after using my boat in Tampa Bay and so far so good. It’s also good to spray on the trailer and running gear too. Only issue I have had was a bad steering cable. Not sure if it was caused by the salt water/corrosion but make sure you lube it regularly to prevent problems down the road. Just replaced mine today at 26hrs.

 

[Big Wil]

@Big Wil that car wash cannon looks awesome. I think I'm going to order one. What soap do you use? And does it lather up like the advertisement?

It does lather up great as described and I use the Orpine, a capful and a little water (to the line).

 

[HawaiiBreeze]

Here's some pics to show what flushing the motor with a salt-neutralizer will do to your engine. My engine is 4.5 years old, has been run in saltwater 100%, 200+ days on the water and flushed every single time. For comparison I pulled some pics from the web of a Yamaha Marine Engine with some issues. The first two are from the web. Last three are mine. Bottom Line: Flush Flush Flush that engine.





My Engine - flushed every time, mainly using "Salt Terminator", buy it by the gallon.

 

[1WetBoat]

I do as mentioned above, Salt Away or one of the competitors after each trip on both my boat and the waverunner. Had a 1995 Waveraider that i meticulously washed after each outing and flushed. Sold it 2 years ago with no corrosion on the engine for how old it was.

I recently picked up a new doohickey for my pressure washer to wash the underside of the boat as well as the tow vehicle. Makes easy work of washing underneath the boat but also the trailer parts that are tougher to get to,

 

[Tony Prwivo]

I use mine in salt water. I made this up. all the pieces are on Amazon. Run each engine 5 minutes with the straight water flush and then while the engine still running switch over to the salt away side for 1 minute ,, turn off,,, give the motor a few revs and then shut the engine off. wash the trailer and boat done real good as well. I use the trailer spray from Meguires as well And I drilled extra drain holes in the different parts of the trailer frame so the salt water would not sit in the trailer frame.

 

[HangOutdoors]

I do as mentioned above, Salt Away or one of the competitors after each trip on both my boat and the waverunner. Had a 1995 Waveraider that i meticulously washed after each outing and flushed. Sold it 2 years ago with no corrosion on the engine for how old it was.

I recently picked up a new doohickey for my pressure washer to wash the underside of the boat as well as the tow vehicle. Makes easy work of washing underneath the boat but also the trailer parts that are tougher to get to,

View attachment 182941

Can you link that rolling sprayer

 

[1WetBoat]

Can you link that rolling sprayer

Let me know if this works? You can also flip it around and use it to clean your driveway.

Ryobi Water Broom

 

[fireflymedic]

I used motorcycle chain wax (it's a airasal can just spray it on everything except the anodes) on all the exposed metal parts of the boat. It will turn it a golden hew so you know when it's gone. A once of prevention is worth a lb. Of cure. Although I did use salt away after every salt water trip. Don't forget the trailer also on salt away.