Maintenance Costs IO vs Jet Drive

[cwoav8r]

When I was recently at the marina replacing the impeller housing on my boat there was a guy right next to me working on the lower unit on his I/O. He took a break to see what I was doing and asked how much that repair cost me. He was surprised at the low cost and started to examine the workings of the drive and pump assembly. Long story short, he said I didn't even want to know how much he spends to maintain his I/O, and after seeing the simplicity of the jet, he would be seriously considering the switch when he was ready to get rid of his boat.

Not counting scheduled maintenance dollars which are about the same as @Bruce , I have spent a grand total of maybe $300 on engine / pump related repairs to my boat in 6 years. And if something below the waterline does break, it is relatively inexpensive to repair.

 

[steined]

I've had the following done on a 2001 Stingray over 6 years of ownership before I traded it in on a Yamaha

Gimble Bearings - $1k+
Bellows - 2 times
Carb rebuild
Outdrive oil replaced (annual)
New Prop (2 times)
New accessory belt
cooling impeller (several times)
repaired lower unit drive plate due to object strike in water
distributor caps and rotor (several times)
spark plug wires (Yamaha has coil on plug)

In addition it was more difficult to replace spark plugs because of the placement in the exhaust manifolds.

Positives of the I/O

Quieter overall
Easier oil drain because it had a n oil drain tube that was attached to the drain plug!
Ability to cruise at sub plaining speeds without excessive noise. (The jet is fine once on plane)

 

[OrangeTJ]

Ability to cruise at sub plaining speeds without excessive noise. (The jet is fine once on plane)

This is really the only shortcoming of my Yamaha that bugs me very much. We don't spend much time at subplaning speeds, but there are times when it would be nice to be able to cruise along or 5 - 7 mph without running 4-5K rpm. This was particularly evident when we were out on Tahoe and cruising from the mouth of Emerald bay to the back of it. It's quite a ways. Not a humongous issue, but it is annoying.

 

[Evildwarf]

We enjoyed our 4-Winns 190 but at 25 years old she left us adrift on the lake a couple too many times, took on water at a steady rate (leaking bellows+rotten transom) and suffered sudden and disastrous outdrive failure (SDOF).
So our next boat had no outdrive, from IO to jet and we haven't looked back!

 

[OrangeTJ]

25 years is a pretty good service life for a boat! I wonder what our boats will be like at 25 years old.

 

[Evildwarf]

Wanted to add that the noise of the yamaha doesn't bother us at all. Frankly I like the sound of the twins in our 242. When she comes out of the hole the sound is solid and powerful.
I must admit though the best sounding boat EVER was my grandfathers Chriscraft runabout when I was a wee one.
It was the genuine article, a wooden speedboat, they don't make boats like that anymore.

 

[Julian]

the ability to trim up and down,

That is actually one thing I DON'T miss about my I/O....no need to trim up and down as the jets cause almost no bow rise. And of course no need to trim it up to avoid hitting the drive....

 

[OrangeTJ]

Yeah, I was talking more about trimming when underway depending upon how the boat is loaded. When 4 people want to ride in the bow of my boat, I sometimes wish I could trim up a bit to compensate. Likewise, when it's cooler and everybody wants to ride in the back and the chop is kicking up, I'd like to be able to trim the nose down a bit to cut through the chop better. Not a huge deal and at least half of that can be addressed by installing trim tabs, but still. On the other hand, it's nice to have no trim pump or actuators to fail! That happened to a friend of mine in Tahoe while we were out on his boat. PITA and ultimately expensive to fix. it's nice having so little that can go wrong on our jets.

 

[jetboater4life]

Yeah, I was talking more about trimming when underway depending upon how the boat is loaded. When 4 people want to ride in the bow of my boat, I sometimes wish I could trim up a bit to compensate. Likewise, when it's cooler and everybody wants to ride in the back and the chop is kicking up, I'd like to be able to trim the nose down a bit to cut through the chop better. Not a huge deal and at least half of that can be addressed by installing trim tabs, but still. On the other hand, it's nice to have no trim pump or actuators to fail! That happened to a friend of mine in Tahoe while we were out on his boat. PITA and ultimately expensive to fix. it's nice having so little that can go wrong on our jets.

For around 600 you can add trim tabs and solve your trim problems.

 

[Bruce]

@OrangeTJ, I have Lectrotab Trim Tabs. They give me something to do while driving around and according to the other boats on the trip really smoothed out my Bimini crossing.

 

[Skysurfer2010]

I find that the only way an I/O is reliable is if you do all the preventative maintenance religiously and stay on top of all the life limited parts. Ignoring something (such as not lubricating the gimbal yearly) will just bite you in the ass in the future.

Parts:
Raw water impeller every year in salt, every other year for fresh (none in jets)
Bellows every 5 to 7 years. Neglect to replace them and when they fail you sink or cause more damage. (None on jets)
Fuel filter yearly
Fuel water separator yearly
Anodes as needed
Spark plugs as needed
Belts as needed
Props as needed
Distributor caps and rotor

Some of these parts are cheap, but the labor involved is a PITA or quite expensive to have a mechanic do. Failing to do these will just cause much more expense down the road.

Maintenance:
Engine block and outdrive oil changes yearly
Pull outdrive and lubricate gimbal yearly and check engine alignment (such a huge pita)
Lubricate coupler splines yearly
Winterizations


I find working on a jet very easy vs an I/O. I also find them a lot more reliable than a boat with a car block for an engine. So much more to go wrong with an I/O.

 

[Skysurfer2010]

I have also thought that maintaining two engines of the Yamaha jet boats would be a pain - 2 engines = 2 oil changes, 2 impellers, 2 jet pumps, etc. leading to twice as much to maintain - again twice as many moving parts - which is why I have always thought the maintenance cost are more.

Jets have two engines which means two oil changes, however an I/O has the engine block and the outdrive to do an oil change. Mute point there. However, to say they are equal in moving parts is far from true. If you were to open up that outdrive you would see two 90 degree turns for the "driveshaft" not to mention the gimbal that connects the engine driveshaft to the outdrive. It runs through the transom which is a point for a major leak which is what bellows are for. You have the power steering and the hydraulic jacks to tilt your outdrive. So many moving parts submerged in water. Hit ground or a rock and watch things start to break like a bull in a china cabinet.