Tilting the engine at the end of the day?

M Jay Farr

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I see a number of boats with the engine tilted forward and the prop out of the water when at the dock. However, when we come in at the end of the day the craft is lifted out of the water and under cover. Is there any need to tilt the engine?
 
I see a number of boats with the engine tilted forward and the prop out of the water when at the dock. However, when we come in at the end of the day the craft is lifted out of the water and under cover. Is there any need to tilt the engine?
I live in a salt water environment, and have my boat on a lift with prop out of the water. The recommendation I got was after rinsing everything down with fresh water to store it tilted all the way down so that the tilt rams were fully retracted to protect them against corrosion.
 
Hmm. But what about in a fresh water situation.. without a lift and in a slip? I'd assume tilt up and out of water as to keep algae etc off and keep it looking clean...
In that case I’d leave it tilted and out of the water.
 
Six of one, half dozen of the other, at least in our 60 to 70 mostly pontoon marina. Myself, I keep it tilted out of the water mainly to keep it looking clean.
 
I always turn my motor to get the steering cable inside the housing to stop any dust from landing on the exposed shaft. Lower unit is always out to keep the water stains from attaching.
 
We had a debate about this very subject when we moved to NC. We have our boat in a slip no lift. The outdrive in our I/O only sticks up so far and not all the way out of the water. As a matter of fact it sticks up far enough where somebody can come by and take that expensive stainless steel prop. So we keep the outdrive down. (Always the cop in me)
 
We had a debate about this very subject when we moved to NC. We have our boat in a slip no lift. The outdrive in our I/O only sticks up so far and not all the way out of the water. As a matter of fact it sticks up far enough where somebody can come by and take that expensive stainless steel prop. So we keep the outdrive down. (Always the cop in me)
As I know that is a lifetime of suspicion, just can's shake that overnight :)
 
I was having problems with my new Yamaha 150 smoking after it sat for a week or more with the motor all the way down. My mechanic told me to always tilt the motor, at least, partially, and the smoking should stop. I did, and no more smoking. Just in case you have a Yamaha and smokes initially when you crank it up.
 
I was having problems with my new Yamaha 150 smoking after it sat for a week or more with the motor all the way down. My mechanic told me to always tilt the motor, at least, partially, and the smoking should stop. I did, and no more smoking. Just in case you have a Yamaha and smokes initially when you crank it up.

Why? What's the reasoning behind this
 
Yamaha had put out a memo because some of the motors were smoking on startup. They determined that with the motor in full down position, oil was getting through something, so at startup, that oil had to go somewhere. This isn’t a very mechanical explanation, but it sure stopped mine from smoking. I keep mine trimmed up to the spot at tilt and trim.
 
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I see a number of boats with the engine tilted forward and the prop out of the water when at the dock. However, when we come in at the end of the day the craft is lifted out of the water and under cover. Is there any need to tilt the engine?

When on the lift - is the engine out of the water? Most folks tilt their engine out of the water to limit corrosion - particularly in marinas where there may be stray current around. Have a read here: https://www.boatus.com/boattech/articles/marine-corrosion.asp
 
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