Outboard - Mild steel bolts

On the early Honda 2hp with the water cooled exhaust, the screws holding the gearbox to the leg are stainless and I had no problem removing them. Mind you some screws on the power head are chrome plated. I made sure all screw heads were smeared with grease on its annual surface.
 
yep puzzled too. Mild steel and alloy don't mix always well - mutual corrosion of the alloy and the mild steel = you must be luck to get the bolt out. S/S unless over torqued must be a better scenario??
 
ghostlymoron said:
I had a close look at my newly acquired Honda 2.3 yesterday and that's got rusting ms holding the cover on. Goodness knows what delights are inside. I'll replace what i can with ss. Never had this issue with my Seagull, it is always covered with a film of oil! Expect it Will outlast the Honda though.
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The fuel cap air vent on my Honda 2.3 always leaked allowing water into the petrol. I bought a new fuel cap. The replacement did the same. I got into the habit every time I used the engine of unbolting the tank to invert it and draining the carb to get the water out. The carb body of this piece of engineering rubbish is mild steel. It rusted. The bit where the drain screw fitted turned into a rusty furball and wouldn't come out any more. With even the smallest amount of water in the carb it became almost impossible to start. The only way to get it going was to remove the spark plug and inject some petrol directly in the cylinder. After doing this 2 or 3 times the water would be cleared and it would go. The water in the carb however rusted the inside and bits started flaking off. This blocked a jet partially and it would then only run with the choke on. The bolts holding the carb on were also rusty furballs and couldn't be shifted so I couldn't get the carb off. At 5 years old I traded it in for £100 for a brand new Yamaha 2.5, because my main engine is a 15 year old Yamaha and nothing has ever gone wrong with it. The small Yamaha is a hefty lump but appears to be much better made - for example the cover has proper clips rather than the Honda's cheap nasty awkward bit of rubber. I reckon the Honda cost me over £100 per hour to run over its life time. Before buying it I thought Honda was a quality manufacturer but it appears not so. No Honda product of any type for me ever again and I will give this story to anyone else thinking of buying this totally rubbish product.
 
Oh dear, I think you had bad luck there! I had an earlier 2hp model and it was a great starter and runner - just the rust as you say! I do think when Honda charge £650 for the outboard now, they could do a lot better! For some years the smallest outboards clustered around the £399 price, which mean that dealers would often discount back to £349. Then suddenly a couple of years ago they all shot up to £600+ plus. Yes, there are deals around in the winter for £550 plus, but still a lot of money to pay for what you get quality wise.
 
AngusMcDoon said:
The fuel cap air vent on my Honda 2.3 always leaked allowing water into the petrol. I bought a new fuel cap. The replacement did the same. I got into the habit every time I used the engine of unbolting the tank to invert it and draining the carb to get the water out. The carb body of this piece of engineering rubbish is mild steel. It rusted. The bit where the drain screw fitted turned into a rusty furball and wouldn't come out any more. With even the smallest amount of water in the carb it became almost impossible to start. The only way to get it going was to remove the spark plug and inject some petrol directly in the cylinder. After doing this 2 or 3 times the water would be cleared and it would go. The water in the carb however rusted the inside and bits started flaking off. This blocked a jet partially and it would then only run with the choke on. The bolts holding the carb on were also rusty furballs and couldn't be shifted so I couldn't get the carb off. At 5 years old I traded it in for £100 for a brand new Yamaha 2.5, because my main engine is a 15 year old Yamaha and nothing has ever gone wrong with it. The small Yamaha is a hefty lump but appears to be much better made - for example the cover has proper clips rather than the Honda's cheap nasty awkward bit of rubber. I reckon the Honda cost me over £100 per hour to run over its life time. Before buying it I thought Honda was a quality manufacturer but it appears not so. No Honda product of any type for me ever again and I will give this story to anyone else thinking of buying this totally rubbish product.
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Your quite correct regarding Hondas but theyre built as a disposable item. One of British Seagulls downfalls were they were engineered too well. You buy a seagull you bought it for life if minimally maintained. A common misconception with Honda owners is that as they are air cooled they don't need flushing in fresh water.
 
I've had 3 Honda 2/2.3 outboards over 10 years.
They're great for a few years but when it's time to do some maintenance they're rubbish.
Corrosion, Mild steel bolts, chain saw clutch, carb that's impossible etc.
Last weekend left mine by the skip in the marina. Gone by the morning so hopefully to a good home.
Now replaced with Suzuki 2.5.
 
steve66 said:
A common misconception with Honda owners is that as they are air cooled they don't need flushing in fresh water.
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The reason they are useless is because so many parts like springs, bolts and the carb are made of mild steel - all at the top of the engine. I really can't see how flushing in water after salt water use will make any difference.
 
Talulah said:
I've had 3 Honda 2/2.3 outboards over 10 years.
They're great for a few years but when it's time to do some maintenance they're rubbish.
Corrosion, Mild steel bolts, chain saw clutch, carb that's impossible etc.
Last weekend left mine by the skip in the marina. Gone by the morning so hopefully to a good home.
Now replaced with Suzuki 2.5.
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Thats a real shame. i would have given you good money for the scrap Honda.Tell your mates there is a guy who will give you good money for your scrap Honda AND will collect and pay cash!!
 
charles_reed said:
I know of no marine motor manufacturer, OB or inboard who uses stainless bolts - though some do where the absence would be obvious.
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Yamaha perhaps...

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15 years old and no sign of any rust on any bolt, not that I have found so far anyway. This is on a 9.9. It may not be the same on their 2.5.
 
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Your correct Angus, the 2.5 is more or less the same. Those Suzukiand Tohatsu are classy well built outboards. Another issue ypou have to consider is the Honda lower cowl is a large air vent to channel air away from the engine block. If this was a sealed unit like the Yamaha i guess the corrosion would still be there but not as bad
 
To be honest with you and your welcome to berate me... I actually love em. Yes they could be designed better and yes i agree with everything thats been said on here but i specialise in just 2 and 2.3 hp Hondas. Once you get to know them they are so easy to repair and internally they are very good. I literally have not yet had one that i couldnt economically repair.
 
Whilst normally being the first in the queue to knock chinese imports, I've had a Parsun 2.6 for 4 yrs now. The bolts I've had to take off to lubricate the mountings and swivel assemble have all been stainless and came out easily. The engine bolts are all painted so I can't tell what they are but none of them are rusting yet as the paint coating is still intact. There's some corrosion on the leg but I just touch that up each year with a bit of paint. All in all, 4 yrs is pretty good for the price and it looks like it'll go another 4 at least. If not I'll throw it away and buy another. Added bonus is that no-one pinches them either.
Greeny.
 
greeny said:
Whilst normally being the first in the queue to knock chinese imports, I've had a Parsun 2.6 for 4 yrs now. The bolts I've had to take off to lubricate the mountings and swivel assemble have all been stainless and came out easily. The engine bolts are all painted so I can't tell what they are but none of them are rusting yet as the paint coating is still intact. There's some corrosion on the leg but I just touch that up each year with a bit of paint. All in all, 4 yrs is pretty good for the price and it looks like it'll go another 4 at least. If not I'll throw it away and buy another. Added bonus is that no-one pinches them either.
Greeny.
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Second that. I bought a Parsun 2hp two stroke last year which is a perfect copy of the yamaha 2b. The quality is very good - a cracking little engine.
 
This is of course nothing new-whilst I love Seagulls the number of chromed or just plain mild steel nuts and bolts always surprises me!
 
ffiill said:
This is of course nothing new-whilst I love Seagulls the number of chromed or just plain mild steel nuts and bolts always surprises me!
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absolutely true - but as the seagull is spitting oil from every orifice when running the rust should be contained :applause:
 
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