Mercury 4-Stroke 20hp service?

[Turbodiesel]

Wow that’s expensive!!!! We sonf charge anyway near that!

[TmMorris]

Originally Posted by Limecc

I'd have to disagree the cause here. As a former long time user of several LPG converted vehicles, by running on this clean fuel the oil never really blackened between changes, just turned more of a golden brown. Sorry for the digression..

Yup. That's still chemical from the carbon deposits via combustion as opposed to being an indicator of wear etc.

LPG is a good example because if someone sets it up badly then you get increased wear in the heads but the oil looks magnificent despite the trajectory towards fubar.

With modern synthetic oils that degrade far less under heat and pressure cycles and don't have the super long chain polymers that form that classic sludge, plus outboards' modern EFI systems delivering much purer burns and the fact that I imagine most outboard service gaps are around just 100 hours or so? I'm genuinely not seeing oil colour as a reliable indicator of all being well.

It takes a few minutes to drain, replace the filter and refill and costs very little so personally, I'm not seeing any upside to skimping.

[pumpkinking]

I’ve decided to do my own servicing on my 1 year old DF6A, this thread is very timely!

Question about marine grade water resistant grease, is there a recommended tried-and-tested product? Google throws up a lot of different products and I’m a little lost…

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by pumpkinking

I’ve decided to do my own servicing on my 1 year old DF6A, this thread is very timely!

Question about marine grade water resistant grease, is there a recommended tried-and-tested product? Google throws up a lot of different products and I’m a little lost…

Mobil XHP 222 blue non-synthetic grease is for marine applications.
Mobil SHC 220 red synthetic grease is also water resistant, usually get mine from Opie Oils.
www.mobil.com

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Tonus

I have a 2020 Mercury 4-Stroke 20hp EFI that I bought last July, making it now just over a year old. It’s my first outboard and I wanted to buy it new for the reliability, being a first time user.
I think I’m right in saying (but correct me if I’m wrong) that I need to get it serviced by a Mercury authorised dealer in order to uphold the warranty status…
I have had a couple of service quotes, the cheapest of which is £300-£350 but didn’t want to waste the money if it weren’t needed.
My dilemma is that the engine has had such light use. I worked out that it’s only had 12hrs use within the year… does it actually need a full service? Is there just a couple of things I can check and do here myself? Or am I mental to void the warranty?!
I’ve looked at annual service/100hr service kits and I wondered if if were something I could do myself - I’m pretty practical but have never worked on an engine before.

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but I couldn’t find the answers to all these Q’s for someone in my situation. Thanks

I think who ever quoted £350 for a 20 hrs oil change service is taking the piss. I paid £140 last December on my 15hp EFI Merc and I have been quoted £240 for the 100 hrs / 12 mth service. They have said that the 3rd year / 300 hr service will be more as they need to change the impeller.
Apparently Brunswick Marine / Mercury are stickers for dotting the i's and crossing the t's. If the PDI and the first service haven't been done and registered online correctly they will invalidate the warranty.
I decided to go down the "retain the warranty" route at least for the first 3 years, and I'm pleased I have taken that decision.
It looks like the upper engine mounts failed on my OB last weekend at less than 70 hrs. I've been told it is a £380 job. Hopefully it will be carried out under warranty, I see no reason why it shouldn't.

[Tonus]

I’m just catching up with all of these comments - it’s all really useful stuff and food for thought on the dilemma of maintaining the warranty.
Duggie thanks for the info on the 20hr service price. If I were to get an engineer to do it then I’d ask for a specific 20hr quote.

However I think I’m going to do it myself. At 12hrs now I think the 20hrs should come just about at the end of the season. As TmMorris says - I’m def a ‘modest leisure user’ and I definitely look after my stuff. This engine has been stored inside more than half the time and I’m really conscious of taking care of it.
As stated here it’ll be a good thing for me to do to get to know the workings of the engine and get some enjoyment out of it.
I’m sure too that barring any big mechanical failure I can chance that these things are built well to start with.

I fancy doing the 100hr myself too but if not I’ll shop around for a price. I wonder if the £350 quote was because they knew I was up against it to get the engine serviced before it’s 1st birthday… this has passed now by about 3weeks so if Mercury were strict the warranty might have gone out of the window anyways.
Fenlander thanks for looking into the service and info on parts and charges. Very interesting stuff - I’m sure these guys aren’t worth 300 an hour!!!

Thanks all as ever taking the tine to help

[pumpkinking]

Jumping back on your thread Tonus as I hope this is relevant.

Today I did the “20 hour” service myself on my 1 year old Suzuki DF6A. I changed the oil, oil filter, and gear oil. All straight forward, even for me - I’m a sound engineer, so technically minded, but never serviced or fiddled with any sort of engine before!)

Thanks Fenlander for your great thread mentioned above with lots of info, and for earlier when I thought I’d ballsed it up!

In case anyone is interested, finds it useful, or has any thoughts for me, 500ml of used oil came out of my DF6A looking like this:



The oil filter came out looking like this:



700ml of new oil went in:



Gear oil was also quite easy, with a helping hand from my father as it felt like you need 3 limbs, and a little weird dance filling from the bottom then quickly screwing in the bungs again!



I haven’t dealt with lubrication yet, waiting on the grease to arrive and will do that before we go away next month.

Anyway, glad I did it myself, saved a load of cash and time, learned some new skills and I feel I will definitely continue to do the servicing myself.

To anyone else self-servicing, more strength to your arm [emoji106]

[Tonus]

Pumkinking that is super relevant and very helpful, thanks - great to see that you did it all with success. I'll report back here when I'm at 20hrs and post some pics etc...


Where did you get the resources/step by step guides to doing the oil change/filter etc? Did you buy a maintenance manual? Or did you find Suzuki guides on YouTube?


Thanks

[Tonus]

Aha - actually I just found it:


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...-42phM6TKJHoPx

[pumpkinking]

Originally Posted by Tonus

Pumkinking that is super relevant and very helpful, thanks - great to see that you did it all with success. I'll report back here when I'm at 20hrs and post some pics etc...


Where did you get the resources/step by step guides to doing the oil change/filter etc? Did you buy a maintenance manual? Or did you find Suzuki guides on YouTube?


Thanks

Hi Tonus,

To be honest I’ve just absorbed loads of info from this forum, YouTube, Google, etc. And the owners manual is pretty comprehensive on the basic stuff (oil changes and lubrication). The location of the oil filter is pretty obvious on the DF6A, so I just went for it, replacing the O ring of course.

I should also note that I did the above service having put just 12.5 hours on the motor. It is a little over a year old so either way it was due in my mind. The oil was very dark and had some particles in it so definitely wouldn’t be waiting another year.

Oh and this picture was useful / interesting to me as a newbie, which I think is showing “new features” on the DF6A compared to previous models…?

[Tonus]

Pumpkinking thanks for the insight and the diagram. I’m certainly a newb to engines on the inside - I could do with finding an exploded diagram of a basic outboard with labels…
12.5hrs is exactly where I’m at now and just over the year so am going to go for it this week. My 1yr service kit arrived today - the Mercury service videos are pretty good (found by scanning a QR code on the side of the engine) coupled with a read of the manual and I’m going to just dive in as you did!

Thanks again - I’ll put up some pics as I get to it.

[chipko]

April 2019 Mariner 20 efi here. Serviced initially at 33.4 hours by a local Mercury dealer at approx. 5 months old for the exorbitant cost of £195.31 for the 20hr service which is essentially just oils and filter.

DIY serviced annually since, foregoing the extended 5 year UK warranty.

Recently contacted Barrus regarding the current suspect engine mount issues. They reported as our motor had an incomplete service history then only covered by the standard International 2 year warranty, which had expired. They have confirmed however in this instance the engine mounts will be replaced free of charge.

Not a problem, but if you want the no quibble full 5 year peace of mind warranty, then be prepared to stump up in excess of half the initial purchase price in yearly service costs.

[Old seahorse]

Just picking up on this thread, and in particular, Pumpkinking’s Suzuki 6 d.I.y service.
I’ve just had my Suzuki 6 , 12 month service carried out by dealer, for total cost of £190. ( labour, service kit and oils and vat)
I think 1st service was about£85.
Costs of servicing, like almost everything else, has crept up.
My Mariner 30 efi used to cost me less than £100 for a few years.
As has been suggested here, it’s personal choice which way to go.

[Tonus]

Hey Seahorse - £190 is way better than what I was quoted originally. If it had been less than £200 I probably would have gone for it.
As it happens I’m glad I didn’t as I ended up doing the 1st yr service myself… learned a lot along the way and none of it was very tricky. It was useful to buy a few new tools for each job, like the oil filter wrench adapter and a 3/8 inch wrench that I didn’t have. Spark plug tool useful too which now resides on the boat.

Glad I went for it - the engine was a year old from new so I’m hoping not a lot will go wrong with it if treated well.

[Old seahorse]

Hi Tonus, I think there is a lot to be said for tackling it yourself.
It was the warranty issue that held me back from doing so, but I’m persuaded it’s a more economical option, especially on low hour engines. Seeing others tackling it, and giving info on what they learn, gives me more confidence. I’ve done numerous servicing/ repairs on my cars and motorbikes over the years( especially when young and skint!), but never on outboards, other than renewing a starter solenoid.

[Steve509926]

Reading this thread I was nearly tempted to self service.
Phoned the dealer I've used in the past and at £132 incl Vat + parts (£45), I think its still worthwhile paying to retain the warranty.

[Tonus]

I was dubious of doing it having had no previous experience at all, especially when it come to the need for that engine to be as reliable as possible. I'd hate to have a problem on the water that could have been my fault!
But after doing these things I've learnt how they work and can see first hand that there's very little to it and not much to go wrong.


Just to recap here as I started this post a while back - I bought a Quicksilver/Mercury one year service kit with official parts for £85. Changed the oil and the oil filter (had to buy an oil filter wrench/adapter and a 3/8" ratchet). Changed the gearcase oil (needed to buy an extra tube of oil because 2x tube wasn't enough to fill to the required level - only used a little bit but apparently it will keep...). Inspected the fuel filter and anodes... added a little lubricant to some of the lube points....
And that was it - nothing super difficult. There were a couple of over simplified videos on YouTube from Mercury that helped. I now have an impeller and fuel filter for as and when they're needed and a pair of spare spark plugs that I keep on the boat with a 16mm socket/tool.


Have learnt a lot too. I think I'd be happy to do it again next time around.

[Tonus]

Steve that's a good price...

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Tonus

Steve that's a good price...

That's what I think too. I think I'll have it serviced until the impeller is changed (3rd year) which keeps the warranty for the forth year. After that I'll probably start doing it myself.