Tohatsu TLDI 90 servicing

Lundy Osprey · 26 November 2009, 14:18

I am going give my Tohatsu TLDI 90 a service soon, which will be a first for me.
Was hoping for some hints or tips or any pitfalls to avoid from any of you guys who do your own servicing, Tohatsu’s ideally but any advice would be appreciated.

The service manual recommends these items to be replaced after two years.

Fuel and compression system:
High pressure fuel filter.
Piping.
Air filter.
Drive belt
And in the lower unit the water pump.
Will of course replace as recommended by the manual and do all the other inspection points listed, grease, change oil, etc.
Are there other things that are not in the manual that are good to do, I know the manual should cover the essentials, but sometimes that is not the case.

Steve

ashbypower · 26 November 2009, 15:02

Hi cant help much don't know too much about tohat's except to say dont bother changing the oil. the TLDI is a 2stroke!

Locozodiac · 26 November 2009, 15:31

Have no experience with Tohatsu TLDI models, but have Tohatsu 2 strokes experience, have read manuals thoroughly, the manuals can recommend to change parts in hours use or elapsed time, personally preffer regular use with metered worked hours, in you case:

High pressure fuel filter: Change
Piping: Not necesarry unless rubber piping is hard to touch and breakable
Air filter: Clean/dust off or change
Drive belt: if rubber doesn't have cracks, bends and still elastic, can prolonge life
Water pump: If still peeing well at idle no need to change
Gear Oil: change

Have not specified engine hours, months use so to have an overall idea of the engine use, but if you want to go by the manual and change all related recommended parts by time use, it's entirely up to you. Don't have an idea of the parts cost, you could save some cash if prolonging the life of these parts if still good. If your engine is used regularly, parts will last longer.

As an example Tohatsu recommends to change impeller each 100 hours, can last as long as 500 hours if water flushed after use, while other manufacturers like Yamaha recommends to change every 200 hours.

Happy Boating

Lundy Osprey · 26 November 2009, 19:29

Thanks for the replies so far.
Was thinking of gearbox oil to change and as the amount needed is not great it will be worth doing.
I use the boat to go to Lundy which is a 23 mile trip each way and take my young grandchildren so a this is a learning curve for me, so will go by the manual this time and learn from the experience.
I understand all the points you are making Lucozodiac and when I get to know the engine better will take your approach, as I know that pre planned maintenance can itself sometimes give problems.
Sometimes, a don't fix what aint broke approach is not a bad thing, it's a case of learning what needs to be replaced and what to just check.
Cheers

Locozodiac · 27 November 2009, 13:44

Just a comment, have in regular use most of the year, 2 different Tohatsu's 2 stroke engines, both manuals recommends to change parts you mentioned, except timming belt as there is no compressor. Engines have near 300 metered worked hours, so if going by the manual long time ago should have changed many parts. But in reality the parts are in excellent condition, piping & impeller included. Nothing is eternal, in the long run every part will need to be changed.

Not saying you must prolongue parts life as mentioned before, will have the clue after some engine time experimentation to see which ones lasts longer than specified, if you are mechanically skilled could save good cash as you will only change parts when needed. If not, going for recommended by the book package parts change at a dealer, will increment final costs as there is (assume) expensive hand labor to add; universal statement, every body pays for the novitiate.

Would recommned to install a Tiny Tach to your engine, if you "boat regularly", go by metered hours that's more accurate rather than elapsed time. Will save in parts and cash.

Happy Boating

Lundy Osprey · 30 November 2009, 19:50

Lucozodiac, thanks for the help that looks good.

Easyrider · 30 November 2009, 23:15

Take anodes off and clean off oxidisation off all surfaces- a lot of people just clean them up whilst attached to the engine ,which is no good (can stop anodes from working)!

jyasaki · 01 December 2009, 15:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easyrider

Take anodes off and clean off oxidisation off all surfaces- a lot of people just clean them up whilst attached to the engine ,which is no good (can stop anodes from working)!

Huh?

Ideally, you'd want to clean the mating surfaces, sure; but how would cleaning up the exterior surfaces stop them from working, assuming you had a conductive contact to begin with?

jky

Locozodiac · 01 December 2009, 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easyrider

Take anodes off and clean off oxidisation off all surfaces- a lot of people just clean them up whilst attached to the engine ,which is no good (can stop anodes from working)!

Also clean to salt free threads on tail & anode (usually more than 1) for a good ground contact.