2003 Yamaha F225 Mobil 1 10w-40 High Mileage

[chico80x]

I sent in 4 samples a two weeks ago (2012 & 2013 Port and Starboard)and this is the first one to come in for the starboard engine taken in 2012. I'm no expert but at least to me, it doesn't look bad. I was however, expecting Mobil 1 to hold up better and not shear down like it did and the sodium does concern me. This engine is strictly salt water run so I'm thinking salt might be getting through one of the gaskets but I'll know for sure when I get the 2013 samples I sent in back.

The first UOA you'll see on there was taken when I first bought the boat and I have no idea what oil they used or how many hours they ran it. What do you guys think?

 

[The motor guy]

Coolant in an outboard motor. Blackstone doesn't know anything about this engine. BTW for those that don't know F225 means it's 225hp.

 

[The motor guy]

Maybe the sodium could be from using in saltwater.

 

[OneEyeJack]

+1 on the saltwater. Sodium without a coolant leak makes me think of a cheap additive package for some reason but your higher levels of calcium argue against that.

 

[chico80x]

I just received the report on my port side engine and it too has sodium in it. So I highly doubt that any of my gaskets are bad and the oil sheared down in this report too.

 

[CATERHAM]

It could be simply be the salt in the air that is getting into the oil. Nothing you can do about that running in the ocean.

 

[tig1]

My son in law is using M1 0-40 in his twin 500 ci Marine purpose built engines in his 38 FT. Sea Ray. Seems to work well for him.

 

[Geoff]

Salt in the air/spray. Not really comparable to car engines on that metric. Also notice it sodium went up in both engines, so maybe some rough waters days that year.

Have you thought of Mobil 1 Truck & SUV 5w-40? It is diesel rated so might control contaminants better.

 

[chico80x]

I just got back my 2013 samples and sodium is up in those too. I'm pretty sure that it's the salt in the air that's causing this because in the first UOA, no sodium was present because this boat was only run in fresh water before I bought it. Iron and aluminum did go up in these last samples though and once again M1 sheared.

I think I'm going to run Rotella T6 next or perhaps regular Rotella 15w-40.

 

[Doc_Stressor]

Nice to see an analysis from a 4-stroke outboard.

I intermittently get up to 50 ppm of Na showing up in the oil from my F250. I've pretty much identified the problem as being related to backing down in a following sea. I do this a lot in order to set the anchor when fishing. The more I do that between oil change intervals, the higher the sodium in the oil. A leaking head gasket can also cause the problem, but I've had intervals where I rarely reversed the engine and the sodium was very low.

I don't know about your F225, but with the variable valve timing on my F250, both the intake and exhaust valves can be open for an interval, which can allow water spray in the exhaust tube to enter the engine. It isn't a good thing.

Your wear numbers are very good. Mine are terrible with around 100 ppm iron after 100 hr. My soft metals are also higher than yours. My compression is becoming uneven. I wouldn't be surprised if I have corrosion on the top of my valves or valve seats.

 

[chico80x]

Thanks for your input Doc and how many hours do you have on your engines to be seeing so much iron? I would definitely be concerned if I saw 100ppm of any metal in my engines.