by Allan Wood
(Spartanburg, SC)
Labor day 2019 my Honda 4 stroke outboard pee line became un-plugged inside the motor. Water rose up inside the plastic encasement and got into the intake. The motor shut down. I took it to my Honda dealer and $500+ they said they fixed it and that I was lucky that nothing cracked, etc. The mechanic said there was water in the oil, etc. etc. so he knows that water got into the intake.
The following week, I go to the lake and when launching, on the first try cranking, it did it again. They fixed it again. I didn't drive the boat anymore til May/June 2020 and it ran fine. I drove the boat once more and it ran fine. July 4th 2020, I'm at the lake and it ran fine for 5 miles and we stopped at a sandbar for about 3 hours. Went to crank it and it was locked up again. I know the boat was peeing during the entire trip because I check it all the time.
The mechanic explained that when it did it the first time, Honda has a mechanism within the design that automatically shuts the motor down, if moisture gets in the engine, but only the first time did this work because of moisture, but now it's doing it without that issue.
Is this a great idea From Honda or is this a design issue going overboard?