Marine Tech Official News & Product Announcements

As summer arrives, most of us are itching to get back out there on the water. As you make your summer plans, be sure to dedicate some serious time and thought to safety precautions, so everyone on board can make the most of these sunny days. So before you dive in, let’s talk about boat safety.

Before You Embark

The first thing you’ll want to do as you get ready for summer is to make sure your boat is ready to hit the water. Now is the time to check for any early warning signs of maintenance that needs to be done. The last thing you want is to discover a problem after you’re already out there on the water!

Problems like leaky gearcase seals, for example, start with very small

Bleeding your hydraulic steering system is an important step in the process of changing out your steering cylinder seals. Once you finish replacing the seals, you will have dumped out a bunch of fluid and introduced new air into the system, so your next step is to bleed the system and get all of those air bubbles out. 

While you can use a product such as the PowerPurge Jr. to do this, we’ve developed our own comprehensive bleed system kit that performs the same functionality at a fraction of the cost and complexity. 

Our Bleed System K

Lifting or moving your outboard motor can be both difficult and dangerous without the right equipment, especially for motors without built-in lifting rings of their own. To solve this issue we’ve developed our own universal lifting system with a universal lifting ring and adapters to fit your boat. No need to pay someone else to do it when there’s a simple DIY solution available.

The parts can be purchased separately, or together in our lifting kits. 

Universal Lifting Ring (SKU #: AMT0022): $47

The foundational component of our Universal Lifting System, the

The regular 100-hour service on motors is critical for any DIY boater who wants to keep his boat in reliable service. This is the time when you get to find pending service items that could ruin your boating season, giving you the chance to catch and fix small problems before they get any bigger. 

This is a perfect entry-level DIY job to give the boat owner confidence and a solid feel of his motor. It’s also the best time to get an overall view of the motor and see how it’s doing health-wise, so be sure to pay attention to what each component is telling you. 

The basic Yamaha 100-hour maintenance consists of the following steps.

1. Change Lower Unit Gear Oil 

The last thing you want is to get into the middle of a repair or maintenance job and realize you don’t have the right tool to get the job done, or to waste time and money on something that has an easier solution. Our line of Lower Unit Tools includes some of our own personally developed tools that make tough, potentially damaging tasks easy and safe — saving you time, money, and peace of mind. 

Bearing Retainer Tool Bravo III 91-805382T (SKU #AMT0064): $197

The Bearing Retainer Tool Bravo III

Are you thinking about putting new flooring in your aluminum boat? Or perhaps replacing the transom? You might be thinking that pressure treated wood is the best wood to use for this job — after all, the wood is treated to make it last longer, right?

Don’t make that mistake. Turns out, pressure treated wood and aluminum are a very bad combination. Put the two materials together, and you’ll end up with holes in your boat. 

What Happens When Pressure Treated Wood Meets Aluminum?

While there are different types of pressure treated wood, the most common types

No boat is going to run smoothly 100% of the time. There are always going to be problems that crop up or issues that need to be addressed and fixed before they cause lasting damage to your boat. That’s why it’s helpful to know what mechanical issues to expect and how to solve them yourself. So let’s take a look at some of the most common SeaStar hydraulic steering problems and what to do when you encounter them. 

Common SeaStar Hydraulic Steering Problems

The first signs of trouble are probably going to be difficulty steering. For example, you may feel a spongy pressure when you try to steer. This can have a few different causes, so figuring out the root issue is very important to keep from ending up with your boat at the shop later on down the road. 

Some of the most common SeaStar hydraulic steering problems include:

Changing the water pump on your outboard motor is an important part of your boat’s regular maintenance. You should change your water pump every 200 hours, roughly once every two years or every other 100-hour service. 

Replacing the water pump is fairly simple and inexpensive, so why not learn to do it yourself and get back on the water even faster? We’ll show you how to tear down and replace your Yamaha outboard water pump, so you don’t have to pay extra for someone else to do it. 

You can also watch our training video for the full process.

Step 1: Remove the Gearcase