outboard with a squeak

[Opie Taylor]

My 90 hp Yamaha outboard recently developed a squeak at the base of the powerhead. Seems to start at 1200 rpms after the engine has been running a while. At higher rpms, the squeak seems to go away, or at least I cant hear it.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

[cragganmor]

i just finished breaking in my yammie 80 4-stroke, same thing. a kinda high-pitched squeak. reminds me of a car engine with a slipping belt. it hasn't affected performance or mileage. gotta check to see if it's a vacuum problem.

[Opie Taylor]

Originally posted by cragganmor
a kinda high-pitched squeak. reminds me of a car engine with a slipping belt.

Thats a perfect description. My concern is something is not getting lubrication. I have had the motor for two years, just started squeaking 2 weeks ago. Did you have the breakin tuneup yet? Please let me know if you find out anything and I will likewise.

[Sagebrush]

I notice something similar on my honda at very high rpms. Doesn't happen right away. Noticed I could do it with the warm up lever so it wasn't the drive to the lower unit. I felt like it was the water pump slightly etched from sand and with a slightly warped impeller.

Getting it serviced this week.

[cragganmor]

wanna hear a good one? ran my boat for about an hour total yesterday, got back to the dock and pulled the cover off. no more squeak.

pushed the throttle in neutral to 1000, 1200, 1400, 2000. still no squeak.

could it be:
a) my imagination?
b) gremlins?
c) it fixed itself?

go figure...

[Opie Taylor]

Interesting, most people I talk to think its the water pump, which I am due to replace this year anyway. This weekend, I noticed the bushing that the motor steers back and forth on looked a little dry, so I greased that. Will see what happens next time out on the water.

Thanks for your input.

[Sagebrush]

Thank You.

That makes me feel a little more comfortable. Especially since I haven't done anything yet.

[cragganmor]

i might have an explanation for the squeak.

during the break-in period, i took the boat to and from the dealer just off of far rockaway inlet. the dealer is connected to the inlet via a tiny creek which at low tide is really, really narrow, low and silty. not knowing that, i took my new boat back after running it a few hours and barely made it back in. although i flushed the engine for 15 minutes, my guess is that some silt worked its way into the water pump and impeller, hence the high pitched squeak. eventually it all washed out and now its ok.

that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

(still praying nightly that it doesn't come back, though)

[Sagebrush]

One note of caution, which is irrelevant if your water pump is working fine. Running your engine for as little as 5 seconds without water can warp an impeller. Meaning the blades of the impeller might bend back or distort in some fashion.