Last Updated on Tuesday, 5 June 2012 02:44 Written by stone51 Tuesday, 5 June 2012 02:40

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We know it’s not cheap to maintain your four stroke motor, and we welcome those of you who choose to do it yourself. At Stone and Sons Marine we work on all brands, from Johnson, Yamaha, Suzuki, to Honda. We also have the parts to service those motors.  If you don’t have time we can always get it in and out fast.

If you choose to do it yourself on your 4 stroke, here are a few things we want you to pay special attention to.

Oil Change - Always change out the filter when doing an oil change. Not doing so could allow you to add to much oil, over filling it. This could cause all kinds of issues from clogging sensors to getting oil in the combusting chamber which could result in rod failure.

As far as which oil to use?  We recommend a good synthetic oil, but it does not need to be the manufactures oil. Just don’t use the cheap ones, as you get what you pay for. Follow the manufacturer weight recommendations and you should be good. AND DON’T OVER FILL IT!!! trust us…

Fuel Filter- Stone and Sons recommends changing out your water separator once a year, but there are filters on your motor that do need to be changed by a certified technician due to special hose clamps. Depending on use and models we recommend you have a technician take a look at them.

Plugs - Depending on how you run your motor, generally speaking, once a year for the average fishermen is good. There are too many brands to name, so we recommend you get the exact one the manufacture says to. The slightest change effects ignition and some computers will start to compensate for the change, and it could cause more problems down the road. So don’t try to reinvent the wheel – use what they tell you to.

VST – Vapor separator tank. These need to be cleaned like you would a carburetor. Soak it down and blow it out. If you fail to maintain the VST you could end up having electric fuel pump damage or fuel restrictions that could starve your motor for gas. Once a year can be a little excessive but we would say you might need to address it bi-annually.

Some of these things can seem a little complicated, some not. We do it everyday and welcome walk-ins. If you feel you have the aptitude to tackle it yourself we can supply you the parts or feel free to allow our highly trained staff to take it off your hands to keep you on the water and not in the shop.