Along with concerns for humans, bodies of water, aquatic animals and beaches or shores, the algae bloom can also negatively affect boats, boat accessories, and boating equipment. If you live in an area where algae bloom is rampant, you need to do more frequent boat maintenance and you need to do it more diligently to protect your vessel and your outboard motor engine parts from getting damaged.

Cleaning Your Boat and the Engine

As you deal with the cleanup of the algae bloom invading your Stacer boat or just basically taking out your boat from algae-infested water, first, you need to take special care to wash and wax your boat. Once that’s done, it’s time to clean your engine. Wash off the algae bloom from your engine’s exterior and interior parts. Take care of the outboard’s cooling system and flush all the sand, silt, mud, and algae bloom that accumulated in it. Marine growth behind inlet screens and debris accumulation in outboard cooling passages are common occurrences but algae blooms are not safe for your engine. If left untreated, all of these factors can lead to insufficient cooling and engine damage.

How to Protect Your Engine

Protecting your engine through all marine extremes is essential to protect your boating investment. In normal conditions, the outboard requires freshwater flushing after your boating activity especially if you’ve tread your boat in dirty water or salt water. Flushing the system with clean freshwater dislodges silt, sand, and mud and forces them out of the cooling system passages while also removing salt buildup that may lead to engine block corrosion and poor cooling. Freshwater flushing is important as it protects your boat and your outboard engine parts and can even extend their lifetime, no matter if there is an infestation of algae blooms or none.

There are three main tips for flushing your outboard parts:

Flush bag: This method uses a collapsible bag that is fitted below the lower outboard unit and then filled with water. The flush bag submerges the gear case and once the bag is full, run the engine which allows the motor to pull in the cooling water through inlet screens and send it out via the propeller. This method works best on outboards with more than one inlet attached to boats that are moored or on a trailer.

Flush muff: This method works for single-inlet lower unit outboards and uses a garden hose and rubber cups, which are called muffs, that you fit on the water inlet of the gear case. With the garden hose attached to the hose fitting on one of the cups and the water running, run the engine to flush the system. To do this safely, your boat should be on a boat lift or trailer. You need to make sure that your boat is completely out of the water. Always turn the freshwater on before running the engine to avoid overheating which can cause damage to your outboard parts and system.

Built-in device: This device is a hose fitting usually found near the lower rear cowling of the outboard. To flush with this system, do not run the engine. The gear case should be out of the water but the boat can be on a lift or in the water while flushing.

Whatever method you choose to flush your system and protect your outboard parts from the damaging effects of the algae bloom always make sure the inlet screen on the lower unit looks clean and clear following flushing. Even without the algae bloom problems, freshwater flushing extends the outboard’s lifespan when you boat in saltwater.

However, if your outboard motor has trouble that can’t be solved by flushing, you can approach the manufacturer of your outboard engine or mechanic shops near you. Some manufacturers offer repairs such as Suzuki service, for example.