inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

[haggen29]

Hi all,
a couple questions about an inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke unkown hours, it in a 20 ft dual console keywest.
Just had a moble mechanic go over the boat i would like to purchase, only i am not sure if i trust the mechanic guy. Sad to say, he was all about finding everything little thing wrong with the boat to "get the boat for a cheaper price" well after all was done. He stated he would'nt pay a little more that half the asking price.
The owner want a 2 thousand over the NDA price. which i thought was high, but the boat was in beautiful condition, hence paying for a boat mechanic to to go over it and mainly the motor, maybe i am just paranod. Well just looking for info on some of his statements, mainly the motor. Spark plugs looked the had a brown deposits with shinning specs this was on the ring were the threads are, not the insulator or electriod" he stated this was from water that bonded witht the enythnol and causes it to look like that( Plugs 1 2 and 4 not on 3). The boat does have a water seperator on it. Problem #1 water in fuel with unknown damage to cylinders. Then did a cold compressing check ( "This is the tell tell sign he qouted" yep i agree.) first readings #1 151 #2 160 # #3 165 #4 160, ok he did this 2 more time just to be sure, well the third time he scratches his head looking at the gauge pointing and counting to himself a couple of times than states hey come look at this what does it read. Iam thinking OH BOY engines bad, NO he had been reading the gauge wrong and wanted me to check to make sure he was reading it right.
Well #1 181 #2 190 # 3 195 #4 190. Now i am questioning was this guy a real boat mechanic ??????, "He stated that too much" "10 psi is acceptalble that compression over the acceptable limt" Problem #2 bad compression.
While he was doing a compression check he stated " #1 cylinder keeps spitting fuel that means fuel injectors are bad or need to cleaned. Problem #3 Fuel injectors need to be cleaned or replaced at 300.00 apeice 1200.00 wow.
After that he said times up i have to go.( this after he was late by 2 hours and we havent started the motor yet?????? well real quick we turned over the motor and a small puff of gray blue some came out just for a second. he put his hands in the and said "Motors done fours stroke dont burn oil like that should not have any smoke( note this just after the compreesion check were fuel was spitting into number 1 cylinder. Now i have taking the boat out on a lake a couple a days prior. start up fine, idled fine, throttled up perfect, smooth quiet. ran it for 20-30 minutes heavy thottle to slow increase, smooth no rough or miss running. ( i have owned a inboard merc v8 that is rough, its has carb not injected and compared to my motor, this motor purred like a kitten.)


I am just looking for some advice after reseraching 10 percent is acceptable for a compression variance not 10 psi, could'nt find anything on spark plugs color/ deposits, and why fuel would be spitting in number 1 cylinder during the compression check. he never wrote anything down but stated he would give me a detailed writin report that would be fax or email, he never took my information down.

it is nine years old

so here i am. any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[cp]

Re: inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

Early Honda 130 outboards had a design flaw which could lead to cracked blocks. Affected units were in frame serial number ranges BZBE-1000001 to BZBE-1201321 and BZBH-1000001 to BZBH-1200180. Honda specified an inspection and replaced blocks/entire powerheads for engines found with problems and extended the warranty to 10 years from date of original purchase. CHECK THE ENGINE'S FRAME SERIAL NUMBER TO SEE IF IT FALLS WITHIN THE FOREGOING RANGES.

If the engine is not included within those ranges, then that's one thing you don't have to worry about. If the engine IS within those ranges, then check the inside of the engine cover to see if there is a "BLOCK INSPECTED" and DATE written there. If the engine is within the suspect range and has not been inspected as denoted by the writing inside the engine cover, recommend you see if you can get it inspected. If not, walk away. If it's within the suspect range and has been inspected, then you must decide whether you want to trust that it will continue to run OK for you. If it's within the suspect range but has had the block replaced with the new design, then you should be good to go, with a year(?) left on the extended warranty.

As far as the compression test, the spec is 199-228 psi @ 300rpm, I believe, so what the mechanic reported finding (when he read the gauge correctly?) is a little low but IMHO acceptable for a 9-year old engine. Also IMHO, dirty spark plug threads are not as good an indication of internal cylinder performance as the condition of the electrode. If there are signs of water inside the cylinders, then you may have the cracked block/head problem above.

Check the water separating filter to ensure no water has been getting into the fuel system beyond, and if the ethanol fuel is old, replace ALL of it with new fuel, since the old fuel may have started to phase separate. If the fuel is new or has been preserved by use of an additive, then if the water separator shows no excessive water, you should be OK.

A small puff of smoke at startup followed by clean burning thereafter is not a cause for concern. Sometimes, depending how you store the engine, a little oil will seep into the cylinder, or it may be that the mechanic shot a little oil into the cylinder for the compression test?

I don't know what is meant by fuel spitting into the #1 cylinder during the compression test. Seems that fuel should be injected with the engine turning over, as it would be when trying to start. IMHO a good sea trial overrides that concern. You should be able to easily attain WOT, 5500-6000 rpm with normal load, if propped correctly and the engine is operating normally.

One last caution: The 130hp engines have adequate but not good cooling water flow (they were the largest and first fuel injected engines Honda made at that time and they didn't design in more than adequate cooling, as opposed to the later 150hp engine which has triple cooling). The concern here is that if you run the engine at high rpm for long periods of time, there is the likelihood that scale will build up inside the water passages, hence you must do chemical descaling flushes more often. If you will troll with the boat, determine at what rpm you will troll at for long periods; ideally it will be 2000 rpm or less.

Overall the 130 hp engine is a good one, nearly bulletproof once you get past the cracked block/head issue. Good luck.

 

[haggen29]

Re: inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

Hey CP
thanks for the info.

 

[cp]

Re: inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

Hey CP
thanks for the info.

You're very welcome. I think those who offer help on these forums would always like to hear whether the advice they offered was helpful or not, but too often receive no response at all from those they tried to help. I appreciate your response and hope you found the info I shared to be helpful.

 

[haggen29]

Re: inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

yes i lot people are hit and runners, the wealth of knowledge that is out there is amazing when you combine it with the Internet. You definitely helped broaden my knowledge of the Honda motor. I don't have a lot of experience with out-boards my brothers the mechanic I'm a firemen ( if it was on fire i know i could put it out ha ha ). He was the one who told me to hire someone to inspect it. I now looking into a 05 key west dc with suzi 140 on it. he just re-did the bottom paint because of barnacles and uneven wear and tere on the paint( the original oowner had paint on it because he left it in the water down in the keys). i found barnacles in the drain holes but the over all shape of the boat looks great including the motor. just scared of bottom paint and its been sitting in salt water for 5 years.

Thanks again for your knowledge and time

are u in hawwii by chance?

 

[cp]

Re: inspection on 2001 honda 130 four stroke

Yes, I'm in Hawaii, where we can fish and boat year-round but don't have much experience with bottom paint, since most boats are on trailers. Do look for blistering on the bottom of the hull (a friend had a 32-footer, too big to trailer, that was kept in the water and developed blisters despite being bottom-painted. Good luck, and good fishing!

Aloha and tight lines!