Repair & maintenance guides

How to Fix a Loose Boat Seat Pedestal, Base or Leaning Post

Find out why seat pedestals and leaning posts work loose, through-bolt the base with a proper backing plate, deal with soft or rotten floor under it, and keep swivels and slides working smoothly so your helm seat stays solid in rough water.

How to Fix Boat Trailer Lights That Flicker, Dim or Don't Work

Track down the real cause of dead or flickering trailer lights, from a bad ground to a corroded plug, and fix it so the repair lasts. Working brake, turn and tail lights are required by law and keep the driver behind you from rear-ending your boat.

How to Fix Leaking Hatches and Portlights

Find out whether a leaking deck hatch or portlight is failing at the gasket, the lens or the frame, then fix it with the right seal or sealant. Learn when crazed or cracked acrylic needs a new lens and what never to put on plastic windows.

How to Flush an Engine While the Boat Stays in the Water

Boats kept in a saltwater slip, on a mooring or on a lift can't always use flush muffs. Learn how built-in outboard flush ports, sterndrive and inboard flush kits and flush-valve seacocks work, which engines can use them in the water, how to avoid back-flow and hydrolock, and a simple after-every-trip routine.

How to Flush Your Engine With Fresh Water

Rinse salt, silt and sand out of your outboard or sterndrive cooling system using the built-in flush port, flush muffs or a flush bag. Flushing after every saltwater trip is one of the easiest ways to prevent corrosion and overheating.

How to Fog an Engine for Storage

Coat the inside of your engine's cylinders with fogging oil before a long layup so rust does not form over the winter. Learn when fogging applies, how it differs for carbureted, fuel-injected and direct-injection engines, and why your maker's instructions come first.

How to Get Better Fuel Economy From Your Boat

Boat fuel is expensive, but most owners can stretch every gallon further without buying anything. Learn how to find your boat's most efficient cruise RPM, why a clean bottom, the right prop, good trim and less weight matter most, which tune-up items count, how fuel flow data helps, and which fuel-saving myths to ignore.

How to Get Rid of an Old Boat: Sell, Donate, Turn In or Scrap It the Right Way

An old boat nobody wants can cost you money for years. Learn your real options (selling as-is, donating, state vessel turn-in programs, landfill or dismantling), the tax rules on donations, how to cut your name off the registration and title, and why you should never abandon a boat.

How to Get Through Aquatic Invasive Species Boat Inspection Stations

Many states, especially in the West, make you stop at an inspection station before you launch or when you cross the state line, to keep zebra and quagga mussels out. Learn what inspectors check, when they decontaminate, what decals, courses and seals you may need, and how to arrive clean, drained and dry so you're through fast.

How to Get Your Boat Ready to Sell (Records, Title and Prep)

Prepare your boat for sale the way buyers and surveyors expect: gather the title, registration and HIN paperwork, organize your maintenance records and receipts, fix the small stuff, detail the boat, get it ready for a sea trial and buyer's survey, and close the deal with the right documents.

How to Grease Your Outboard's Lubrication Points

Grease the swivel bracket, tilt tube, steering and shift linkages, trim rams and prop shaft splines on your outboard. Grease keeps salt and water out of the moving joints. A 30-minute job once or twice a season prevents seized steering, stuck props and corroded brackets.

How to Identify Your Boat Trailer Axle and Order the Right Parts

Find your trailer's VIN plate and axle lot number, take the key measurements (hub face, spring centers), read the numbers on your bearings and seals, and figure out the brake and hub type, so the parts store sells you parts that actually fit.

How to Improve Cabin Ventilation with Solar Vents, Dorades and Hatches

Moving air through a closed boat is the cheapest way to stop mold, mildew and musty smells. Learn how much air your cabin needs, where to put intake and exhaust vents, how solar vents and dorade boxes work, and how to add one without letting water in.

How to Inspect a Pontoon Motor Pod and Transom Bracket for Cracks and Loose Bolts

The aluminum pod or bracket that carries a pontoon's outboard takes every bit of thrust, steering load and trailer bounce. Learn how to find hairline weld cracks, loose or worn bolts, corrosion and flex early, spot the signs of too much motor, and know when the boat needs an aluminum welder or the dealer before it goes back out.

How to Inspect a Used Boat Before You Buy

A step-by-step checklist for looking over a used boat, from paperwork and the hull ID number to the transom, engine, compression test, sea trial and trailer. Know what to check yourself, what the red flags mean, and when to pay a marine surveyor.

How to Inspect a Used Boat Trailer Before You Buy

A worn-out trailer can turn a good boat deal into hundreds or thousands in repairs, or a breakdown on the way home. Walk through the capacity plate and VIN, frame, axle and springs, hubs, brakes, tires, lights, coupler, winch and bunks, and the title paperwork before you hand over the money.

How to Inspect and Clean a Backfire Flame Arrestor

Every gasoline inboard and sterndrive engine must have a backfire flame arrestor to stop a backfire from setting the engine compartment on fire. Learn what the rules require, how to spot a clogged or damaged arrestor, how to clean it the way your engine maker allows, and why you must never run the engine without it.

How to Inspect and Clean a Raw-Water (Sea) Strainer

The sea strainer is the cheap screen that keeps weeds, shells and plastic out of your engine, generator and A/C pumps. Learn how to clean it safely with the seacock closed, reseal the lid so it can't suck air, spot a cracked bowl before it floods the boat, and winterize it.

How to Inspect and Clear Cockpit Scuppers and Deck Drains

Most boats that sink at the dock fill up from the top, through clogged scuppers, cracked drain hoses and leaky hatches during a heavy rain. Learn how to trace every drain, clear clogs, check flappers, hoses and clamps, flood-test the cockpit and keep drains working in freezing weather.

How to Inspect and Exercise Seacocks, Through-Hulls and Hose Clamps

Check every hole in your hull below the waterline, work each seacock open and closed, and inspect the hoses and clamps attached to them. A single failed fitting or hose is one of the most common reasons boats sink at the dock.

How to Inspect and Maintain a Boat Lift (Cables, Pulleys, Motor, Bunks and Storm Prep)

Inspect the cables, pulleys, motor, wiring and bunks on your boat lift, center the boat correctly, and prepare the lift and boat for storms and winter. Cable failures and overloading from rainwater or snow are the most common ways lifts drop boats.

How to Inspect and Repack Boat Trailer Wheel Bearings

Check, clean and repack your trailer's wheel bearings so a seized hub does not leave you stranded on the highway. Boat trailers get dunked in water every launch, which makes their bearings fail far more often than those on dry utility trailers.

How to Inspect and Replace Boat Fuel Fill and Vent Hoses

Old fill and vent hoses crack, go soft and leak gasoline into the bilge, often where you can't see them. Learn the signs of aging, which USCG hose types (A1, A2, B1, B2) belong on fill and vent lines, why fill hoses need two clamps at each end, how to check the vent fitting, flame arrester and anti-spill devices, and how a careful replacement is done.

How to Inspect and Replace Exhaust Shutters and Flapper Valves

The rubber shutters inside a sterndrive's exhaust and the flappers at an inboard's exhaust outlet are one-way valves that keep water from washing back into the engine. Learn where they are, how they fail, how to check them every year, and why riser service is the perfect time to replace them.