Thread: 250 E-Tec Tattle-Tail Needed Cleaning

I have a small piece of 1/32in nylon coated, very flexible stainless steel cable I use as a snake to clean out dirt dauber mud from Outboards. The small stranded cable will make turns a normal stiff cable will not. The cable is out of the Cowl of a old Mercury 2 Stroke with a pull start. it really works. I ran my boat up river to the boathouse with my guy's boat in it to make it easier to clear the blockage. Way easier to stand on the bow of my flatboat than hang over the engine to do the roto-rooting.

Originally Posted by Rojo

This boat is 3 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, very brackish location. I know what your saying though, newer engines if stored vertical and allowed to dry really don't make the crusty stuff like 2012 and older engines. Most here run Yamaha's and the way a Yamaha Tattle-tail is plumbed pulling the 1/4in ID Tattle-tail hose off the Cowl fitting allows the debris to exit better. The old Yamaha 2 strokes were the worst with the side water-jackets. Sometimes I think Yamaha intended for the water-jackets to be anodes due to their low replacement costs. That potmetal makes some crud!

My newest engine is a 2001 yami 2 stroke 40 so no clue what they have changed. On my 1980's 85hp I removed the nipple from lower cowling, drilled the hole the size of the hose and just pushed the hose thru, eliminating that restriction all together.