The best problems are the ones you prevented from happening - non problems.  Preventative maintenance, scheduled service, 100 hour service: they all mean the same and that is the avoidance of problems and getting the longest life out of your outboard engine.  We all drive cars and hopefully know the importance of changing your oil and so it is with outboard engines. 

Instead of miles we use engine hours to determine a maintenance schedule for boats.  A standard engine service will change your engine oil and filter as well as the lower unit oil and anodes. 

Outboards run differently than cars and need a different oil.  You’ll rarely go over 4,000 rpm in your car but your outboard works best and produces the most power from 4,000 - 6,000 rpm so you need  oil that won’t break down with heat and has corrosion inhibitors in it for salt water use. 

Your engine is run in salt water and is subject to electrolysis which eats away the metal.  We use protection anodes, sometimes called zincs in order to protect the vital engine components from being eaten away.  Replacing your anodes is crucial to protecting the water passages and keeping your engine from overheating and being eaten away. 

There are several fuel filters installed on a boat because clean gas is essential.  Replacing the fuel filters is key to good engine performance.  Spark plugs need to be replaced, but not at every service so we inspect them and replace as necessary.  Spark plug inspection alerts us to potential problems you may have with combustion.  Your water pump, sometimes called impeller, should last 3 years or 300 hours depending on use.  A bad impeller will cause your engine to overheat so you don’t want to wait for it to go bad before replacing it, after all we’re trying to prevent problems from happening, not cause them.  Each manufacturer and each engine family has a specified maintenance schedule but are usually called break in service, 100 hour service and 300 hour service