Everything here is free. Making it takes time and money. Everything here is free.

Buy us a coffee

Trailers and marine · TM-06

Outboard Motor Service Log

A free printable outboard motor service log — hours, impeller, gear oil, plugs, anodes and fuel system, plus the salt-water flushing routine.

First page of the Outboard Motor Service Log — Service an outboard by hours rather than by dates, and keep the impeller and anode record that decides whether the motor has a long life or a short one.
Download Free · no sign-up

2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.

Print it and write on it

Fill it in type and save

The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.

What this sheet is for

Service an outboard by hours rather than by dates, and keep the impeller and anode record that decides whether the motor has a long life or a short one.

Who it is for

Owners of outboard-powered boats, tenders and ribs, in salt water and fresh.

How to use it

  1. Write the part numbers for the impeller kit, filters, plugs and anodes in once.
  2. Log the hour meter reading at every service, not the date alone.
  3. Tick the flushing routine every time the motor has been in salt water.
  4. Record gear oil condition — water in the gear oil is an early warning, not a detail.

What is on the sheet

2 pages, in this order:

Page 1

Printed under the title: Hours, servicing and salt-water flushing for an outboard motor. The impeller and the anodes are the two cheap parts whose neglect turns into an expensive one.

Write-on lines: Motor make & model · Serial number · Year · Boat · Shaft length · Two or four stroke · Fuel

Specifications — from your own manual — look them up once

Write-on lines: Engine oil grade & qty · Gear oil grade & qty · Oil filter part no. · Water pump / impeller kit · Spark plugs & gap · Fuel filter part no. · Anode part numbers · Propeller & pitch · Prop nut torque

Service log

Table, 14 rows: Date · Hours · Eng oil · Gear oil · Impeller · Plugs · Anodes · Fuel filt · Work and notes

Page 2

After every use in salt water

  • Flushed with fresh water long enough for the block to run cool
  • Cowling off, engine wiped down and inhibitor sprayed
  • Anodes looked at — they are meant to waste, but not to vanish
  • Fuel connector, clamps and controls rinsed and dried
  • Propeller checked for line, weed and a bent blade
  • Motor tilted down to drain, then stored as the manual says

Ruled lines: Notes and anything specific to yours

Questions

Why does the impeller need replacing when it still works?

A rubber impeller hardens and takes a set long before it stops pumping, and it is usually the last thing to fail before an overheat. Replacement intervals come from your own manual and vary with use, but the point is that it is a cheap part protecting an expensive one.

How long should I flush for after salt water?

Long enough for the block to come up to temperature and then run cool, so the salt is actually carried out rather than diluted. Your manual gives a time for your motor and says whether it may be run out of the water — some may not be.

Related sheets

Marine Battery and Electrical Log

Track battery voltages as a series rather than a single reading, so a bank that is dying is obvious well before it strands you.

TM-08 2 pages

Winter Lay-Up and Launch Checklist

Put the autumn lay-up jobs and the spring launch checks on the same page, so what you did in October is in front of you in April.

TM-09 1 page

Everything here is free

Every sheet, binder, game and puzzle on Upkeep Papers is free to download, with no email and no account. Making them is not free: each one takes days of research, design and checking, and the site costs money to run. If something here saved you time, you can buy us a coffee. It is entirely optional: nothing is locked, and nothing changes if you don’t.

Buy us a coffee

Opens PayPal in a new tab. Any amount, and nothing changes if you would rather not.