Don't trailer it.
We come to the boat.

Yes. 239 Mobile Mechanic is a mobile outboard mechanic: Tim services the motor where the boat sits, whether that is a private dock, a boat lift on a canal, a marina slip, or a trailer in your driveway. No shop, no trailering.

Yamaha, Mercury, and Suzuki outboards, four stroke and two stroke. If you run something else, call anyway and Tim will tell you straight whether it is in scope or point you to someone good.

No. The two specialties are outboard service and marine 12 volt electrical. Keeping the scope narrow is how one mechanic stays fast and accurate.

Collier County and Lee County, Florida: Naples, Marco Island, Isles of Capri, Goodland, Port Royal, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Pine Island, and Sanibel. On the edge of the map? Call. The trip charge is quoted up front.

Motor make, horsepower, and year, where the boat sits, and what it is doing. A short video of the problem (the no-start, the alarm, the dead gauge) helps Tim arrive with the right parts. You get a price before any work starts.

Yamaha, Mercury, and Suzuki all schedule service every 100 hours or once a year, whichever comes first, with a first service at about 20 hours on a new motor. Saltwater use and long idle or trolling time count as severe service, so Southwest Florida boats are usually on the short end of those intervals.

Engine oil and filter, lower unit gear oil with new drain and vent gaskets, water-separating and low-pressure fuel filters, spark plug inspection or replacement, anode inspection, lubrication of grease points, and checks of the water pump, thermostat, trim and tilt fluid, and fasteners. It is the single best way to catch small problems before they strand you.

It depends on the brand and model. Yamaha inspects at 100 hours and replaces at 300 hours or three years; Mercury lists 100 hours on some models and 300 on others; Suzuki inspects every 200 hours or 12 months. Sand, saltwater, and any dry running shorten impeller life, and a weak tell-tale stream or overheat alarm means check it now.

Water is getting into the gearcase, usually past the prop shaft seal (fishing line is the classic cause) or worn drain and vent gaskets. Left alone it corrodes gears and bearings. Draining the lower unit at every annual service is how it gets caught early.

Yes. Every manufacturer says to flush with fresh water after each use in salt or brackish water. Salt left in the cooling passages builds up, blocks flow, and leads to the overheat calls that come in every summer.

Inspect them at every 100-hour service and replace at roughly half eroded. Saltwater eats them faster, and a painted or missing anode means the lower unit is corroding instead.

Up to 10 percent ethanol (E10) is approved by Yamaha, Mercury, and Suzuki. Nothing higher. Ethanol pulls water out of humid Florida air, so stabilizer in fuel that sits and regular water-separating filter changes are part of staying out of trouble.

Spark, fuel, compression, in that order. On fuel-injected four strokes the usual causes are a tripped kill switch lanyard, a battery that cranks but sags too low for the computer, a clogged fuel filter or VST, a failed fuel pump, or fouled plugs. Low compression is the least common and most serious.

Start with the tell-tale stream. Weak or missing points to a blocked tell-tale outlet, debris in the intake grates, a worn impeller, or a stuck thermostat. A strong stream does not always rule out an overheat, and a bad sensor should be confirmed, not assumed.

A parasitic draw (stereo memory, electronics that never fully power down, a stuck relay), a failing cell in an aging battery, a charger that is not actually charging, or a switch left on. A current check at the negative terminal and a load test sort it out in one visit.

Usually corroded connections in the bilge, a blown fuse or breaker, a float switch wired wrong or never connected, a bad ground, or a jammed impeller. Corrosion often shows full voltage with no load and collapses when the pump tries to start, so the test has to be done under load.

Photograph any damage first for insurance. Rinse salt and mud off with fresh water, check the gearcase oil for water, check the prop, and have a submerged motor or battery looked at before anyone tries to start it. Before hurricane season: confirm the bilge pump and float switch, charge the batteries, inspect lift cables and lines, and keep the tank mostly full with stabilizer.