How many hours do you have on SHO? I read where they can go 3000-4000 hours. Just wondering how realistic that is?

thats a lot of extra oil !! I keep reading about a lot of them making oil because guys wont drive them hard. two speeds, fellers... idle and WFO!

Over 700

About to turn 500 on mine. I have had a few issues with it but nothing major. Overall it has been a good motor. I know the gray F series motors will easily go 2000+ hours if you take care of them. I put 2000 on my last F series. The guy I sold it to says it still runs like a top. Know a few saltwater guys who started running the SHO but have gone back to the F series motors now due to longer lifespan and more reliability. Their theory on the saltwater side is the SHO doesn't like the endless hours of idling that all offshore motors must be able to endure. Once they leave the dock they don't get shut off until they return to the dock. I suspect you won't see many SHO's get to that 2000-3000 hr range. I suspect that probably goes for all brands of the newer high performance four strokes though.

I would say they could go closer to 1500 hours and that's pushing it with a perfect maintenance schedule.

Which is why my Skeeter has an F series 4-stroke. In its 18 years, it has never failed to start and runs perfectly. Doesn’t burn oil, doesn’t “make” oil. Is so quiet I have forgotten to shut it off more than once!

Every SHO conversation includes talking about power heads and if it’s been “swapped yet”, and the conversation about “making oil”…..and always ends with, “but looks good and it’s pretty fast”.

I am on my 4th boat with a SHO. None of them have made oil or given me any issues at all. Guess I missed every one of those conversations.

Only 125 hours on my SHO and it has never made oil, never failed to start, and it is so quiet I forget if it is running or not.

Mine never made oil up to 140 hrs before it started knocking.

Keep one longer than a year, then get back to me. You’re fortunate enough to get a new one almost annually.

….and your are in the middle of an SHO conversation right now…and the topic is well, if you have have a new power head or does it make oil. Your response is “never had the problem”…my point being made. It’s a conversation every Yamaha owner has.

I kept 2 of them longer than a year. I do not have a boat deal. I buy my boats same as anyone else. I personally would have a hard time not having a SHO on any boat I buy. They have ran great for me. Every time I try a different brand motor it ends up in the shop it seems like.

Running a 2013 SHO. No issues so far.

Theres a LOT of those motors out there, a whole lot and while you can read about issues online the percentage is probably really low on failures and most run trouble free. I would think you could get a few thousand hours out of any outboard if you take care of it, dont let it sit, but dont abuse it. Rebuild cost is what keeps me away from a SHO without warranty.

2019 SHO 250, 329 hrs. and not a single issue one. I just jinxed myself I'm gonna go use it tomorrow and it will probably detonate on me...

Same here, 2019 with 305 hours. “Made” a little oil in the first 10 hours. Been good ever since. This is my second one. Only thing I’ve ever had fail was a fuse. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc., etc…