How to become Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician in 2024

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician is Also Know as

In different settings, Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician is titled as

  • Boat Mechanic
  • Boat Motor Mechanic
  • Boat Rigger
  • Marine Mechanic
  • Marine Propulsion Technician
  • Marine Technician
  • Mechanic
  • Outboard Motor Mechanic
  • Outboard Technician
  • Service Technician

Education and Training of Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician is categorized in Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Education Required for Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Degrees Related to Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

Training Required for Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician in different industries are

What Do Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician do?

  • Disassemble and inspect motors to locate defective parts, using mechanic's hand tools and gauges.
  • Mount motors to boats, and operate boats at various speeds on waterways to conduct operational tests.
  • Start motors and monitor performance for signs of malfunctioning, such as smoke, excessive vibration, or misfiring.
  • Document inspection and test results and work performed or to be performed.
  • Replace parts, such as gears, magneto points, piston rings, or spark plugs, and reassemble engines.
  • Idle motors and observe thermometers to determine the effectiveness of cooling systems.
  • Set starter locks and align and repair steering or throttle controls, using gauges, screwdrivers, or wrenches.
  • Adjust carburetor mixtures, electrical point settings, or timing while motors are running in water-filled test tanks.
  • Repair engine mechanical equipment, such as power tilts, bilge pumps, or power take-offs.
  • Inspect and repair or adjust propellers or propeller shafts.
  • Repair or rework parts, using machine tools such as lathes, mills, drills, or grinders.
  • Adjust generators and replace faulty wiring, using hand tools and soldering irons.
  • Perform routine engine maintenance on motorboats, such as changing oil and filters.

Qualities of Good Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Tools Used by Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

  • Adjustable gap spark testers
  • Allen wrench sets
  • Automatic center punches
  • Ball peen hammers
  • Battery load testers
  • Battery terminal cleaners
  • Bearing retainer wrenches
  • Breaker bars
  • Carbon scrapers
  • Channel lock pliers
  • Coil function testers
  • Combination pliers
  • Combination wrenches
  • Cotter pin pullers
  • Crowfoot wrenches
  • Dead blow hammers
  • Diagonal cutting pliers
  • Dial calipers
  • Digital multimeters
  • Electrical diagnostic platform analyzers
  • Fixed tip snap ring pliers
  • Flat cold chisels
  • Flat tip screw starters
  • Fluted screw extractors
  • Flywheel holders
  • Fuel filter wrenches
  • Hex sets
  • Idle air control signal tester
  • Impact drivers
  • Inspection mirrors
  • Leakdown testers
  • Magnetic pickup tools
  • Measuring tapes
  • Mechanical fingers
  • Mechanics' pick sets
  • Metric flex sockets
  • Metric sockets
  • Mini hacksaws
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Parallel pin punches
  • Peak voltage testers
  • Penlights
  • Personal computers
  • Phillips screwdrivers
  • Piston ring compressors
  • Power drill bit sets
  • Propeller wrenches
  • Seal pullers
  • Shift cable tools
  • Slot screwdrivers
  • Socket wrench extensions
  • Solder guns
  • Spanners
  • Spark plug gap testers
  • Spark plug sockets
  • Speed handles
  • Standard flex sockets
  • Standard socket wrenches
  • Starter punches
  • T handle hex wrenches
  • Tablet computers
  • Taper feeler gauges
  • Tapered hand files
  • Temperature guns
  • Test lights
  • Tie rod end pullers
  • Torque adapters
  • Torque wrenches
  • Torx bit sets
  • Vise grip pliers
  • Wire crimpers
  • Wire cutters
  • Wire strippers

Technology Skills required for Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technician

  • CDI Electronics M.E.D.S.
  • Engine diagnostic scanners
  • Facebook
  • Inventory tracking software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Outboard engine diagnostic software
  • Rinda Technologies DIACOM Marine