courosity etecs any good?

[mick fillet]

Hey iam thinking of up grading to evinrude etec motor 100hp to 150hp to suit bow rider half cab 20ft can i get some feed back please

[noname]

i personally would not touch 1 over 115hp, 140 suzuki would be me choice.

[Feral]

Dunno hear the odd story bagging them, (like early ones quitting near radio signals sources) but the blokes who have them are very passionate about them.

Personally I'd rather a 4 stroke.

[mick fillet]

thanks for your input thats about all i need to hear iam a suzzi/yammi man any way.

[rayke1938]

Have a talk to some of the charter boat operators and see how they are going.

Statistically they look very good with lower fuel economy and better out of the hole performance than 4 strokes.

One of the pro crabbers this way is running a 60 ( not certain may be 80 i didnt really pay much attention)and is very happy and he is running up over 1200 hours a year for 2 years with no servicing costs and he then trades it in.Said its the best thing since sliced bread.

Cheers

Ray

[shortie]

I havnt had any troubles from mine.

The 90 and the 115 are exactlty the same motor just programmed differntly. Quiet economical, service free for big hours.Small, light weight, instant power.

Everything a 4 stoke is not.

But what would i know a 4 stroke must be better

[Davo_Dinkum]

my old man has been a evinrude man all his life till now .we went for a black anchor ,mercury it was the price 5 g cheaper and he is happy with it.

motors have changed so much ,guess people change what the favor and buy too.

[Brian D]

I am not a fan and can not reconmend. The electronics is what I understand to let you down. Maybe a 115 but not a 150, I would prefer a 4 stroke

[rayke1938]

Thread on ausfish at the moment re cracked plastic housing worth 2k to replace. Some pretty rabid comments there.

Cheers

Ray

[shortie]

I can point you to many discussions regaring honda, merc, suzuki or any opther manufacturer on forums with rabid comments about any of these manufacturers.

[Feral]

Yeah thats definately true, most manufacturers are pretty scummy when it comes to claims for known problems worth any sort of dollars even in warranty period! I still refuse to look at a Hyundai because they wouldn't recall all those excels with the faulty front ends! I had lots of problems with my Kia Rio as well, would you believe 5 CD players replaced under warranty before I finally had an aftermarket one done installed, because I was sick of the car sitting in the dealers yard for 3 days at a time. Yet my Toyota 3 things wrong with it over the 3 year period all fixed promptly no questions, fault never re-occurred, and the last thing was 12 months out of warranty, and the dealer popped for 50% without even being asked.

Mind you, after reading the link, just to be safe Shortie, If I were you I'd be looking for cracks on the Etec before the warranty is up !

[Dazzamcgee]

I don't know to much about the etec's but from what I'm hearing the bigger hp models seem to at the better working end of the range.

They're a very sophisticated engine that why I'm guessing so many things can go wrong with them.

Just to work on them here in OZ requires qualifications recognition from etec in the US.:dry:

With 5 certificates need to be an etec specialist.

[kriso]

its tough one mate i have heard storys of trouble free motoring like shortie's then i have also heards bad stories as well one almost causing a capsize on a bar! apparrently the electronis have a oil supply sensor and if it doenst read will shut the engine off to stop clowns ceazing the motor when they forget to refill the tank, anyways if the oil bottle is low and your out at the lumpy bits of water the oil will slosh and sometimes get an airbubble in the line, when the bubble hits the sensor it will kill the engine and have to wait for it to pass till the motor starts again, and apparently this happened half way across a bar.

[mick fillet]

very interesting reading. Thanks for your feed back so far:)

[noname]

also ask the question about saltwater getting under the cowl! a few late model engines get this problem quite bad, lift the cowl off and it's got salt crystals everywhere. a friends 60 merc 4 stroke gets this as well as a mates 200 opti, another mates 175 opti is fine, all new motors, also merc's burn the leg below the power head. this doesn't affect the engine in anyway, just looks bad for a new motor.

[barkley83]

Hey mate i've owned yammy 4 strokes and a suzi 140 and i have an etec 200HO at the momen.

All are great engines.

I've put 300hrs on my etec and it hasn't missed a beat.

I think the only think the computer said had gone wrong was a cylinder had mss fired once.

Not bad in 300hrs.

I cant fault them at all.

Fuel isn't to bad either.

cheers

JB

[hookedupnshit]

Neighbours got a e-tech, now im not into bagging outboards, he has hard the lower cowl replaced twice, the top cowl once, due to cracking. and this things always garaged and hardly used at all, also the injectors.... at 600 per injector thats a bit rich!!...

i know from experience that mercury/mariner injectors were about 187 each, not sure what there worth now, but wouldent be much more, and were never really prone to doing injectors like these e-techs,

another thing noted as i have spoken to 2 e tec dealers is they all say " were never had or seen a warantee claim", now i know for a fact both of them have had them, are they trying to hide the obvious problems is anyones guess.. but the untruthfullness of them has also turned me right off them,

in saying that I know people that have them and had no issues whatsoever, but with anything you buy theres no guarentee, and theres always going to be lemons out there,

[Tiny Tin]

i've had two etecs a 140 and a 150. had probs with both. when i bought the 150 i got told faster..better out the hole..economical all said as pros for competition vs 4 stroke. i've since bought a 4 stroke suzie 90hp and couldn't be happier with it. the out the hole speed v 2 stroke is negligible...push the throttle forward and ya fall out the back. imo as quick..quieter..no 2 stroke fumes..very good on fuel..no two stroke oil (expensive) to worry about. spoke to the water police they noticed the suzie and said they can't fault em..reckon they drive em hard and have had no problems in the time they've had em..wouldn't go any other way. i guess i'm not comparing apples to apples (140 -90 4 stroke) but cannot fault the 4 stroke performance so far. starts first time every time which the etecs never did... my two bobs worth

[Tiny Tin]

quote; hookedupnshit wrote; another thing noted as i have spoken to 2 e tec dealers is they all say " were never had or seen a warantee claim", now i know for a fact both of them have had them, are they trying to hide the obvious problems is anyones guess.. but the untruthfullness of them has also turned me right off them,

my etec went through a warranty claim at what was then hinterland marine..it was a long and painful exercise until i got hold of bombardier direct and got it sorted..the cpu had fried itself apparently..not fun 60klms offshore. all the safety stuff they have plugged into them goes out the window then. when i was looking for a formosa i asked the salesman at coastal power boats which way to go? he said gets problems with etecs coming back in all the time so go the suzie.

[fishyman]

IMHO

after seeing about 5 etecs breakdown in 4 bream comps

i wouldnt touch one

[mick fillet]

yeah iam hearing of more etecs with troubles as time gets on as well.

My local out board machanic chris said that he has had to cut the leg of more than 2 etec motors because of the bolts were that badly corroded on the leg he couldnt un do them to inspect the water pump.He said this is the result of a 3 yr no service bull crap.these bolts on the leg on any other motor would be touched and undone and maintained more than once due to regular servicing and thats why etecs have problems because the etec owners think that there invincibile and bullet proof and dont need to service them because thats what has been drumed into there heads by salesmen and the manufacturer (BRP)

[Davo_Dinkum]

i would think about keeping the twin suzzi's on the bum .

or some brand .

2 are a dearer setup but some good benefits.

like my dad i like the idea of 2 .

no need for trim tabs .

i breaks u go the other to get u home .

no need for a small backup out board on the back .no1 leaves them on anyways .always nicked to use on the little tinny .lol

dad has had 3 boats with 2 on .

[mick fillet]

yeah davo_ twin motors are worth wild having. My offshore boat (melmick V) had twin 115 suzzies on the bum. was off moreton island 2:00am by my self in melmick V when port side engine blew and she went with an almighty bang aswell so i came back on one engine I thought to my self at the time ge iam lucky i got two engines.

Those suzzies had more then 7000 hrs use mind you. these motors have been sold.

I am currently rebuilding the transom on melmick V and Iam going to go suzuki again but iam going to go big horse power twins this time this is the reason Iam rebuilding the transom to take the bigger hp. as a result of going bigger motors means more weight so i have had to rebuild the trailer aswell to take the new wieght which will be just over three tonne with the new motors almost finished the rebuild on the trailer.

I am going to fit the new motors my self hear at home in the next few weeks and then take it back to the dealer for pre delivery for warenty reasons.

[Davo_Dinkum]

my old mans 24 haines has 225 x2 on the bum.evil grin.dam she went hard.

115 x2 would have pushed her ok but .the extra horse's will push her along even better

150 x 2 evil grin that will make her boggy.

[danny]

Thats crazy, in the owners manual you are required to replace the gearbox oil etc, this is at 100 hours so I expect extreme miss use would be the case here. What ever brand you buy if you dont look after it its gonna shit itself. With most brands only 3 years warranty the etec has a full 5 year warranty. I dont think you got too much to worry about anyhow, just make sure your radio works cos shit does happen accasionly to the best of us.

[big al]

danny suzies have 5year warranty 2

[STU]

Im a merc man and have a 115 opti which has been great so far I have heard a lot of good and bad things about etecs but hear the same about every brand from differnt people some times you can just get a lemon in any brand i suppose A mate of mine runs a 150ho etec and has has it for a year and loves it no problems yet.

[hookedupnshit]

Whats the deal with the HO series, Im yet to understand it, if i buy 150hp i expect it, I shouldent need a HO to get the best out of it....

from what ive seen at various dealerships on my travels and hear from mates. E-tecs seem to get seasick when leaving the harbour!!

But its like any new technology i guess, always going to be some bugs to iron out... hence why i wouldent buy one untill there established more and are on top of things...

another notable thing is BRP is being sued in the states, its on alot of the sites in the USA that im a member of, apparently they sponsered a comp over there and never come up with the 100,000 odd in cash, - Another reason why i would not purchase one- they cant even seem to pay there bills, let alone fix warentee problems,

[BassTracker]

The problem I have with etecs is that you have to take them to an etec service dept if something goes wrong with them. If I take my merc 25 to the top end and something goes wrong I can take it to the local lawnmower mechanic and he'll fix it. The other thing is that the say that you can not only hammer them straight from the box but that you dont have to have your first service for three years, that seems great except when you look at the warranty period also being three years. So the first time a mechanic takes a look at your motor its out of warranty if there is anything up with it. Aside from those things they seem pretty good for new technology and Im sure they will get heaps better as time goes on. I have a friend who recently got the sports version of the 115 it took a bit of mucking around with dif props but now he seems really happy with it. I think the only dif in sports models is some changes to the manifold and in making the motor breathe better.. why they dont sell them all like that once you get over the 25 hp who knows...

[mick fillet]

hookedupnshit wrote:

Whats the deal with the HO series, Im yet to understand it, if i buy 150hp i expect it, I shouldent need a HO to get the best out of it....

The HO stands for high out put. In other words big block motor . other brand name motors also have big block motors suzuki does a big block in 175hp and 150 hp. my understanding of it all is if you want fuel efficency dont choose a big block motor.big block motor are much hevier then your normal standard engines as well.

I have seen and heard HO's /big block motors on the water on various boats and they all seem so much louder than other conventinal type out boards .

[hookedupnshit]

Ahhh yes i see the picture now,..... Just about all outboard manufactures have big blocks, as you state....

spose everyone needs a new "gimmmick" as time goes on to sell items......

[Davo_Dinkum]

got to wonder why did my old man a Johnson /evinrude for the last 35 years .

that was a black anchor dislike change .well 5 g diff and merc saltwater been about a few years now . he seams happy with the motor .fitting that another story.

funny how things change.

[Brian D]

rayke1938 wrote:

Have a talk to some of the charter boat operators and see how they are going.

Statistically they look very good with lower fuel economy and better out of the hole performance than 4 strokes.

One of the pro crabbers this way is running a 60 ( not certain may be 80 i didnt really pay much attention)and is very happy and he is running up over 1200 hours a year for 2 years with no servicing costs and he then trades it in.Said its the best thing since sliced bread.

Cheers

Ray

Last I looked Ray it was a 75 etec...and he works it hard

I think the only way an etec wins over a 4str is power to weight ratio. On my little cuise craft I went form a 70 2tr to a 60 4str knowing I would loose a bit of top end speed but have a better motor. I did this because I couldn't find a 70 or 80 4str that would suit the weight I wanted (Boat is rated to 90).

I suppose I am saying I took the less power option over the forced etec purchase. I am happy with my choice.

[hookedupnshit]

Brian D wrote:

rayke1938 wrote:

Have a talk to some of the charter boat operators and see how they are going.

Statistically they look very good with lower fuel economy and better out of the hole performance than 4 strokes.

One of the pro crabbers this way is running a 60 ( not certain may be 80 i didnt really pay much attention)and is very happy and he is running up over 1200 hours a year for 2 years with no servicing costs and he then trades it in.Said its the best thing since sliced bread.

Cheers

Ray

Last I looked Ray it was a 75 etec...and he works it hard

I think the only way an etec wins over a 4str is power to weight ratio. On my little cuise craft I went form a 70 2tr to a 60 4str knowing I would loose a bit of top end speed but have a better motor. I did this because I couldn't find a 70 or 80 4str that would suit the weight I wanted (Boat is rated to 90).

How bigs the Cruisy?? And what speed did you lose up top??

Reason why is my smalller boat has a 70 2 strk on it, and I wondered what id lose going to a 60fourstroke, ATM the 70 topps out at 50kays @5500- makes me think id lose alot of top speed, Especially when i like to cruise at 40-45kays,

[mick fillet]

You dont have to drop to a 60hp mate. I think you might find that when Brian D was looking to upgrade his motor the range of four strokes wasn't huge and the mid range hp motors wern't avalable. there was a big jump from 60-80hp.

You can now get four strokes in 15-25-30-40-50-60-70-75-80-90-100-115-135-140-150-175hp.

Don't be to worried about lossing your top end speed when you loosing the huge fuel consumtion by changing to a four stroke

[Brian D]

Yeah - mick is right, the option in sizes today are many more then what I had.

Today I would pick a suzuki. My cruise craft overall length is 4.92 but is a heavy hull, nice and strong.

Hey Hookedinpoop, depending on what prop set up I use I have dropped none or heaps.

I run 3 different props. My new best top speed is 68kph. This is with a longer pitch prop flying solo and unloaded on the Logan with no wind. This prop was a bit slow out of the hole with just me but when I took 2 other people onboard with the same prop I had trouble getting on the plain (Aaron and Rocket BRC 07).

With the opposite pitch prop my top speed drops to about 55kph but hang on when taking off or you get thrown overboard. IE Terry H nearly went over the back when I kicked into gear not fully knowing the power of the motor with the new prop. Feral and Ferg also wittnessed something similar at Awoonga with this prop, the darn boat just about stands on the transom on take off.

I now use a prop that gives me about 59kph solo and gets out of the hole without doing a back flip. This is the best prop for crossing Moreton, bars and large dams.

Motor has a rev limitor that kicks in at 6100. I can get to 6000 at full throttle with current prop. long pitch prop revs out at 6000 and 3/4 throttle, short pitch can only get to about 5600 at full throttle but she will carry a big load.

Fuel costs are down about 75%.

[Brian D]

Sorry about the long answer but it is very hard or impossible to give an absolute answer, only an average answer with variables will cover your question.

BTW I learnt this crap from trial and error under the guidance of Ray and Feral. Fair dinkum they had to tell me about 50 times and I still get the pitch sizes confussed.

But at least now I understand and was able to put it into practive when I recently matched a Cabri inflatable with a Merc 60 4str that had rev out problems and bugger all top speed. We have now had the inflatable that reached 72kph GPS speed and backed off before full speed because I thought the bladders were going to come apart from the hull. Now we have a first class rescue boat/plane.

I would be happy to help you a bit further if you needed it.

[hookedupnshit]

hull is badged at 156kg. and im carrying way over that how it is, with any more weight could see her struggle even more.. hence the thought of the 60fourstroke, if i was to loose anymore in top end id take days to get to the grounds that ive been fishing.......

[mick fillet]

Man you gotta get with th times :laugh: four stroke these days are lighter than 2strokes. If it is 156 kg that your transom can handle then you can put a 70-80-90hp four stroke suzi on her these motors have the same dissplacment which means it is the same power head for all 3 they all wiegh the same.And if you go the 90 it has a rev limiter at6300 rpm the 70 and 80 rev limiter is at 6000 rpm. these 3 motors have the same gear ratio as th 140hp. So if the gearing can put up with 140hp of torqe then you will never have an issue running the smaller hp on the same gearing.