a boat

HI Numbnuts, get yourself the platinium cables and your problems will be solved. The dealer you got them from should really of sold you them anyway because that is pretty much all we fit now on new rigs powered by Mercs, they are ALOT better. Changing the gears by hand is quite hard becasue of the spring in the clutch dog in the gearbox, so as long as you can change gears by hand with the cables dissconnected the the outboard is fine. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Canoe, nothing much to sya about outboards this small. The Yamaha is no better or worse than any other brand. I think they only offer 2 year warranty while other brands offer 3 years and we have some good prices on 2.5HP Mercs at present, with 3 years warranty. PM me if you are interested. With any brand of outboard this small you need to be on top of flushing the engine out after use in salt water because the water passages are so small it does not take much to block them and cause the engine to overheat. Hope this helps, Huey.

Hi Scout, I am guessing you moved some weight around the boat, you have altered the way the boat rides thru the water and in some cases weight distrubution can become critical. If you have done that then I suggest raising the engine one hole on the transom and then water testing paying attention to water flow and ventilation caused by the prop "sucking" air if it is now too high on the transom. Most outboards like to run on the second or third hole from the top. Hope this helps and let us all know what you do and the outcome. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Numbnuts, as Rod mentioned make sure the engine is running, because if you are trying to shift without the outboard running the reverse gear and clutch may not be aligned and therefore without spinning the propshaft it will be hard to engage. C/consoles are notorious for hard shifting and steering because of the number of bends the cables need to do compared to the runabout style of setup. Is it hard to change gears when the control cable is removed for the engine? Again as Rod mentioned there is a fricton control on your control box. I hope where you got the cable from did the right thing by you and sold you the platinium cable from Merc. This is a grey cable that is HEAPS easier to shift than the older design black cables. If you have a black cable take it back and get yourself the platinium cable especially considering you have a console boat. While you are at it replace both cables to platinium if not already and you will see a huge difference in easy of shifting and accelerating. If you have any questions please ask, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Chris, no I am sorry to kit is an order in part. If we order by noon we usually have by about 4PM the next day. PM me your details if you would like me to order a kit, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Locodave, we have seen a few of these boats and as far as I can work out they are made in China, which as mentioned nothing really wrong with that. My opinion is that the glass is quite thin on the ones I have seen and as such the price would have to reflect that. Also I think the cabin is too big and does not give you enough fishing room, but that is a persoanl choice when deciding on a boat. I think if you were able to get it for around the $11K with a HIN on it and a warranty that means something than it is good buying if it suits your style of boating. To give you an idea a Coxcraft Reefrunner, which I persoanlly think is a much superior boat cost $17,500 incl GST, so at $11K the price is right, any higher and I do not think it would be worth it. A $2,500 trailer is also well priced if again it has a warranty, is braked and comes with a VIN plate which is certified with the RTA to allow you to register it. The boat would perform well with a 115HP on it and they range from around the $10K to $14K depending on brand and technology. So for around the $25K mark you could get yourself a 18 foot boat with 115HP on the back ready to go, which is a good price compared to what the more established brands cost. The only problem I see if the quality, the ride and resale, but if the seller is prepared to allow you to water test with another boat that he has sold and you like the ride, than go for it. Cheers, Huey.

Good Morning Chris, a water pump service is a relative easy process if you have basic mechanical experience. The hardest thing is removing the shift shart retaining srcew under the carbys. You might also need an oxy if it has not been off in the last 5 odd years because the bolts may be seized. A complete water pump kit is $85 including the Fishraider discount. This kit includes the water pump housing. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Davo, I wish you all the best with your project and as the old saying goes "if you want something done right, do it yourself" One word of caution though, if you are in NSW the trailer will have to be cerftified by the RTA to get a VIN and that is not an easy process. You will require this VIN plate to get it registered. If I can help you with anything please ask, Huey.

Hi Guys, I have Thursdays off and can not believe that this has got to where it has. I think in one of the first posts I said I would not have a problem checking his outboard over and see if we can not get to the bottom of this. I also asked a few simple questions for which I have not seen any definate answers to, like WOT RPM and serial number so that I can run it thru the BRP dealerport and see what, if anything, has been done. Anyway my offer still stands and I am betting that most of Johns problems are dealer related. That is to not to say that E-TEC can and do not have problems, we have had a few minor issues ourselves but honestly in the main the owners of E-TEc that we have sold, which is approaching 400 odd are all very happy. We have been in this marine industry for ALONG time and in our humble opinion the E-TEC technology is what we prefer over 4-Strokes, but as I have said many times if a customer of ours wants a 4-Stroke, no problem we sell him what he wants and if they ask, we offer our opinion on what I persoanlly would have on the back of my boat. As I have also said B4 we, as a business, should be the total opposite because I would make more money out of selling all 4-Strokes becasue of the associated service costs and trust me the incentives to sell just 4-Strokes vs E-TEC and 4-Strokes are just the same. In fact I probably would make more money on the inital sale of a 4-Stroke than what I am making on selling an E-TEC. What I see happening is that BRP are one voice while on the other side of the fence they are fighting against all the other manufactures that are pendling down the 4-Stroke path. Wether this is the right way to go time will tell, but I am confident that the E-TEC technology will be here for a long time. I think we should just wait and see what comes of this outboards if an when I get a chance to check it out instead of the endless my engine is better than your engine scenerio. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Guys, have you told your dealer about the Tacho not reading, it must of at one stage because you mention about getting only 5000RPM. If you do not have the Tacho wired up to the fuel sender, than it does not surprise me that it does not give you your fuel level, I bet the dealer has not done this. The fuel usuage is at cruise speed, at trolling it would be under 5L/Hr and at WOT you could easy see double that fuel usage, so if you drove everywhere at WOT for a whole day than yes you might see that type of money spent on fuel. I think Netic has said the most sensible thing and bring it up and I am sure your problems will be minor and most likely dealer caused or related. Call me and I can book you in to plug her into the laptop and see what it says. Cheers, Huey.

I had a read of this post and can not see where Crazy John gives his fuel usuage per hour, just that is costs him $400. For what I can gather he has a big block 200HP that is only reving to 5000RPM when it should be revving to at least 5500-5600 RPM. I think this is a classic example of a dealer not knowing what he is doing and I read that John is saying it cost him $28K, when we are selling 200HP E-TEC for $20,500 with the correct prop. As I mentioned before John, please post or PM me with details of your engine including the serial number so that I can check with dealerport what might have been done to your engine, style of prop and max RPM. I guess it is on a large deep vee boat and in that instance the REBEL prop offers the best fuel economy on heavy offshore boats, but the more critical factor I think is that you have the wrong prop on the boat and this will cause damage if contine to run this prop. What we are seeing on the big block E-TEC on heavy offshore boats is around the 35L/Hr when they are running the correct pitched prop. John you will be able to get your litres per reading from your digital tacho that hopefully the dealer supplied you with the engine. Also depending on the age of the outboard will can check with the laptop and see if there is a later and greater software avaiable for your engine. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Rick, good informative post. That would of been a nice day, I have done that a few times myself, sometimes at a bit higher speed than 42KPH, but it is a good run espcially from Spencer upwards. I work this out to be 12L/Hr and that is pretty much what we are seeing with the 75/90HP E-TEC. In my humble opinion that is pretty good fuel economy for an outboard. Cheers, Huey.

Good Morning Coastie, dissconnect the engine form the steering system and see if the engine moves freely, if so you need to look at the steering system and will most probably require a new steering cable. If you use the correct marine grease, then greasing the grease nibbles is a good idea every 6-12 months. There are seals on top and bottom of the swivel tube that will not allow any type of spray to work its way into lubricate the swivel shaft. If you do not grease it over time the bushes will get dry and cause tight steering and to repair probably is a major excerise becasue the powerhead, gearbox and mid section need to be clean out the swivel tube. Let us know what happens once you undo the drag link from the end of the steering cable, you will need a 9/16th spanner. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Dom, get a compression gauge and do a compression check first. If the cylinders are uneven or low then it may be time for an overhaul. To give you a rough idea the parts cost to do a complete overhaul would be around the $500 mark. If you are able to do your self than that is worth spending on an engine of its age. To add labour to this would be another $1000 odd, which starts get to the point of over capitilising this engine. Do the compression test and post the results because you could just have stuck piston rings and a $15 can of power tune will clean the ring grooves and you will be good for another 30 odd years with just normal maintance. Saying that if you are get the compression back up it would be a good idea to service the cylinder head, thermostat and water pump. This is not that expensive and the head gasket could be the original one. Cheers, Huey.

Hi John, I am sorry to ask if you have posted B4, but what exactly is your issue with you E-TEC. From your last post, have you contacted the dealer at all with your problem? From our experence BRP as very good with warranty claims and if you know what you are doing than problems that may arise with an E-TEC are pretty easy to solve. PM me if you need any help, Huey.

Hi Coastie, Pelican is spot on, some more info would be good, especially if it is a tiller steer or not. Follow what he says and you should be able to figure why it is tight, the only point I would like to add is that there is no bearings in the swival tube, there are bushes in the tube and your engine might need a little grease if it is hard to steer out of the water. If tight once in the water adjusting the trim tab might help. If the engine pulls one way adjust the trailing edge of the trim tab that same direction, lets say that if it pulls to the right adjust the trailing edge to the right. If a console version of the boat, disconnect the steering and the outboard and see where the tightness is and repair accordingly. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Sorro. it is a 4 cylinder in line Force outboard. These were made by Mercury for about 15 years and were based on the old Chrysler design with many Merc components replacing the older and some cases flawed Chrsyler designs. Mercury inherited Force when they purchased Bayliner and they are honest no frills outboards, which when they were new we were selling a 90HP Force for the price of a 60HP Mercury or Evinrude/Johnson-good value in my books. This particular engine has failed due to pre-ignition caused by the magnets having moved in the flywheel which has changed the timing and that is not good. It could of been alot worse if the engine had continued to run. We are rebuilding with new pistons and rings becasue the condition of the internals are very good with no damage on the bearings or the crank and it has been looked after in terms of flushing because there is no corrosion anyway in the block or mid section. Hope this answers you question, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Boban, one mans opinion vs another mans opinion, we have personally run and sold many big block E-TEC and they are going great. I wonder if this friend of yours sell E-TEC because I can tell you most of the dealers that I know that sell the E-TEC range are in the main happy with E-TEC. I can tell horror stories about every brand and technology of outboard that we have come across in over 45 years of continual operation. I would be interested in your mate letting me know what is so wrong with a 2-Stroke, they definately have advantages over 4-Strokes as far as outboards go and comparing an E-TEC to the older carby design 2-Strokes is like comparing a EH Holden to a brand new Calais-even though they are both cars, it is not a valid comparasion. As Stewy said and I have said, if you do not like E-TEC do not buy one and buy your Honda and I wish you all the best. I will bow out of this neverending topic now also becasue I think most boaters will do their own homework and buy what they want and in the end all modern outboards are much better than engines even 10 years ago and give a boater great confidence on the water. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Sammy, I also do like the OPTI range of outboard, that is why we sell them also. BRP have always claimed that 2 is better than 4, so it would go against their marketting to compare with an OPTIMAX and will just prove their point-that is the offical line from BRP and it is valid, but honestly I think the OPTIMAX would in some areas outperform an E-TEC, especially in my experience of the 90HP. Your 90HP OPTI will outrun the 90HP E-TEC, but it is very close, I have done this test with two identical boats. The 115HP class is different and I would suggest that the boat had something to do with the noise you heard because a V4 E-TEC is one on the quietest 115HP on the market and I have run them all. It also one of the best performing even when it is run against the 115HP OPTI, which can not compete becasue it is only a 3 cylinder and a bit unfair. The V6 range is very close also but I think the OPTI with the compressor on the side make more noise than an E-TEC. The only problem with OPTI is that they can not get it below 75HP and the size of your engine is quite large where the E-TEC will go down to 9.9HP and I am guessing we will see 25/30HP E-TEC very soon, which will be great. I have been giving this demo idea more thought and have had a look at what we have in stock. I am thinking of a 50HP E-TEC on a Stacer 469 Nomad MP, a 75HP on 489 Easyrider and if possible a 2.6L 200HP on the big Stacer. I might also get a Coxcraft Rumrunner with the 115HP in the water because as I mentioned earlier the V4 E-TEC is such a nice engine and I think will go in history as one of the best outboards ever made. I will keep you guys informed. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Kev, thanks for the kind words and I am glad you like the new outboard, it did look good on the back of your old girl. I was pleased with the way the transom modification worked out, much better than B4 and I am sure you will be rapt with the outboard after you get a chance to use it some more, especially the savings in fuel comprared to the Force. All the best, Craig.

Hi Boban, yes and the 4-Stroke marketting is not so anti 2-Stroke. I remember when Honda first came out here is ANY great numbers about 12 years ago they had an add where they took an old 1960 outboard and said lets compare it to our new 4-Stroke-if that is not the most useless comparison, than I do not know what is. BRP at least compared their modern E-TEC to a modern 4-Stroke. I wonder if any of those 40 year old Honda are still running, becasue I can show you plenty of 40 year old Evinrude and Johnson still running, in fact there are many clubs in the states that only run old OMC engines. As I said earlier I wish you all the best with whatever outboard you run and I will leave it at that, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Boban,not looking to start an arguement, you are entitled to your opinion, but has this David Green also run a 115HP E-TEC on his boat and posted the results? I am not claiming he is lying or not telling the whole truth, because as I mentioned in an earlier post I have not heard it, but that is not to say that it does not happen and yes you might have more success at landing a Marlin with a 4-Stroke outboard. Cheers, Huey.

Hi Boban, there is nothing new in 4-Stroke technology when it comes to automative, BUT they are quite a new technology when outboards are concerned and that is what we are discussing here. DFI 2-Stroke have been around for many years if you look into it, and just as lond as 4-Strokes in the outboard game. A car engine, which is what I guess you are referring to when you mention 4-Stroke technology, gets a VERY easy life compared to an outboard. Show me a car engine that runs up a never ending hill with your foot flat to the floor and has survived with salt water running thru it, that is what an outboard is asked to do, when running on the plane they DO NOT get a rest and are pushing a load all the time. They are highly stressed peice of machinery that usually do not get that well looked after and get run maybe once a month. Your point about Yamaha is valid, they do make good product and used to make some powerheads for Merc, but that was going back a few years now. If you want to dig up history it was Mercury that helped Yamaha get started in the outboard business way back in the 70's. I think I will bow out of this now because every one has an opinion and it can go around in circle.If you like 4-Stroke outboards that is great and I wish you all the best with them and will be here to help if you have an issue with them. I personally run a DI engine and prefer them and it is interesting times for boaters with all these good products on the market and the ability to choose what you want. I have to get some work done now, Cheers, Huey.

Hi Sammy, all valid points, but by the time you upgrade the Yamaha to the high thrust gearbox with SST prop I am sure the dollars would go up and trust me a 60HP E-TEC does not get left behind in terms of top speed when compared to any 60HP 4-Stroke, and will out accerate every 60HP 4-Stroke on the market. In fact I have run two identical boats on the same day, one with a 40HP E-TEC and one with a 60HP 2-Stroke Yamaha, with the so called high speed gearbox and the 40HP was only 2 MPH slower. As I mentioned the only down side to the 2 cylinder E-TEC is the low speed running compared to a small cc 4-Stroke, but by adjusting the idle speed via the laptop to suit a specific hull that might be having vibrations we have seen good results with the 2 cylinder E-TEC. Your comment about the FICHT is valid especially the 1997-98 model 2.6L V6, they were the problem childs for OMC, mainly due to oil that was avialble then-it was carby designed oil and produced too much carbon which lead to stuck piston rings and then seizure mainly on engines that spent alot of time at idle, like offshore fishing boats-but that is ancient history now.We have heaps of customers with FICHT engine also running quite happily 10 years later, just as you said I am sure there are 10 year 4-Strokes still running and some that are not. What did you not like about the E-TEC demos you went on, and lets be fair and see if a 4-Stroke of the same HP would have solved those issues you had with the E-TEC. Yes I agree and perhaps it is time that we get a couple of demo boats happening for an on the water day and show why we like them so much and anybody is welcome to bring their similar powered 4-Stroke boat along and we can run the our boats with E-TEC alongside yours to see which performs better. The boats will be Stacer boats most probably and what HP would most people like to see-I2,I3, V4 , small block V6 or Big block V6. I will keep Fishraiders informed on the prospect of a demo day with E-TEC, Cheers, Huey.

Good Morning Briff, this subject has probably been the most talked about subject on any marine forum. Every one has an opinion and he is mine. I do sell one brand you are considering and not the other so take what I say anyway you like, but please remember I sell 4-Stroke outboards and the Yamaha range is really no better or worse than someone elses 4-Stroke. All 4-Strokes suffer from the same disadvantages in my opinion and in fact the black 4-Strokes will sell offer 3 year warranty while the grey ones you are looking at only offer 2 years. Anyway, I personally would buy the 60HP E-TEC for the following reasons, it will give you the economy, emmisions and running qualities of a 4-Stroke with the performance and simplicity of a proven 2-Stroke design that has been used in outboards for over 80 years, there has to be a reason for this. The only real reason 4-Stroke outboards have come about is because of tougher emission regulations and this also is the same for E-TEC, but the 2-Stroke design has the "runs on the board" in terms of lasting over 30 years in the marine environment, that can not be said of 4-Stroke outboards at this time. Also when comparing these two brands, ask and pay extra for the 3 year warranty from Yamaha and pay extra for a SST prop with the Yamaha so that you are comparing apples to apples. Also do yourself a favour and check out the gearbox sizes of the two engines and you will see that the E-TEC design is so much bigger and heavy duty than the Yamaha. The service cost of an E-TEC is about $400 every 3 years while the service costs on a 4-Stroke can be about that per year. Also make sure you are aware that if any 4-Stroke has a failure out of warranty, they are very expensive to repair. We know this because it has happened to us personally on a second hand 4-Stroke that we sold out of manufacturers warranty, but we gave a 3 months warranty to, that we had to refund the money to the owner because it was not cost effective to repair-it would of cost more than the engine was worth. The only advantage I think any 60HP 4-Stroke has over the 2 cylinder 60HP E-TEC is that at idle, the E-TEC is quiet but the 4-Stroke will be a touch quiet, but on the plane doing the same speed that is the reverse because the E-TEC will not have to work as hard to do that speed, it will be doing about 1000RPM less than the same size 4-Stroke. There are exceptions to every rule and the only 4-Stroke I have driven that can compete with the 60HP E-TEC in straight out performance is the 60HP Suzuki, because it is a big cc engine, but that also makes it a very heavy engine and will upset the balance of most boats, especially if you are repowereing an older hull not design to carry extra weight of some 4-Strokes. Just my 2 cents worth in this never ending debate, but probably my best piece of advise would be buy whatever you want, it is your money, but buy the brand of outboard that has the dealer that you like and trust, because every brand of outboards are reliable today, but as with anything mechanical problems do arise and you want to make sure you are looked after right. Cheers, Huey.