E Tec Fuel Consumption

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

i have since taken the boat back to the dealer where i purchased it from,since then it has got a 19 inch prop as well as a permatrim to suit .the other one was larger.

i took the boat out last week .

we left from rose bay ramp trolled once we got to the shelf to browns .troll to bait station then to 12 mile and headed home only to run out of fuel ,now this has happened before.at that time we had 150litre tank.

now i have a 219litre tank and still run out of fuel.

we ran out of fuel just short of watsons bay and had to get towed in by a yacht.

what an embarassment.

for anyone questioning whether i had a full tank of fuel before i left.

i did fill it to the brim and also had 20 litre tank on board as a spare,still ran out

now i spoke to the dealer and they said that its most efficent rev is at around 3,500 rpm.

now when you are trolling ,you cant troll at that rev,so how do you win.

my guess is that i got a dud motor.

my honest opinion is the evinrude has not proven to me that their engines are fuel efficient.

for the price i paid i should have stuck with a yamaha 4 stroke for far less money and would still be saving even more as fuel factor.

YAMAHA hav not let me down.

it was taken to an evinrude dealer to tell me that there is nothing wrong with it.

what a joke

Edited November 4, 2007 by Crazy John

[tiger_shark]

Trolling uses alot more petrol per km......

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

explain how offtap boat is heavier and uses way less fuel compared to me.

i should not be going through so much fuel.

[tiger_shark]

Does he do as much trolling as you??? And when you are on the move, what RPM do you sit at??

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

im sure he does more.

we cant sit at 3500 rpm it is way to slow.it would take me hours to get to the shelf .you need to go faster then that to go at a half decent speed.

there is definately something wrong.

fuel gauge plays up all the time. they just put a new fuel sender unit ,relay.

im happy to stick with a dam analogue gauge

[tiger_shark]

3500rpm should be cruising along on the plane..there is something wrong with the prop setup or something. Have you taken the motor to hueys to let him look at it?? That's what i'd be doing...its also in hueys best intrest to look at it too.

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

i will call him this week to see if he can look at it.

if it will still occur im just gonna p#ss it off and get myself a yammie

[offtap1]

John i do 12 mile and browns constantly with trolling included, generally do not shut motor off for a minute in a 10 hour minimum day and only use 140-150 lts fuel. But i must say i generally run out at 4000revs if wanting to get out there quick at about 24knots, fuel consumption at 4000 and higher is much higher than sitting on 3500 or lower. I Can troll usually at 8 knots at no more than 2600 revs. But the major diference is i was running a 14 3/4" X 17" SST prop. You need to check your wide open throttle revs, it should be around 5500 revs flat out , if you are no where near this (And i dont believe you can be with a 19" pitch prop) then you will be labouring motor and using excess fuel. Please Note the last figure in prop size is the pitch not the diameter. The larger the pitch the slower off the mark your boat will be, but higher top speed, but lower revs,(No Good), You need a prop that gets you to at least 5500 revs at flat out. CHECK THIS. I have just replaced my prop to a four blade 15" pitch prop for better trolling effeciency but will reduce top end speed but increase revs to approximately 5700 . ( I am yet to try this prop but will gaurantee some fuel saving and better planning ability) I do believe you had a 19" pitch prop when you got your boat so double check what you have fitted now, Also height of motor plays a major part in drag and fuel consumption, if the cavataion plate on motor sitting level is below hull line then this will drop revs and increase drag and increase fuel consumption. YOU REALLY NEED TO WORK OUT WHAT YOUR BOAT REVS TO AT WIDE OPEN THROTTLE. Also did you note that your tank did hold the 219lts as you stated after you filled it up. One more thing is while travelling offshore , if you vary throttle setting often , for example up and down waves , you will use more fuel also, sitting on one constant rev with out varying will benifite. Cheers Dave

Edited November 4, 2007 by offtap1

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

thanks dave heaps for your input.

i run a 17 inch stanless pro now. yes it has been fitted with a 219ltr tank.

when i took it to the dealer i bought the boat off they had evinrude up at nowra test the boat on the water and said there is no problem with the motor,now how true that is i dont know.

the dealer stated that i would be using more fuel if it wasnt at around the efficient rev which is at 3,500 and the boat needs to be off the plane to save more fuel.

explain how when you are using a 2tonne boat and trolling. it was at a lower rev then 3,500.

doesnt make any sense.

dave another question,what fuel gauge are you using,mine is the pitts.

whats your thought to running an analogue

[holmes]

i no what u mean mate. i had a 17 inch prop on my 200 etec n had to hav it changed to a 15 witch gives it a rev range 5800- 6000 on a full days fishing say 10hrs i would normally use about 150L. im like u they haven't proved to me yet i have had nothing but problems with it and the throtal is the worst for trolling. but i dnt think that you should be using that much fuel take it back to the dealer i hope they sort it out for u

[Guest Big-Banana]

Buy a Merc Optimax, problem solved.

[Sammy0884]

i concur!

[njsconst]

One word Offtap.......YAMAHA!

Sounds like you are really having some real issues with your E-Tec.

It really you off when you spend heaps of $$$$ and are not satisfied.

Put your E-Tec on EBAY and buy a Yamaha.

Good Luck sorting it out dude.

[offtap1]

One word Offtap.......YAMAHA!

Sounds like you are really having some real issues with your E-Tec.

It really you off when you spend heaps of $$$$ and are not satisfied.

Put your E-Tec on EBAY and buy a Yamaha.

Good Luck sorting it out dude.

THANKS njsconst BUT IF YOU READ THE REPORT I DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY ETEC I ACTUALLY LOVE IT, CRAZY JOHN IS THE ONE WITH THE ISSUE.

thanks dave heaps for your input.

i run a 17 inch stanless pro now. yes it has been fitted with a 219ltr tank.

when i took it to the dealer i bought the boat off they had evinrude up at nowra test the boat on the water and said there is no problem with the motor,now how true that is i dont know.

the dealer stated that i would be using more fuel if it wasnt at around the efficient rev which is at 3,500 and the boat needs to be off the plane to save more fuel.

explain how when you are using a 2tonne boat and trolling. it was at a lower rev then 3,500.

doesnt make any sense.

dave another question,what fuel gauge are you using,mine is the pitts.

whats your thought to running an analogue

JOHN Obviously if you can run at a lower rev than 3500 then you will use less fuel.

At 3500 revs with that size motor will be running at around 35-40lts per hour.

FUEL GAUGE I have the electronic gauges suplied new with motor, they are a pain but the fuel level showing a percentage figure is accurate so i always know level.

[offtap1]

Look guys, Yamaha's are a great engine, but there is no denying that for a high usage Operator, the advantages of not having to service your engine so often is a big advantage for an Etec Owner.

Yes, I own a 200HP Etec. My boat weighs more than both Daves and Johns, yet I am using on averag 125L a day, and 150L on an absolutely massive day (13 hours). And I mean trolling all day.

John, I can not recommend enough that you really need to take your boat to Huey. There are people who know and people who think they know, and I assure you Huey knows!

I was running a 15 x 15 3 blade alloy and have now bought a 4 blade 14.5 x 15 just so I can further improve my fuel consumption and offshore performance- and that is something that any Offshore fiserman WILL consider at one stage or another whether owning a 4 stroke or DI 2 stroke.

A few questions for you John if I may:

1) Why did they put a permatrim? They are the biggest piece of bandaid fix it pieces of equipment known to man, and really should be used as a last result only. Was engine height considered? Aas boat design considered? I can telly you, those things can assist in broaching if care is not taken and can be dangerous

2) Are you using XD 100? If not, why? If you are using anything less, you will use more fuel. PERIOD.

3) Have you tried draning your tank completely and refilling it from empty to guarantee it's capacity?

4) Is their a potential for an airlock in your fuel lines once a certain level is reached in your tank? For instance, my Seafarer held 350 odd Litres, but I could only use 290-300L as the last 50L would not get picked up.

5) What is your new current MAX rpm at WOT with the new prop?

6) Who reccommended the prop? Did you speak to the guys at Solas or Huey for that matter?

I feel your pain mate, but it is a good engine if set up correctly. I could put a 225 Yammy on your boat and make it run like a heap of crap simply by not setting it up correctly.

Cheers

mate

Anthony

Thanks Anthony, you definately are running your motor at great effeciency, I am running around same generally using 120lts on a calm day and up to 150lts on a rough one doing same trips .

But let me clear up 2 issues

(1)You have had 15" x 15" prop which was giving you around 5800 i believe from previous discussions. I was not getting no where near 5800 only 5300 at WOT. Hence there is a fuel saving with your Prop. As discussed i have recently changed to a 15" prop to help me more with fuel and get revs to 5800 which will defeniately get my trolling and cruising fuel figures down.

(2) Motor sizes Johns and my motors are the big block 200 3.3lt version which are the same size as a 250.

Your motor is a 200 Etec but is a 2.7lt There is a big diference in size.

John definately needs to contact Huey, but as you and i stated he needs to find out WOT rev range before any one can advise too much on prop size.

CHEERS BUDDY

[a boat]

Hi John, I have offered many times to look at your boat, but as of yet we have not seen your boat. From memory the lst time you posted your revs where not where they needed to be so the outboard was lugging the whole time, which is not good for fuel economy. The E-TEC is no better or worse than any modern "clean" engine on fuel economy and you have to relise that any engine on a big boat like yours will use fuel. Depending at where you crusie I would be saying the 3.3L E-TEc you have would be using at best about 30/HR and again depending on what RPM you troll the fuel usuage would be about 5/HR. If you use all the HP you have avaiable the fuel economy is going to suffer.

Once again I offer to you to bring the boat up one day and I will go to the water with you with the laptop plugged in and see what RPM you get and what your fuel economy is.

Any 4-Stroke or OPTI on your big boat is going to give you no better fuel ecomony because any engine working hard drinks fuel and I have reports done by all the manufacturers in house that on the same boat the E-TEC, OPTI and 4-Strokes have similar fuel economy, one maybe a bit better at a certian RPM than the others but on the whole all "clean" engines are about the same in terms of fuel economy.

If you want to get yourself a 4-Stroke it is a free world, but be prepared to lose the performance you are used to and allow the service costs of any 4-Stroke and to be fair to the E-TEC make sure you do not prop the 4-Stroke correctly either, becasue from what I have read of your posts the E-TEC you have does not reach its optimium WOT RPM of about 5600 RPM-is that correct?

Cheers,

Huey.

[CR@ZY OS@M@]

keeing tabs that would be great if you could come down with netic.much appreciated.

as for the oil, i am using the right oil xd100.

the reason why we went with the permatrim.

it was a very rough ride when we first headed out to browns, netic was with me at the time and we agrred that i should get one to better the ride.

as the rpm and what not.

when i first had the issue i gave all the specs to what the motor was revving at the time and was on the phone with the dealer and giving him all the advice.

he told me to take it there,i was going to take it to huey,when i was at the boat show and soke to them about it ,it was his cousin that works at the nowra store and knows his stuff,take it to him ,you wont go wrong so i did and this is the result im at.

they tested it on the water and said no problem.im truly puzzled.

i and so do others feel that there is something definately wrong.

now im gonna get in contact with huey this week sometime as im a bit busy for next few days and take it to him while the boat has an empty fuel tank and hopefully we will start from there.

[netic]

Unfortunately this Saga continues, so so many possibilities for the cause of this issue but the fact remains John should not be having to deal with these issues period. I dont think it is a problem with Etecs in general Because Dave and Anthony swear by theres and both John and I trust there word, so i can only presume somehow john got a dud engine which is unfortunate.

Somebody who is sponsored by Evinrude offered to take John's engine straight to BRP a couple of months ago for a full check and this may also be an option for us.

A second issue with JOhns boat is the absolutely crap Digital Fuel gauge which never tells you the correct reading.......had JOhn and Tay of known they were running low they would have stopped trolling much earlier.

BUt i think john has decided that if the issue continues the Etec will be getting replaced with a Yamaha 200hp 4 stroke.

Will keep everyone updated.

[a boat]

Morning Guys, I think this saga would not be a saga if you are running the right prop to reach the right RPM and as I mentioned any engine wether it is a 4-Stroke or 2-Stroke will not run its best if it is not prop correctly. As mentioned I also have many reports comparing the same HP engine on the same boat done by the manufacturer and the E-TEC DO NOT use any more fuel than a 4-Stroke and in fact at idle the fuel usage is less with an E-TEC. These tests are done by Yamaha using Yamaha and BRP using E-TEC so no one can cry foul because the guys who build the engine are testing their own engine.

I will wait and see if mine or Anthonys offer is taken up, but as mentioned I have made it B4 and not see the boat so we will see, and perhaps John if you are unhappy, it is a free world, you should just change to a 4-Stroke, but make sure you go up in HP because you will lose performance otherwise and running a 200HP 4-Stroke at high RPM will lead to worse fuel consumption that what you have at present.

I think ALOT of people have offered you help without you taking the boat to them. Instead you get on here and complain so again my offer is still open John,

Regards,

Craig.

[netic]

Hey Oz,

Let me know when you are free and I will come past yours and we can go down to John's to take a look at the set up.

Best night for me is probably Wednesday.

Cheers

Anthony

NO sweat mate, I will chat to John and give you a buzz....

I think ALOT of people have offered you help without you taking the boat to them. Instead you get on here and complain so again my offer is still open John,

Mate its hard to get the boat to you because your so far away from us in western Sydney, the friend that is sponsored by BRP said there is a place at bankstown where BRP does testing, this location is much closer to John and wouldnt be so hard to arrange.

[Jewhunter]

Huey may be a bit far away from some people but he knows his stuff & will fix the problem. Well worth the trip I reckon.

It sounds like John has some good options if he wants this problem fixed.

We are starting to go round & round in circles again on this issue.

Enough has been said on this topic.

Jewhunter,

Admin.