Are outboards unreliable?

[eliminatedsprinter]

My current boat is a 1986 eliminator sprint with an Erude XP150. I had to pull it from the water on fri cry due to engine probs and all I heard from all the other boaters were horrer stories about how unreliable outboards are eek! and how they had to give up on the ones they had in the past, because mechanics couldn't make them run consistantly. One fellow said he was a boat dealer with a service shop and that he made tons of money off of people with outboards. My only expieriance with outboards was with the 35 hp Johnson that was on the mahogany runnabout my dad made when I was a kid. While it took a while to start, it always seemed to run fine for us. What gives? I love the hull and the interior etc of my boat and it's handling and performance are great, when it runs. But, if I can't get it reliable, thats all moot. Have I bought into trouble :confused: or what?

[BP1330]

The only 2 problem I have had with my boat is fouled plugs, and dead battery. Both my own fault. The guy I bought it from never had any problems. Every one has horror stories about every type of boat. I can sit here all day with stories about jets, I/O's and V-drives.
http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/500/551A_Bboat-med.JPG

[Trailer Park Casanova]

Lots of carb problems with the Erudes.
Thousands of them were sold back then with the wrong carbs mistakenly installed at the factory on the big motors.
Later on in the 90's, the Fieght fuel injection model Erudes self destructed in hours. This led to the bankruptcy of Erude/Johnson, and boats being added to the Lemon Law in California.
Kawasaki also used the Fieght fuel injection in their 2 strokes, but modified it with good success.
The new Erudes/Johnson (now owned by Bombardier), adopted some innovations, and added a fuel diffuser in the atomized fuel path to break up the shock of the spritz from the injector.
The jury is still out if this is successful. Mixed reviews in the trade magazines.
The new Fuel Injected Mercurys have intermittant power loss, and emission control issues effecting the reliability of the motors.
I had the new Omnimax 250 last year and hated it. Bumped into two Merc mechanics at the On Ramp bar and they told me about the troubles with the FI Merc outboards, and that the power loss was inhearant to the emission controls trying to meet CARB standards.
The NOX sensor leans the engine out to much causing problems. So I'm told,, damfino.
I think pound for pound,, nothing costs more than an outboard, or holds it's value as good. They are expen$ive.
The big Honda 4 stroke outboards are based on the Accord motors and are outstanding.
The 4 stroke Mercury outboards are made by Yamaha.
My 2 stroke days are over. The Merc cured us forever. Except for my sons Go peds, and I wish they were 4 stroke.
[ May 29, 2003, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: Trailer Park Casanova ]

[Boat Racer]

NO!!!!!!

[snappertapper]

outboards are not unreliable unless you dont maintain them, i run one every night fishing all night long, my 225 has 3200 hours on it. plugs and carb jobs are all i have ever done.in my opinion inboards are more unreliable than outboards will ever be. what kind of problem did you have with your xp 150?

[Tom Brown]

That 150 XP should be a good mill. Get someone who knows what they're doing to go over it and you'll be good to go for a long time.
Once you figure out what the best drive type is, try to figure out which political party is best. We need to get that straightened away before we can decide on the correct religion for the planet.
-- Tom

[MAXIMUS]

Buy a jet... they never have carb problems! :)

[Phat_Kat]

as stated before everything has a bad story or two. The only true downside to outboards and all props for that matter is that they suck in the shallow stuff. I've got a 24 or so year old engine and not one problem ever, E-V-E-R! I've never hear any issues with outboards but I'm sure people have had bad luck with them. Personaly I think that people who have problems with high-end motors like "race" outboards and large engines are normally just bad owners. I'm not pointing fingers at your friends or anyone who's had bad luck with them but it's amazing how easy the matinence is and how lazy a lot of people are.

[eliminatedsprinter]

I'm schedualed to take it in on mon to Dave at Champion Marine over in the west SF Valley. I had them do an expensive tune-up, service, water pump impeller replacement, lower unit re-seal etc back in late feb to get it ready for the season. So, I guess they, at least, should have an idea what it has had done recently. When I took off the cover and looked at it myself, I saw signs of a past overheat, which indicates to me that some of the electrical system might not be in the best shape. In that last servicing I had them check out the motor and check the compression etc, so that much should be ok. Plus about 50% of the time it runs strong. One problem I have also noted is, despite the new impeller, it has zero water pressure at idle and I have to give it some gas to keep the pressure up. When cruising it runs about 12lbs.
P.S. Thanks to all.
[ May 28, 2003, 03:03 PM: Message edited by: eliminatedsprinter ]

[eliminatedsprinter]

Tom Brown:
That 150 XP should be a good mill. Get someone who knows what they're doing to go over it and you'll be good to go for a long time.
Once you figure out what the best drive type is, try to figure out which political party is best. We need to get that straightened away before we can decide on the correct religion for the planet.
-- Tom Tom
You must have read my other posts when I debated Catmando (our friendly neighborhood leftist). argue
[ May 28, 2003, 03:10 PM: Message edited by: eliminatedsprinter ]

[Forkin' Crazy]

Trailer Park Casanova:
Lots of carb problems with the Erudes.Funny, never seen any, except for people that did not take care of their stuff. Use to work at an OMC dealer in the service dept.
Thousands of them were sold back then with the wrong carbs mistakenly installed at the factory on the big motors..That's news to me....which ones?
[b]
Later on in the 90's, the Fieght fuel injection model Erudes and Johnsons self destructed in hours. This led to the bankruptcy of Erude/Johnson, and boats being added to the Lemon Law in California..#1 there were no FICHT Johnsons built. #2 It was the people who owned it. They bought OMC for the FICHT technology and sold it to whom they could. They could care less about OMC or its employees (hence the layoff right before Christmas). They also screwed the dealers too. #3 The problem with the early FICHT engines was a faulty design on the cylinder heads and has been corrected.
[b]
The new Erudes/Johnson (now owned by Bombardier), adopted some of the Kawasaki innovations, and added a fuel diffuser in the intake to break up the shock of the spritz from the injector..Interesting, how does that work with DFI?
[b]
The big Honda 4 stroke outboards are based on the Accord motors and are outstanding.
The 4 stroke Mercury outboards are made by Yamaha.
My 2 stroke days are over. Except for my sons Go peds, and I wish they were 4 stroke. How can you say that when a FICHT puts out less emisions than a 4 stroke Yamaha?
Bombardier just came out with the E-TEC engines. It has recieved one of CARB's highest ratings, "Ultra-Low Emissions". And also require no maintenance for the first three years.
[ May 28, 2003, 04:42 PM: Message edited by: Forkin' Crazy ]

[Forkin' Crazy]

eliminatedsprinter:
I'm schedualed to take it in on mon to Dave at Champion Marine over in the west SF Valley. I had them do an expensive tune-up, service, water pump impeller replacement, lower unit re-seal etc back in late feb to get it ready for the season. So, I guess they, at least, should have an idea what it has had done recently. When I took off the cover and looked at it myself, I saw signs of a past overheat, which indicates to me that some of the electrical system might not be in the best shape. In that last servicing I had them check out the motor and check the compression etc, so that much should be ok. Plus about 50% of the time it runs strong. One problem I have also noted is, despite the new impeller, it has zero water pressure at idle and I have to give it some gas to keep the pressure up. When cruising it runs about 12lbs.
P.S. Thanks to all. Where does your water pressure guage hook up to the motor? That is not enough water pressure for me. My 235 will cruise at 12 psi and runs over 20 psi at 80mph.

[Forkin' Crazy]

BTW I have a 1979 Johnson 100 that still runs like a top. The only repairs I have done were to clean the carbs and a water pump impeller.
My other motor is a 1980 235 Evinrude. It was badly overheated before I got it. It ran for many years with minimal trouble. I finally rebuilt it and found 3 scored pistons,4 stuck rings on 4 different pistons, and the exhaust stuffer completely melted. I put about $1200 in parts and machine work in it, and it runs great!
Unreliable? Definitly not!

[sorry dog]

Most folks know that four strokes are slow. But I'm glad people buy'em. Somebody's gotta overpay for them to fund the R&D cost for Honda to come out with a fast one. It's hard to complain about more choice.

[eliminatedsprinter]

Thanks again guys.
It's problem has been that one min it will be running fine, then after I come down off of plane it will not want to accelerate again. It will just lug and lug along until it either fires back up or stalls. It's an intermitant problem that, after my first 2 trips out, seemed to be getting a little better (with good gas & some OMC fuel conditioner). However Fri mem-day weekend, up at lake Isabella, after running great for half the day, it decided to lug and chug for an extended period (all the way into shore to get to the truck & trailer) about 20 min. Then as I was turning around to limp from the beach by camp to the launch ramp it fired to life and I zipped to the ramp at 45-50 mph no sweat. We got it to a shop just as it was closing and the guy at the shop looked at it and replaced a bad looking connection that he said might be the cause (no charge). When we re-launched it, it acted up again and we had to pull it from the water for the mem day-weekend cry .
It's in the shop now. They fired it up and it acted up right away. They shut it off went to get their testing equipment, started it back up and, of course, it ran perfectly. When it's acting up, it revs freely when not in gear, it seems to only do it when in gear. It may not be a huge problem to fix but I just bet it will cost me a ton in labor jawdrop .

[HavasuDreamin']

MAXIMUS:
Buy a jet... they never have carb problems! :) Unless you are 78Eliminator. :D :p