Used Engine Help ??

[MikeS]

I'll go along with Larry's assessment. I've owned just about all of them except the Mariner, even had a Chrysler 40 one time. The Chrysler and the Mercs were great anchors but too big for an anchor locker so I tossed them! Seriously though, if you can find a Merc ProXS 115 or Optimax 115 you'll have a good engine. The Optimax lineup are recognized by many folks as bulletproof engines. Still not as good as a Yamaha though!

[wadestep]

Suzuki and Tohatsu motors in the 90-115 hp range are supposed to be good for reliability. I own a 2004 suzuki 250 hp and it's been great. That being said, I just bought a 115 yamaha for the OB19. I got a killer deal on it at an auction, that's the main reason I didn't consider the others any further.
wade

[wadestep]

PS - I've heard that the first 2 years of Optimax had problems. Even had one break down way offshore on me. After that they are supposed to be very good. (roughly 99-01 were problems?)
wade

[TRC886]

That is a clear eye opener. Thanks for your time to enlighten me. Clearly yamaha is well thought of. I knew of them from motorcycles but for whatever reason they didnt come to mind for marine use. I now have a new direction for my quest of newer marine power.

Yamaha has long been known to build quality products, usually at reasonable prices.

When some local musicians started regularly getting together to "pick and grin", I decided that I wanted to join in. I borrowed a cheap guitar and they taught me to play it. When it was time to buy my own guitar, all of those guys told me the same thing, "...Buy a Yamaha..."

Yamahas go fast too
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-vi ... or-driver/

[icelikkilinc]

I have a well respected mechanic here in marine outboards for 30 years....

quoting him:

2 stroke - Yamaha - no other option....

4 stroke - Honda is first for him than the rest is quite close depending your budget....

[chickenhawks]

They seem to like the Yamaha engines in Morehead City, NC

[FOSTER]

The thing you have to remember is that Yamaha marine has certain boat manufactures that it puts motors on just like Mercury has certain manufactures that it is paired with. Most of those boats come from the factory with that make hanging on the back. You can look at Yamaha and Brunswick web site and check out the boat manufactures they are paired with. Looking at the pictures above and the boat names I can see they check out Clearwater is Yamaha and Whaler is Mercury.

I can speak on the OMC Fitch motor don't buy it. We ran twin 200's 2001 models on the back of a 28' contender and had to replace both ECM's. They are voltage sensitive if the voltage is low it will mess up the ECM.

The other part is look at what the guys running the crab traps and the commercial fisherman have hanging on the back of their boats. Most of them around here have Yamaha and Suzuki four strokes on the back.

By the way I own a Mercury. When shopping for a motor I was looking for a lighter motor and went with the Mercury. I'm a little scared of the Evinrude E-Tec, but know that Bombardier will figure it out.