MacGregorSailors.com

Hi all,
I am planning to look at 3 26x's this week and next week. (Or maybe not, depending what I hear here!) The biggest question mark for me is the engine.....I know nothing about outboards. I know I had read somewhere here about the "Force" engine being, shall we say, less than desirable? The 3 boats have the following engines:

50 hp Honda 4-stroke (how much difference is there between this & the 2 stroke?)
50 hp Mercury 2-stroke
90 hp Suzuki 2-stroke

Any one of these engines have significant known problems?

I'm sure this has been discussed before....I just can't find it.

Thanks
Gail

If you are buying a used boat, you would probably do better with a 4-stroke. They are quieter, cleaner (no oil mixing) and get slightly better fuel economy (apparently much better at lower RPM's though). They also usually last longer than a 2-stroke.

Of course, when buying a used engine, it may have problems that you don't know about... Not a bad idea to have a mechanic check it out so that you can at least be sure it has good compression, charging, etc.

If you want to go faster than 18.5mph, you need more than 50 hp, but you are also going outside of the manufacturers design envelope so it is at your own risk so to speak.

For the reasons Dimitri states, I would avoid a 2 stroke unless it was a Tohatsu with TLDI (Two-stroke Low-pressure Direct Injection). They are well liked on this board.

Thanks for the replies. I think I'd be ok w/ 50 hp at least at first....not a speed demon. I don't think I've ever had my current boat over 18mph, and usually I'm putting about. (Who am I kidding....I'm usually dockbound! ) I definitely think a 4-stroke sounds better for me. But there are a few nice boats listed that sound great, except for the 2-stroke engine.

I just mostly wanted to know if there were any engines to be avoided due to a lot of chronic problems.

Thanks,
Gail

Honda, Mercury and Suzuki are all first rate outboards. However I seem to recall that Suzuki sold out to Johnson/Evinrude, so parts and warranty work may be an issue with Suzuki. I'm not positive about this though. I have a Johnson/Evinrude 50hp 4-stroke and it's been problem free except for some wasps that built a home in the water flow indicator, which isn't the engines fault of course:) If I had to pick the most problematic outboard I would say Yamaha.

Try this thread:
http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB2/view ... s+stratton

Thank you!!
This is the exact post I was looking for! I don't know why I couldn't find it myself.
I must have some reading comprehension issues 'cause the Suzuki 90 is really a Yamaha 90 when I re-read the ad today.

Thanks again.
Gail (bookmarking and saving this time)

PS I almost bought that B&S 5hp for my Portabote...very glad I didn't.

Norm wrote: . . . However I seem to recall that Suzuki sold out to Johnson/Evinrude, so parts and warranty work . . .

Norm,
Not quite correct . . . Suzuki continues as always. They were the first MFG to add electronic fuel injection to all mid-range 4-strokes (40 hp, and larger), and also the first to extend new warranties from one year to three years. All MFG have had to follow suit on the warranties, and some are now using EFI.

Evinrude/Johnson (OMC as the holding company) were re-badging the Suzuki motors, rather than develop their own line of mid-range outboards. Your Evinrude 40 or 50 is really a Suzuki under the cover. OMC went bankrupt a couple of years ago, and Evinrude and Johnson had to abandon support of their mid-range (rebadged Suzuki) motors.

You can be thankful that your Evinrude has not had a problem ... in reality though, the Suzuki technology hasn't had too many problems, so you're close to golden. Bombadier acquired all assets from OMC (but not OMC's warranty liabilities). However, I heard recently that they have begun re-extending customer support to those motors.

Wow Frank, great info. Thanx for clearing that up for me:)