9.9hp Motor Hoarder

[Still Afloat]

Yamaha and Suzuki software is available inexpensively. Merc has things locked down a bit tighter.

 

[Tin Man]

First, that is one COOL nautical neighbor!!!!

Parts availability is what I would want to know first.
Carbs are a non issue for me...as they can be tuned to near FI performance (especially Honda carbs!).
9.9 are a popular engine. Is it SS or LS?
If you are in need of a 9.9hp engine, on a budget, it's BRAND NEW, I would not hesitate....if all parts are available!

 

[Still Afloat]

Think he missed it already. The hoarder was being a bit of a jerk.

 

[oilsmoke]

Whether the OP missed it or not, any older motor is likely better than some of the junk we see today.

I don't care what software is available or not available for something with fuel injections, I personally really don't want anything that needs a computer to run or fix it.

When your miles from home, the last thing you need to realize is that you need a computer or scanner to figure out why your motor won't start, or worse yet, find out some expensive part died that it won't run without.

As far as parts availability, I'd say its about a level playing field brand wise.
The reality is that OMC, has been gone for almost 25 years now, Mariner, which was basically just a brand name that allowed Mercury to put two dealers on the same block to compete with each other so in reality, Mercury, who sold those motors, and Yamaha who made many of them, (And the smaller Mercury motors then), are both still in business.

Around here we have no local dealers for any brand, with Yamaha being the closest at about a 45 minute drive or so. We haven't had a Merc dealer in 30 years, and OMC has been gone for at least 20 years now, with their best motors being pre-1992 models that are now over 30 years old. I'd venture guess that more than half the boats on the water here have motors from the 80's or older on them.

I was given a minty clean 1993 Yamaha 4 stroke 9.9hp a few years ago, the guy that owned it new somehow managed to break off both spark plugs in the head. If that wasn't bad enough he goes at it with a chisel and a cheap Chinese Easy-Out set. The result is a completely destroyed cylinder head with the bits of the plug now laying in the cylinder and a hardened Easy-out tool broke off inside the threaded portion of the old plug.

The mess he made around the hole is bad enough where its now worth trying to save the head.

Having a local Yamaha dealer I check to see if a head can be gotten for it.
They told me the price first, They wanted $1,179.99 for a new head but that was fine because it was discontinued in 1995. (That price was in 1995 dollars too)

I then went looking for a parts motor, apparently they didn't make many Yamaha four strokes in 1993, because I've not seen a single Yamaha parts motor anywhere for sale.
What I did find was a Mariner four stroke with the Yamaha power head.
It had been on a sailboat that sunk at the dock during a storm.
It turned out that the 1993 Yamaha 9.9 power head is the same as the 1994-97 Mariner 9,9 four stroke motor.
I stripped down the sunk Mariner, stripped the head down, cleaned up any corrosion from being sunk in saltwater for a week, and swapped over all my parts off the ruined head on the Yamaha.

Having worked on both these now and the newer Tohatsu motors, I think that the older Mariner is a better motor. Its marginally heavier but five times as robust overall.

 

[Fishingman48]

I'll be first to admit I am a dummy when come's to outboards I lv to Pro's for tune-ups educational views but , warranties are like a ball getting thrown through glass window you step outside to see who done it and either no one to be found or nobody knows anything & 85% of time it will cost you more in court to get it honored or it runs out before you get chance to use it// been my situations with them , warranties that is . i would take chance on older model at least you got something built well will last more than a lifetime a lot of stuff today is built way too quick and shipped way to fast

 

[Fishingman48]

Whether the OP missed it or not, any older motor is likely better than some of the junk we see today.

I don't care what software is available or not available for something with fuel injections, I personally really don't want anything that needs a computer to run or fix it.

When your miles from home, the last thing you need to realize is that you need a computer or scanner to figure out why your motor won't start, or worse yet, find out some expensive part died that it won't run without.

As far as parts availability, I'd say its about a level playing field brand wise.
The reality is that OMC, has been gone for almost 25 years now, Mariner, which was basically just a brand name that allowed Mercury to put two dealers on the same block to compete with each other so in reality, Mercury, who sold those motors, and Yamaha who made many of them, (And the smaller Mercury motors then), are both still in business.

Around here we have no local dealers for any brand, with Yamaha being the closest at about a 45 minute drive or so. We haven't had a Merc dealer in 30 years, and OMC has been gone for at least 20 years now, with their best motors being pre-1992 models that are now over 30 years old. I'd venture guess that more than half the boats on the water here have motors from the 80's or older on them.

I was given a minty clean 1993 Yamaha 4 stroke 9.9hp a few years ago, the guy that owned it new somehow managed to break off both spark plugs in the head. If that wasn't bad enough he goes at it with a chisel and a cheap Chinese Easy-Out set. The result is a completely destroyed cylinder head with the bits of the plug now laying in the cylinder and a hardened Easy-out tool broke off inside the threaded portion of the old plug.

The mess he made around the hole is bad enough where its now worth trying to save the head.

Having a local Yamaha dealer I check to see if a head can be gotten for it.
They told me the price first, They wanted $1,179.99 for a new head but that was fine because it was discontinued in 1995. (That price was in 1995 dollars too)

I then went looking for a parts motor, apparently they didn't make many Yamaha four strokes in 1993, because I've not seen a single Yamaha parts motor anywhere for sale.
What I did find was a Mariner four stroke with the Yamaha power head.
It had been on a sailboat that sunk at the dock during a storm.
It turned out that the 1993 Yamaha 9.9 power head is the same as the 1994-97 Mariner 9,9 four stroke motor.
I stripped down the sunk Mariner, stripped the head down, cleaned up any corrosion from being sunk in saltwater for a week, and swapped over all my parts off the ruined head on the Yamaha.

Having worked on both these now and the newer Tohatsu motors, I think that the older Mariner is a better motor. Its marginally heavier but five times as robust overall.

Bravo!