New or Used Motor

[BottomDweller]

Hey guys...So I am trying to decide whether I want to buy a new motor or a used 2 stroke. I know nothing about engines and I know these things can act up and need some tune ups every once in a while. I don't want to have to shell out a lot of money for ongoing repairs. Was wondering if anyone could offer some insight to how they became familiar with working on outboards. I would like to learn enough to do a carb rebuild and know enough to tell at least (ballpark) whats wrong with my motor if it acts up. Thoughts/suggestions?

 

[nathanielrthomas]

If you wanna keep it simple and learn to do the majority of the work like carb cleaning and water pump replacement, etc., I would stick with a two stroke. The maintenance on a four stroke is often more complicated. I only have experience in outboards 25hp and under, so if your going bigger than that, I would ask someone else who is more educated. 2 strokes tend to be a little more powerful that 4 strokes, but 4 strokes are smoother for trolling. I have a two stroke nissan 9.9 and a 2 stroke yamaha 25, and I do all the simple maintenance myself. With a little patience and a good repair manual(or the internet), you can learn how to keep up a 2 stroke. Those 4 strokes are a new can of worms that im not ready to open yet. What size are you looking at purchasing?

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

the first thing you need to do is read and learn how motors and carbs work in general. not outboard specific, they're all the same princible and every brand has its own design. Once you really understand what part does what job you'll be much more comfortable taking somthing apart or troubleshooting

dont let carb "rebuilds" or changing water pumps intimidate you. A carb rebuild is really nothing more than cleanin the parts and replacing some o-rings. Make a mental note of how you took it out and put it back the same way. Theres really not any parts that brake easily and the jets are diff. sizes so theres not much mistaking wich one goes where. again once you understand how its working you'll be able to tweak it to get it running just rite

 

[caveman]

That depends on how much cash you have to spend,It is like buying a car,some are good and some are bad.

I have had 3 used 2 strokes, 2 were good and the last one was junk!!!! After many times of having to load back up at the ramp(just after putting in the water) I said the _____ with this and got a new one.

As far as working on them most are fairly easy just lay every part out in the order you removed them and put back in reverse.

 

[Rat]

I just did a ton of work (for me anyway) on my old Evinrude. It was my first time and I used a Seloc manual (not the best, better to get the OEM manual). However, if you have even a hint of mechanical inclination you can do this. Very easy and finding parts was a snap.

 

[BottomDweller]

Thanks guys. This was great information. nathanielrthomas, I am looking to get somewhere between a 9.9 and 25 horsepower. I have an old 1960 14 ft alum semi V that is roughly 4 1/2 ft wide. I'm trying to to estimate the max horsepower it will handle. I know there are some good postings on max hp a boat will handle. My concern is how light and thin my boat is. Anyway, thx to all for the great info and let me know if you have any other suggestions.

 

[BottomDweller]

I also had another question and it might be worthwhile to start a new thread. I failed to mention that I actually currently have a 1993 4 horsepower Evinrude 2 stroke. I paid $150 for it. It ran for the first week I had it but then cut out completely and would not start. I took it to a local marina. They fixed it and then sent me a bill for $300, saying they had to take a part the whole thing and scrape out clogs etc. I would have to get the paperwork to see exactly what they did(this was about a year ago). This is what I am trying to avoid. Anyway, the last time I took the motor out it worked fine for a little while. I actually ran it a full throttle for a while, but after about 5 -10 minutes of full throttle it cut off and continued to do this every time I ran it a high RPMs. I would then have to pull the manual cord about 15 times to get it to sputter up. Any idea what could be causing this?

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

i would pull the spark plug and check the color

while the plug is out inspect the cylinder walls for scoring. when the motor shuts down does it seem any harder to turn over?

junk fuel could also be the culprit, as well with debris in the carb clogging a jet

 

[BottomDweller]

Mike, the motor does seem harder to turnover once it shuts down. I'll take a look at the plug and will get some new gas. Thanks man

 

[Whoopbass]

Sounds like you got hosed. The only reason I can think of them having to take apart the whole motor and scrape gunk out of it is if it was submerged for a long period of time or it was a neglected salt water motor.
I bet they spent 20 minutes cleaning the carb and got it running.

My buddy took his boat with a 40 hp Merc to a repair shop and left it for the mechanic to look at. When he went back the mechanic said it was not worth repairing. Ended up selling him a new outboard for $3500 plus my buddy gave him his old outboard in trade for having them install his new motor. First trip out we had problems right off the bat with the new motor. Ended up there was water in his gas tank. There was nothing wrong with the old motor. The mechanic was a crook.

The most reliable and easiest motor to work on would be a 9.9/15 hp 2-stroke Johnson or Evinrude from the 1980's. In the 90's they started to put too much plastic on them. Parts for 80's johnnyrudes are plentiful and usually cheaper then other brands of motors. You can always find used parts like lower units, coils, and powerpacks on ebay which are significantly less expensive then new.

The best repair site on the net is iboats. The guys on the Johnson/Evinrude forum will help you with any repair you might have.
99.9% of problems have already been dealt with so just browse the old topics and learn as much as you can.
If you do a search for a particular motor make sure you go to advanced search and search in the title field only. If you do a search for a 15 hp Johnson that needs a fuel pump just type in 15hp fuel pump and it will bring up both Johnson and Evinrudes. 15 hp won't work since the search function only searches words that are at least 3 characters in length.

All of my motors with the exception of one are older 2-stokes. With proper maintenance I think they will run forever. Just about everything I have learned about repairing outboards came from iboats. I don't have the confidence in tearing one apart and rebuilding it but just about everything else I can do and its actually pretty simple.

 

[Whoopbass]

Check for spark to both cylinders. Sounds like you could have a cracked coil. Run your outboard in a barrel at night and see if you see any sparks. A $4 inline spark tester from Harbor freight would help. You can leave the tester hooked up to the motor while its running and see if either cylinder is cutting out. Electrical parts can work fine when cold and then when they heat up they will start misfiring.

I would also remove the carb and blow it out with carb cleaner then re-install it. When I clean carbs I usually let them soak in paint thinner over night then spray them out with carb cleaner and then blow them out with compressed air. You might also purge any old gas in the fuel lines while the carb is off. Just make sure your fuel tank has fresh gas in it and squeeze away. There will be old gas from the beginning of the fuel tank line to the end of the fuel line to the carb so remove about a beer cans worth.

 

[BottomDweller]

Whoopbass, if it is a cracked coil, would this be hard and expensive to fix?

 

[Whoopbass]

A brand new OMC coil is $33.60. Part # 0582508. You might be able to find it cheaper on ebay.
Piece of cake to install. Unbolt the old one and swap it out with the new. 2 bolts.
I wouldn't go buying any new parts until you figure out what the problems is.
Check your electrical and clean out the carb. If that don't work check out iboats.

 

[BottomDweller]

With the suggested carb clean/blow out, should I purchase a carb kit and rebuild? Also, this will be my first attempt to do anything with the motor. I've had it over a year and have not even done any tuneup or lubing of parts and I doubt the guy that had it before me did any of this. While I am troubleshooting do you have any other suggestions/recommendations as tuneups I should do while I have it apart? Also, I'm going to have to make a trip to Lowes. I probably need a dedicated set up tools to work on this smal motor. You already suggested an inline spark tester. Any other recommendations on tools I should buy?

 

[dyeguy1212]

Stop wasting money and buy new so u know what is done to it and u can take care of it.

I'm willing to bet the cost of a new 250HP etec that there are more people "wasting" their money on used motors each year than there are buying new ones...

 

[dyeguy1212]

Thats all dependent on the area you live in.. they're giving them away up here...