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| E-Tech or Merc Optimax? I know the Optimax is a great motor but does anyone running the E-Tech have any complaints or issues? |
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Posts: 139
Location: Aurora IL | Absolutely not, the E-tech is a great motor I run a 115hp and its run perfect. |
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Posts: 956
Location: Home of the 2016 World Series Champion Cubs | No problems with my 200 etech I love it |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Yup! I've got a complaint. I could only get my 2008 200HP with the 25" shaft in white! I wanted blue. But other than that, it's a good motor so far. Starts great, idles quiet, runs smooth, uses a lot less gas than my old carbed 150HP motor, easy to winterize, and doesn't weigh 700#. Ask again in 15 years and I'll know more. |
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Posts: 443
Location: Indiana | My 225 HO is awesome! |
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Posts: 415
Location: madison wisconsin | I wish I had one. |
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Location: MN | What's the difference in price point between an E-Tech and Merc Optimax? |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | It was about 1K more than an Opti when I got mine for the 200HP. |
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| Does anyone have any history with an ETEC that is not an HO. I am looking at a 200hp that is not an HO and just wondering what the difference is. |
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| Thanks for the input. I know Evinrude advertises no maintence for 3yrs. I just can't see that being good for any motor. However, I like the way that sound if it is true. Nothing better than a low maintence motor that is easy to winterize. |
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Posts: 139
Location: Aurora IL | Ranger the ho version uses a 90deg v6 vs a 60deg v6. displacement is 200 cu in vs 158 and its custom tuned at the factory. Weighs about 90 lbs more. A 200 ho should run about the same as a 225 standard. Hope that helps Bill |
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| I'll politely play devil's advocate. It seems like I have heard of more issues with the E-Tec than the others. My Top 5, all things being relatively the same, would be:
Suzuki
Yamaha
Honda
Mercury
E-Tec
TW |
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Posts: 719
| Re: the three years no maintainence..........the ETec has the ability for you to winterize it from the driver's seat so no trip to the shop there, nothing under the hood to adjust from a maintanence standpoint, not a four-stroke so no oil and filter to change and tests show the lower unit remaining sealed with a topgrade lubricant is better off than opening up the gearcase every year to replace a lower grade lube.....thats how you get to three years without trips to the shop.
I ran a Merc up until last season and once the original Optimax injector issues got sorted out I was very happy with them......however I thought the Etec I bought last year was the best large outboard I have ever owned, light, smooth, quiet, trolled well and had unreal power throughout the powerband.....250HO model.
Edited by bturg 2/14/2009 11:13 PM
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Ranger6, the 200 is a 2.6L 60 degree V6 and the HO is a 90 degree 3.3L V6 that weighs about 91 pounds more and has more"factory tuned" hp. The HO probably is close to 220hp and sucks more gas. I believe the HO has a little more low end torque. The 200 wants to run higher rpms than the HO. The HO is another $1K. That's about all I could find out before I bought my 200.
Edited by Almost-B-Good 2/15/2009 9:56 PM
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| Thanks for the info ALMOST-B |
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Posts: 2312
Location: SE, WI. | Had a 90 hp and put 2300 hours on it. Bought a new 115 and absolutely love them.
Bombardier's plant is state of the art. Their engineering dept is second to none.
Awesome engines. They are typically about $1,100 more for a similar competitors Engine. But well worth it IMO.  |
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| Does anyone know if the e-tech 60 hp and higher tillers models have the option on them to reduce the rpms while trolling?....I see in the brochure that the smaller tiller e-techs have that option, but because the mid sized tillers have a different tiller handle, it was hard to tell whether they had that or not...You would think it would be more important on the larger motors than the smaller ones...
Thanks,
Reuk |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | After all the issues I had with my Merc (2-rebuilds), I decided to go with a 225 etech. I bought a used 2006 ranger 620 with a 225 etech in 2008. Had it for one season (it had 400 hours on it when I bought it after 2 years of use). It now has 470 hours on it and I had to have the pinion gear replaced. They said that it has since been beefed up and not an issue. It did cost me $1500 for this repair. |
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Posts: 2089
| I had an '06 225 H.O. . The powerhead blew in August 2007 and the gearcase blew 2 months later. I had HORRIBLE customer service. Lesson learned. A several thousand dollar lesson. |
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Posts: 32934
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I am at nearly every major Walleye event out there, and see the Bombardier and Mercury product in use in the most extreme situations. I also see a few Suzuki and Yamahas out there. I see about the same failure ratio to market share with all the brands. None are bullet proof.
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| turn-of-the key fogging is innovative and something that is targeted toward giving the consumer real value. i'd love to see that feature either copied or provided as an after-market add-on by other outboard manufacturers.
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Posts: 5874
| I've never fogged an outboard, and I've never had any issues not doing so. Lay the boat up in Dec, get it out in March. Run Stabil in the last tank fill, and she's set to go for winter. 3 month's isn't that long of a period to lay up without fogging. Now, for the pleasure boaters that lay up for 6-8 months? Probably would be a good thing.
Does the E-Tech winterizing actually fog the cylinders? Or just pump in some extra oil? I will have to look that part up.
Edited by Shep 2/25/2009 11:25 AM
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| i'm curious about that shep as i've got another friend who does the same thing. what kind of storage conditions does you boat see? in his case it's a heated garage.
i've always thought that mine sitting amongst a sea of boats in an indoor riding stable with a dirt floor will see enough condensation throughout the 4 or so months to make me want to protect the jugs with fogging oil. so based on that i've really believed in the value that evinrude brings to the competitive mix with the e-techs. small things that help your customer and not the maintenance shop are pretty cool at least to me. |
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Posts: 5874
| Until 4 years ago, my boats were always outside during winter storage. Now, it's in a 50 degree garage.
There is a video on you-tube on how to fog the Etecs. Do it while the engine is running, so I guess over oiling to coat the cylinders is what is going on.
You can't fog direct injection motors the way you used to carbed and EFI motors. And just pulling the plugs and introducing a tbl spoon of oil does nothing. The self storage function should at least coat the whole cylinder. Can't be a bad thing. I just don't think that would sway me to buy one, all things considered. |
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Posts: 284
Location: Fishing the weeds | I personally don't own an E-tech. Just going by what I've seen in the last two years, it seems the first E-techs were alright except for low end problems. However in the last year alone there have been numerous powerhead problems due to lack of lubrication. This is with the models of the last two years. Talk to some of the Bass guy's and you'll get a true gauge of what is really going on. I'm not bashing but can provide several E-tech owners who have had the same problem. It has to do with the computer not changed the gas/oil ratio after the intial wear-in. One of the rear cylinders siezing up. I have seen some real good ones but, several with one problem or another. One particular guide I fish with from Minnesota has had one issue after another with his 250 E-tech. I personally have owned the same Merc 200 for 11 years and have had no problems. Pat |
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Posts: 581
Location: deephaven mn | two thumbs from me........ 06 200 HO pretty quit at trolling speeds plenty of power when you let 'er buck no problems |
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Location: Twin Cities | I think someone said this, but go troll the bass and walleye forums, MUCH bigger user base with a lot more experience. |
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| '06 225 ho E-Tech ,
I have less than 300 hours on motor and have changed plugs 3 times, lower gear case has gone out, injector gone out, and it still runs rough at about 7-8 miles an hour. My warranty just ran out and I pray the power head does not blow. from my understanding it's about a $8,000-$9,000 to fix that. Summers are too short and thus far I have had great service. If the power head blows it won't matter where I sit when it gets winterized.
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Evinrude E-Tech