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Posts: 2378
| Anybody know anything in general about this motor?
Is it a good one? Any prevalent issues? |
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Posts: 32886
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Good block, no issues; as with all EFI motors, back off the throttle to 4000 and she won't drink lots of gas. WOT, she will. |
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| I own a 1998 175 efi, no problems, I would have to say that it is gas efficient and very strong. The 200 efi I would not see any issues. One of the best motors merc has made. |
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Location: Sun Prairie, Wisconsin | I had a 98 200 EFI...simply a great motor. Owned it from 99-2009...simply no issues. I sold it to my brother and he uses it for barefoot boat.
Badgerpat1 |
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Posts: 2323
Location: Stevens Point, WI | The EFI's are one of the most bulletproof motors I've ever heard of if there was ever such a thing. Have one friend who fishes almost exclusively on Lake Michigan and routinely runs great distances with his. The motor is a 1996 175 EFI and running like a champ, he's very leary of buying a new boat/motor because just how good his EFI has been! |
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| Baldy,
I've had three different 175 EFI's. Here's what I've learned on experience and from talking with reputable dealer who has helped me with service work.
1. Warm them up before putting the throttle down (makes sense for all motors)
2. Change water pump impellor every two years.
3. Suggest you run a synthetic or semi-synthetic oil. I use amsoil and the performance difference is incredible. Smoother idle, less smoke, and much less carbon build up.
4. This is HUGE... Use ring-free or Kwik-Klean with every time you add fuel. What kills most outboards is carbon build up and/or lack of proper cooling, and/or poor maintenance.
5. I am complete believer in running the 91/92 octaine fuel with this motor, I am fortunate enough to have most Kwik-Trips offering it w/o ethanol in our area. Motor runs much better on the higher octaine fuel.
Issues:
On two of my motors I've had to replace the voltage regulators. There are two of them and when one went bad I replaced both. About a $300 repair. I noticed I had an issue as I keep voltage reading on my Lowrance screen. Voltage output should be 14.2-14.4 when up and running. I started seeing higher readings and I knew what it was, had if verified by dealer and replaced part.
Other than that they have been very solid running engines and as Steve indicated if you run them in mid-range RPM's the fuel consumption is not quite as good as the new direct-inject motors but it isn't unreasonable either. Run it WOT and like all motors you will need to stop at the fuel pump more often.
All that said, I would not shy away from any boat because of the EFI. |
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1996 200hp EFI Merc