Posts: 166
Location: Gurnee, Illinois | Hey Dave, sorry to hear of your bad luck. It sucks when you spend the kind of money we do on this stuff, and can't feel confident enough to use it. I am going through this with my Minn Kota autopilot, but that's another story. My outboard is a 03 Yamaha 115 4-stroke, and I really like it so far. I have been a 2-stoke guy previously, and one thing comes to mind with your situation if your motor is a 2-stroke. My opinion on 2-strokes is most problems occur when they are not being used. In other words, if a 2-stroke is going to sit for a long time, there are some things that need to be done. The problem with 2 strokes is the crankshaft and bearings don't have the oil sump to sit in like 4 strokes. This makes them more prone to rust if moisture crept in the last time you ran it. Also, fuel breaks down (true for any engine) and gums stuff up, clogging carb jets, and creating other problems. I don't know what your service history is, but I would recommend if you don't already, run stabil in your gas tank all season long, and if your motor will be sitting for more than a month, you may want to add some fogging oil to your cylinders and crankcase via your carbs. At a minimum, remove your spark plugs and squirt a 1/2 oz. into the cylinders.
On the other side of the coin, you may have just got a bad motor that was assembled late on a Friday, or on a Monday after a holiday weekend. Unfortunately every manufacturer has some lemons out on the market. Hopefully when they fix your motor, that will be the last of it, but if you haven't been giving her a little extra attention, try the things I listed above and hopefully you will quitlosing time and money at the shop.
Dave |
