Considering repowering my 'new' 16' Bayrunner with a 30hp E-tec. Seems like they're a real nice blend of weight, power, and economy.
The biggest downside I can see with 'em is there's a lot of electronics and new-fangled technology.
Question is - does anyone in Baja work on these motors? dtbushpilot - 5-21-2015 at 05:05 PM
They never need to be worked on, at least that's what cappy says.
nice motors
captkw - 5-21-2015 at 09:06 PM
ask POMPANO he has one and I only know of one outboard made that has a NO nothing for three years...for high tech service/repair,, mexico has never
been known for that in regard to outboardsPescador - 5-22-2015 at 07:02 AM
Actually Fransisco in San Lucita, south of Santa Rosalia, has experience with those motors. And from what I have seen and how they interact with the
overly saline condition of our water, you need to have him on speed dial.
marine motors
captkw - 5-22-2015 at 08:39 AM
the product called "Saltaway" has proven itself to be more than a 'snake oil' and I recommend it to all my guys !! even motors with a closed (full)
cooling system....the yammy two strokes were good motors,,But you can not buy them in some usa markets..the four strokes are a bad joke..nothing but
issue's and are heavy,costly and parts are more than gold...the ETEC'S have proven themselves and knock on wood no issues..myself have a pair of
bullet proof 2004 mercury 75hp (carbed) 2str and am more than happy...most fishermen don't respond to surveys and consumer reports about outboards are
done by arm chair wanna bee's...with that in mind " use your boat often,,keep the cooling system fresh,,spray down the pwr head with a good oil..keep
your catch,beer cold,,hooks sharp...."Tight Lines"Pompano - 5-22-2015 at 10:41 AM
E-tech 115.
Used equally in salt and fresh since 2006..hundreds of hours each year, regularly maintained & serviced, as with all engines over last 50 years.
An important plus...It's quiet and doesn't disturb my fishing buddy.
chavycha - 5-22-2015 at 08:45 PM
Thought I'd seen a few of the E-Tecs on here. I'm happy to buy the service manual / diagnostic software and do what I can myself, but always nice to
have a mechanic around in case that I can't get out of my own way.
I would *love* to buy a 2-stroke Yamaha for this boat. Unfortunately they haven't been made for US sales since the 2008 model year. I have seen a
few new-old-stock but the asking prices are ridiculous and I'd have to have it shipped out here.
The E-Tec I'm considering is local and priced right. Assuming it all checks out tomorrow I'll give it a shot. I have the rest of the summer to work
out the kinks before Baja 2015-2016.
[Edited on 5-23-2015 by chavycha]
ETEC
captkw - 5-23-2015 at 09:51 PM
about the ONLY drawback that I've heard is the oil isn't on the cheap side...That said,,they don't use much !!chavycha - 5-25-2015 at 01:12 AM
Well it checked out great, so I'm now an Etec owner. Turns out it was a couple years newer than advertised, and judging by the cosmetics, doesn't
have much use on it. The only downside is it's a bit portly (160#) but hey, wouldn't we all would like to be a few pounds lighter?!? Came with twelve
gallons of gas and a gallon of the XD100 oil, too.
chavycha - 5-25-2015 at 01:14 AM
Gotta admit, though, it was a little creepy to have the cowling off and see a bunch of circuit boards sitting there. Same goes for the not having a
choke. You mean all you do is just push the button and it starts? So strange...ncampion - 5-25-2015 at 06:32 AM
You mean all you do is just push the button and it starts? So strange...
Hopefully! After all, it is still an outboard motor!55steve - 5-25-2015 at 06:49 AM
I love my 90 Etec - was strange at first with no choke but always starts with a simple turn of the key. I found the tach gauge with the check engine
light interesting also - engine does a full diagnostic as it starts.
[Edited on 5-25-2015 by 55steve]Hook - 5-25-2015 at 07:56 AM
Gotta admit, though, it was a little creepy to have the cowling off and see a bunch of circuit boards sitting there. Same goes for the not having a
choke. You mean all you do is just push the button and it starts? So strange...
There's gotta be a forum for owners of those engines. Find it and get on it. For sure, you could get good into on The Hull Truth forums.
I imagine that there is a diagnotic port, similar to a OBD II connector on today's cars. Similar in function, not necessarily in appearance. Maybe
someone has developed a way for a layman to read the fault codes, like we do with autos these days. Reading the codes can be key to doing some of your
own fixes.
I'd say the lack of a choke is because they are probably a direct-injection type of fuel system; not needed with the higher pressures of injection
pumps.
Do the circuit boards seem to be coated with something like an acrylic to protect it? I would hope so. If not, see what other owners might be doing to
protect those boards. I have used acrylic spray to great advantage around salt water, in the past.
Your engine weight seems about middle of the pack, according to this site. Amazing how many variations of a 30hp engine, the E-tecs have.
Hope you didn't run that old gas thur her !! anyway, don't bother with "the hull truth'' or bloody decks" ck ETEC natain or other ETEC forums for
info..also do you have a Tach on your boat ?? If not find, some one that has a two stroke tach and find out what the WOT is and get the right pitch
prop..Very,Very important for everything...awesome motor !! YOU will love it !! btw Deep cycle batts are for motor homes. not outboards..get a marine
CRANKING batt group 27 as it states in your owners manual... "tight lines" K&Tchavycha - 2-22-2017 at 12:35 PM
Well, we've run the little ETEC daily for the past month in Bahia Asuncion. It sat in a storage unit from June 2015 to December 2016, and started up
right away when we pulled it out for this trip. I can't say enough good things about the motor so far. It's incredibly fuel efficient, idles smooth,
starts on the first push of the button (EVERY time)... and oh yeah, filled the oil tank when we first got here and it's still nearly full, despite
having pushed several tanks of gas through it. Trolls nice, gets up on plane in a hot second, and pushes the beamy Bayrunner just fine even with four
good-sized people in it.
The only thing that I wish it had is a better way to get it into shallow water drive, but you can't have everything.
For what it's worth, I bought one of the lithium ion starting batteries for motorcycles and I have no idea how they are not more popular. The thing
has 330CCA and weighs (no fooling) about 2 pounds. Barry A. - 2-22-2017 at 04:31 PM
Thanks for the up-date. All sounds good.Frank - 2-22-2017 at 11:17 PM
That's great to hear. I've been sitting on the buy/don't buy for awhile now. My 14' Livingston has a 20hp Yama 4 stroke now, it does ok but 10 more HP
would be even better. chavycha - 2-23-2017 at 11:37 AM
It'd scoot with one of these, but they are fairly heavy (160-200# depending on model) so make sure it'll balance out when hung on your rig.
chavycha - 2-17-2018 at 08:36 PM
We are in Bahia Asuncion again and apparently did not bring enough of the $$$ XD-100 oil down for the remainder of the trip. Thought we had enough
but a lot of long runs have depleted the supply quicker than I'd anticipated.
The E-tec apparently can run on either the expensive XD-100 or regular two-stroke oil, but of course that is a software setting that can only be
changed by the dealer (or someone with the software diagnostics package). Effing stupid design if you ask me... what's wrong with having a switch???
Anyhow...
We're headed south (East Cape area) in a few weeks... any ideas on where to buy the XD-100 or anyone who may have the ability to change the
programming on the engine? 8knots - 2-18-2018 at 07:11 AM
You may have to ship it to yourself or to someone at your final destination and you might want to order soon so it can to you in time. Seems like a
real long shot to find in MX. All the panguereos around here use Honda or Yamaha.chavycha - 2-18-2018 at 08:02 AM
Yeah. That's an option I suppose. Around here it is a Suzuki show, haven't seen a single Honda and only a couple Yamahas.Santiago - 2-18-2018 at 08:04 AM
I have about 50 hours on my new-to-me 50 HP, had 350 hours when I got it, set for XD-100. Bought a gallon of the stuff, but so far, the tank has
barley gone down. I was told that their goal was that the typical boat owner would only need to fill up the oil tank once each year. Mine is on a
Bass Buggy so it is either WOT or trolling. It is my belief that at WOT, it uses more gas than a similar 4-stroke, enough so that when I first got
it, I ran out of gas. I use around 4 gallons in a 3 or 4 hour fishing trip, lots of trolling and at least 30-45 minutes of WOT. chavycha - 2-18-2018 at 08:21 AM
My understanding and use have shown that they are very economical on oil (and gas) in the low RPM range. On four-hour trips here which require a
short run and then some trolling or poking around at low RPM, I can get four trips out of a six-gallon fillup and the oil level barely moves. Last
year I only refilled the oil tank once in six weeks of fishing.
However, this year in Asuncion we have done a lot more long runs (20-40 miles in a day) as the sea conditions have been quite good and the fish have
been scattered. I don't usually run at WOT but still am in in the upper RPM range... say 4500 RPM versus 5500 at WOT.
It drank nearly a tank and a half of oil in the past month. Now, it's a small tank (1.5qts), and that's also while consuming about 40 gallons of
gas...so still an 75:1 mix or so.
Since I bought it a few years ago, it's required its 300-hour service and that's about it...$100-ish in parts and a fairly easy do-it-yourself. Been
a pretty darn good motor overall.
[Edited on 2-18-2018 by chavycha]chavycha - 2-18-2018 at 10:54 AM
Supposedly there is a store in La Paz that had it at one point. Will advise here for future reference if I'm able to confirm. chavycha - 3-5-2018 at 05:50 PM
Agencia Arjona is the store that usually stocks it but they are out of stock at this time.
Luckily, I was able to find the oil from another fisherperson here on the EC and now have plenty for the rest of the trip.chavycha - 3-23-2018 at 03:23 PM
A person can also order the diagnostic software and cable package off of eBay from a seller in Slovenia, Lithuania, or other former Soviet Bloc
nation.
That software allows you to change the setting on the motor so it can run with regular old two-stroke oil.
