1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Optimizing the performance of Boston Whaler boats
PATXBill
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1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby PATXBill » Sat Aug 24, 2019 3:17 pm

My 22 Outrage has been unused this year because I have lost faith in my 1987 Evinrude E225TXCUB. I can't track down the source of an overheat condition, which I now believe is a water jacket problem inside the block.

My dream repower is a new Mercury V6 225-HP FOURSTROKE, bur that engine is way pricey. A quote of $16,000 with controls and installation is best deal I have gotten—a good deal, but still significant money.

I have a chance to re-power with a 2005 E-TEC 225 H.O. with 510-hours from the read out and mostly freshwater use. The desk is a remote-purchase, and I can't see the engine in person. The price is $6,000 to my door with controls, oil tank, wire harness.

Give me your thoughts and advice on the purchase of the 2005 E-TEC.

If it all checks out I think the price is fair, but still the used E-TEC is a 15-year-old outboard engine.

You guys are really good with thoughtful opinions. So let me know what you think, please.

--Bill

jimh
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby jimh » Sat Aug 24, 2019 7:39 pm

Life is short. All boating expenses are irrational. Get the new Mercury engine you really want.

If you do buy a used E-TEC, get a newer model. Get an E-TEC of at least 2010-model-year or newer. Evinrude made continual improvements to the legacy E-TEC V6 engines.

Read my article at:

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/refere ... anges.html

Acseatsri
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby Acseatsri » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:03 am

My 2006 225 Etec blew at 1100 hours. A friend has 2 2007 250 Etecs, 1st power head blew at 600, second at 680 hours. Also blew 3 gear cases until changed out to M2 gear cases. He HATES them but can't afford to get rid of them.
Another friend just had 2 2013 250 Etecs replaced with 300 Suzuki's on his 31 Contender due to loads of reliability problems, losing 2-4 weeks of use each of the last 3 seasons, all unrelated problems, the concern being the straw that broke the camels back was the flywheel losing magnets and taking out the ignition . The dealer gave him $7000 (total, not each!) for the pair on the trade-in.
Another 135 HO at my marina still under warranty just blew 3 weeks ago, still waiting for the powerhead to be replaced.

Evinrude made major changes in 2008, pretty much doubling up on lube points. If you're gonna roll the dice, at least find one later than 2008.

biggiefl
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby biggiefl » Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:43 am

I am in the long process of re-powering my 18' Outrage. I have come across many good deals on E-TEC and other DFI engines, but I am not sure I want to take a $5,000 risk on two-stroke that was still young with a new technology.
On my 24th Whaler. Currently in the stable: 86 18' Outrage, 81 13' Sport(original owner), 87 11' Sport, 69 Squall(for sale cheap).

jimh
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby jimh » Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:02 pm

As long as second-hand anecdotal reports on E-TEC engines are of interest, I know of many running well after ten years with no problems and some of those are over 1,000-hours.

Poor fuel, restricted fuel delivery, and other fuel and boat fuel rigging errors or defects have been the cause of failure of many two-stroke-power-cycle outboard engines in the last several decades since gasoline diluted with ethanol and water became a widespread problem.

Evinrude is offering ten-year-warranty coverage on the E-TEC as part of sales promotions.

biggiefl
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby biggiefl » Mon Aug 26, 2019 12:27 pm

jimh wrote:I know of many running well after ten years with no problems and some of those are over 1,000-hours.


It's the more than 15-years-old ones I'm concerned about. Then again if still going strong after 15-years it probably wasn't made on a Monday ;)
On my 24th Whaler. Currently in the stable: 86 18' Outrage, 81 13' Sport(original owner), 87 11' Sport, 69 Squall(for sale cheap).

Acseatsri
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby Acseatsri » Mon Aug 26, 2019 1:51 pm

It's not how old [an outboard engine] is, it's how many hours on [the outboard engine].

Most of the people I know put well in excess of 100 hours a year, at least double what the average user does, so failures show up In less than 10-years. Most failures occur between 600 to 1000 hours.

I'll bet there aren't a lot of larger E-TEC engine with more than 1,000-hours.

My engine had the most hours of the known failures, probably because I was logging over 200-hours-a-year and a lot of it was trolling hours, not particularly hard on an engine. I seldom ran over 4,500-RPM.

[Someone else's] 2013 250 E-TEC engines had 780 hours on them. Although not blown, they've been trouble- prone for the three years [someone else] had them, and again, many hours were trolling or idling when free diving for tuna. The runs were around 4000-RPM at 35-MPH for four hours at a time.

The 135 H.O. that blew had less than 250 hours--at least it was under warranty.

PATXBill
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby PATXBill » Mon Aug 26, 2019 4:23 pm

Thank you all for the thoughtful posts and anecdotes. Please keep them coming. I'm still wrestling with my decision re: new vs. used, and if used, do I choose THIS motor.

In my observations of used outboard engine--I keep an online lookout constantly--I find that the available choices are usually in three categoris:

--engines older than ten years with lower hours at a low price of 30 to 50-percent of a new engine

--two to five-year-old motors with high hours (1,000 plus) at a price of60 to 70-percent of a new engine

--one or two-year-old engine still under warranty at 80 to 90-percent of a new engine retail price, though often the asking price is 95 to 100-percent of best deals on a new engine

My boat has the optional 128-gallon fuel tank, which can make the boat stern heavy. I moved the batteries to the console. I have thee trolling-motor batteries and a charger mounted in the cooler in front of the console. These changes, and a STILETTO 15-pitch propeller made the 1984 OUTRAGE 22 boat handle much better and eliminated the bow oscillation (porpoising) at high speed that had been occurring when I first purchased it.

I mention the weight distribution because it greatly affects engine choice. The heavier first-generation four-stroke engines like Yamaha, Suzuki, or Honda engine give me pause for weight reasons, which has me leaning toward a legacy E-TEC--if I buy used.

Buying new has me choosing between the Yamaha F200xb in-line four-cylinder at 489-lbs and the Mercury FOURSTROKE V6, at more than 475-lbs (475-lbs is 20-inch-shaft model). I have good local Yamaha and Mercury dealers (and a good Evinrude dealer, but if new, I'm not interested in the G2 E-TEC).

It's a classic expected value scenario, and I'll be sure to run calculations. Buying a used motor is, as mentioned above, rolling the dice. Indeed.

jimh
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Re: 1984 Outrage 22 Re-power 2005 E-TEC E225

Postby jimh » Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:35 am

Acseatsri wrote:Most of the people I know put well in excess of 100 hours a year, at least double what the average user does...


A figure of 50-hours-per-year for a recreational boat user is probably a good average. Regrettably, my own recreational use of my engine is barely keeping pace with a 50-hour-per-year rate.

In assessing a used outboard engine, where it was used is also a factor. Here in the cold, clean, freshwater of the northern Great Lakes, a well-cared-for two-stroke-power-cycle engine in recreational use can run up thousands of hours of operation. An engine running in tropical saltwater in commercial use may not have a service life as long as that.