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Author Topic:   16-Footer: Re-power

bwhaler68 posted 09-09-2007 06:29 PM ET (US)
My Whaler is a 1968 Boston Whaler 16-footer. Right now my motor is a two-stroke. I would like to keep it that way unless I can get better fuel economy. I would like to have a motor with enough power to pull a tube or a skier up out of the water. I have been reading around trying to find out where everyone stands, E-TEC, Opti-max, Yamaha, Honda two-stroke four-stroke? Does anyone have any ideas?
I was running on the lake today heading around to look at property when all of a sudden my motor made a slapping noise, like when you slap your hand against your arm or leg. After this noise, it started to knock and rattle. so I shut the motor off. taking the cover off to see what I could find, nothing. I could not find anything loose or any dents in the block. I tried to recrank it, but the motor siezed. I tried to turn it with the starter, and it locked up, I tried to pull it off with a rope, and came to the conclusion that the motor is locked up. I just put a new lower unit in the boat not 10 hours ago along with a tune up, and I am trying to figure out what is my next step? I have been looking around for a re-manufactured powerhead, and they have a price tag of about $1,500 to $2,300. Should I look into a new motor? If so, what are the choices? I would like to hear.
chassie67@yahoo.com
Thanks
Charles
macfam posted 09-09-2007 09:02 PM ET (US)
If I was to re-power a 1968 Nauset model, my choice would be a 75 E-TEC.
Enough power to pull a tube or skier, and good fuel economy and the right weight and very low maintenamce.
If you really want to max it out, go for the 90hp, but I think it's probably overkill.
That being said, I would also strongly consider what local dealer I wanted to do long term business with.
Perhaps that will dictate the brand of power as much as anything.
JayR posted 09-10-2007 07:05 AM ET (US)
The 90 E-TEC would be a great companion to that hull.
jimh posted 09-10-2007 09:06 AM ET (US)
See:
http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/16-17/repower.html
The topic of re-powering a Boston Whaler 16-foot or 17-foot hull is probably the most often discussed of any re-power, so you will find an enormous amount of prior discussion. I am certain that reading these prior discussions will be of value to you in making a decision.
When you buy a re-manufactured power head there can be considerable variation in the quality of the workmanship and components used. The decision to repair or replace the current power head should be based on its age and condition, and you have not given us any details of that. Thus it is hard to provide advice. Also, before replacement it is important to correctly diagnose and identify the cause of the damage. Power head failure is very likely to have been caused by something external to the power head, such as a bad water pump, a restriction in a fuel line, or problems with an external oil tank and lines. If the actual cause of the failure is not corrected, the replacement engine is likely to fail, too.
Tohsgib posted 09-10-2007 10:47 AM ET (US)
Before you do anything, drop the lower unit and make sure the powerhead is frozen. Your new lower unit might have let go. You can also check the powerhead by pulling the plugs...there will metal on them if you blew a cyl.
bwhaler68 posted 09-11-2007 07:58 AM ET (US)
Thank everyone for their replies. My motor is (was?)a 1984 Evinrude 90 VRO. I just bought the boat in June, so I do not have much history on it. The VRO has been removed;the oil is added directly to the fuel tank. The engine has been run in saltwater. As I said previosly, I just had the lower unit replaced in July with a remanufactured umit. The new unit include a new water pump.
Jim mentioned a fuel line restriction as a possible cause of the failure. On Labor day I replaced the fuel line with a new line from a dealer (not a Wal-Mart job). This was the first time on the water with the new line. We'd only been running about 15-20 min. at most.
Any suggestions as to where to buy a quality reman power head? However, if it turns out that to re-build this 23 yr old motor will cost about one half the cost of a new motor, it seems I should bite the bullet and re-power?
jimh posted 09-11-2007 09:00 AM ET (US)
The three external influences I offered::
--fuel line restriction
--bad water pump
--bad external oil tank
all sound like they are ruled out by your recent maintenance of:
--new fuel lines
--new water pump
--use of pre-mixed fuel
and unless you forgot to put oil into the gasoline, which happens, it sounds like these are not the cause of the failure. If the gear case is not the problem, then the power head may be the culprit. Perhaps a gasket failure was letting water into a cylinder and it washed out the lubrication.
A 1984 outboard is 23 years old--just getting broken in for an old OMC V4--and I'd say the decision to repair it versus replace it would depend on the financial situation. You can look at it this way: the old motor has given you the perfect excuse to get a nice new one.
If the gear case is OK you ought to be able to re-sell it without a huge loss, and the rest of the motor should bring some money for parts or salvage.
As for a new motor for an older 16-footers, I would recommend you give the weight on the transom extra consideration.
bwhaler68 posted 09-13-2007 09:20 AM ET (US)
Jim,
Many thanks for your comments. Still no word from the mechanic as to how bad the damage is, or what caused it.
If I do decide to re-power, I agree that weight should be a major consideration. If my information is correct, my '84 90 VRO weighs atlest 70lbs less than any new 70 hp motor. A 75 E-Tec and the 70 Tohatsu TLDI are within five lbs of each other, and are the lightest motors that I have found. There are several posts that recommend the DF70 Suzuki, but it is 37 lbs more than the E-Tec.
Thus there doesn't seem any way to avoid adding weight. Any suggestions.
Tohsgib posted 09-13-2007 11:54 AM ET (US)
Don't be so concerned about weight. That Df70 is purrrfect.
NJCoastFlyFish posted 09-14-2007 02:25 PM ET (US)
I have the Suzuki 70 4S on the back of my 1966 16fter. I get 25mph @ 4000rpm and 35mph WOT, also get ALMOST 10mpg (worked out to be around 9.5mpg on a 60 mile trip at 4000 almost the whole way)
Tohsgib posted 09-14-2007 02:29 PM ET (US)
Run a jackplate a 13x18 prop and you will get about 3 mph on both cruise and top end.
Tohsgib posted 09-14-2007 02:43 PM ET (US)
PS...just posted a link to a F100 for $2k in FL.

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Author	Topic: 16-Footer: Re-power
bwhaler68	posted 09-09-2007 06:29 PM ET (US) My Whaler is a 1968 Boston Whaler 16-footer. Right now my motor is a two-stroke. I would like to keep it that way unless I can get better fuel economy. I would like to have a motor with enough power to pull a tube or a skier up out of the water. I have been reading around trying to find out where everyone stands, E-TEC, Opti-max, Yamaha, Honda two-stroke four-stroke? Does anyone have any ideas? I was running on the lake today heading around to look at property when all of a sudden my motor made a slapping noise, like when you slap your hand against your arm or leg. After this noise, it started to knock and rattle. so I shut the motor off. taking the cover off to see what I could find, nothing. I could not find anything loose or any dents in the block. I tried to recrank it, but the motor siezed. I tried to turn it with the starter, and it locked up, I tried to pull it off with a rope, and came to the conclusion that the motor is locked up. I just put a new lower unit in the boat not 10 hours ago along with a tune up, and I am trying to figure out what is my next step? I have been looking around for a re-manufactured powerhead, and they have a price tag of about $1,500 to $2,300. Should I look into a new motor? If so, what are the choices? I would like to hear. chassie67@yahoo.com Thanks Charles
macfam	posted 09-09-2007 09:02 PM ET (US) If I was to re-power a 1968 Nauset model, my choice would be a 75 E-TEC. Enough power to pull a tube or skier, and good fuel economy and the right weight and very low maintenamce. If you really want to max it out, go for the 90hp, but I think it's probably overkill. That being said, I would also strongly consider what local dealer I wanted to do long term business with. Perhaps that will dictate the brand of power as much as anything.
JayR	posted 09-10-2007 07:05 AM ET (US) The 90 E-TEC would be a great companion to that hull.
jimh	posted 09-10-2007 09:06 AM ET (US) See: http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/16-17/repower.html The topic of re-powering a Boston Whaler 16-foot or 17-foot hull is probably the most often discussed of any re-power, so you will find an enormous amount of prior discussion. I am certain that reading these prior discussions will be of value to you in making a decision. When you buy a re-manufactured power head there can be considerable variation in the quality of the workmanship and components used. The decision to repair or replace the current power head should be based on its age and condition, and you have not given us any details of that. Thus it is hard to provide advice. Also, before replacement it is important to correctly diagnose and identify the cause of the damage. Power head failure is very likely to have been caused by something external to the power head, such as a bad water pump, a restriction in a fuel line, or problems with an external oil tank and lines. If the actual cause of the failure is not corrected, the replacement engine is likely to fail, too.
Tohsgib	posted 09-10-2007 10:47 AM ET (US) Before you do anything, drop the lower unit and make sure the powerhead is frozen. Your new lower unit might have let go. You can also check the powerhead by pulling the plugs...there will metal on them if you blew a cyl.
bwhaler68	posted 09-11-2007 07:58 AM ET (US) Thank everyone for their replies. My motor is (was?)a 1984 Evinrude 90 VRO. I just bought the boat in June, so I do not have much history on it. The VRO has been removed;the oil is added directly to the fuel tank. The engine has been run in saltwater. As I said previosly, I just had the lower unit replaced in July with a remanufactured umit. The new unit include a new water pump. Jim mentioned a fuel line restriction as a possible cause of the failure. On Labor day I replaced the fuel line with a new line from a dealer (not a Wal-Mart job). This was the first time on the water with the new line. We'd only been running about 15-20 min. at most. Any suggestions as to where to buy a quality reman power head? However, if it turns out that to re-build this 23 yr old motor will cost about one half the cost of a new motor, it seems I should bite the bullet and re-power?
jimh	posted 09-11-2007 09:00 AM ET (US) The three external influences I offered:: --fuel line restriction --bad water pump --bad external oil tank all sound like they are ruled out by your recent maintenance of: --new fuel lines --new water pump --use of pre-mixed fuel and unless you forgot to put oil into the gasoline, which happens, it sounds like these are not the cause of the failure. If the gear case is not the problem, then the power head may be the culprit. Perhaps a gasket failure was letting water into a cylinder and it washed out the lubrication. A 1984 outboard is 23 years old--just getting broken in for an old OMC V4--and I'd say the decision to repair it versus replace it would depend on the financial situation. You can look at it this way: the old motor has given you the perfect excuse to get a nice new one. If the gear case is OK you ought to be able to re-sell it without a huge loss, and the rest of the motor should bring some money for parts or salvage. As for a new motor for an older 16-footers, I would recommend you give the weight on the transom extra consideration.
bwhaler68	posted 09-13-2007 09:20 AM ET (US) Jim, Many thanks for your comments. Still no word from the mechanic as to how bad the damage is, or what caused it. If I do decide to re-power, I agree that weight should be a major consideration. If my information is correct, my '84 90 VRO weighs atlest 70lbs less than any new 70 hp motor. A 75 E-Tec and the 70 Tohatsu TLDI are within five lbs of each other, and are the lightest motors that I have found. There are several posts that recommend the DF70 Suzuki, but it is 37 lbs more than the E-Tec. Thus there doesn't seem any way to avoid adding weight. Any suggestions.
Tohsgib	posted 09-13-2007 11:54 AM ET (US) Don't be so concerned about weight. That Df70 is purrrfect.
NJCoastFlyFish	posted 09-14-2007 02:25 PM ET (US) I have the Suzuki 70 4S on the back of my 1966 16fter. I get 25mph @ 4000rpm and 35mph WOT, also get ALMOST 10mpg (worked out to be around 9.5mpg on a 60 mile trip at 4000 almost the whole way)
Tohsgib	posted 09-14-2007 02:29 PM ET (US) Run a jackplate a 13x18 prop and you will get about 3 mph on both cruise and top end.
Tohsgib	posted 09-14-2007 02:43 PM ET (US) PS...just posted a link to a F100 for $2k in FL.