MacGregorSailors.com

Plenty of variables on search for outboard problems, total hits;

New figures on Google hits:

Merc 628,000
Honda 619,000
Yamaha 411,000
Suzuki 249,000
E-Tec 56,700
Evinrude 168,000

This vs total sold, devided by years selling product, squared by numbers of motors mounted on factory installation, subtracted by those problems which could have been reported along with "Sea-Ray, Bayliner etc. Once you start down this path extra stuff comes your way. Means very little.
But, just don't say the E-Tec has more hits on problems when in fact it has the least! Tell the truth as you see it.
Mike Inmon

I am interested in what the problem may be with a 15 hp honda 4 stroke on an 26x - Iniation problem was with starting - Battery was in good condition and the motor would turn over then on the next attempt to crank the solenoid would click , but it would not turn over - there did not seem to be any reason from one cranking attempt to the next from when it would turn over to just click and not turn over.

Next ther was no alarm that sounded as far as we could hear, we had slowed down to an idle and the when we went to speed up, the motor would not speed up, but stayed at idle and was running fine, lots of water flow for cooling etc. I am interested in any comments or ideas what is happening.

I am familiar with all the old 2 storke issues before the computer days, whne it was either fuel. plugs or some problem between the battery and the engine with wiring connections or some simple easy rectified problem. i AM NOT SURE IF THE NEW COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY RELATED TO OUTBOARDS IS BETTER OTHER THAN FOR FUEL CONSUPTION.

Fun with Google:

584,000 for merc outboard problems
568,000 for johnson outboard problems
528,000 for honda outboard problems
408,000 for yamaha outboard problems
317,000 for evinrude outboard problems
222,000 for suzuki outboard problems
52,500 for tohatsu outboard problems
45,100 for e-tec outboard problems


215,000 for honda outboard warranty problems
147,000 for merc outboard warranty problems
120,000 for johnson outboard warranty problems
116,000 for yamaha outboard warranty problems
64,500 for suzuki outboard warranty problems
38,800 for evinrude outboard warranty problems
17,600 for e-tec outboard warranty problems
11,000 for tohatsu outboard warranty problems


Current Market Share
Mercury 40%
Yamaha 29%
Evinrude/Tohatsu/Honda each at roughly 8%
Suzuki 7%

Now all this means nothing without knowing how many of each brand of motor are out there. The E-Tech is only 7 years old and BRB has only owned the brand for 9 years. It's really not fair to compare a Google search of E-Tech (product line) with a complete brand name. Some brands like Honda make so many products with something "outboard" about them.

The majority of all modern outboards are very reliable. The question is what happens when yours is one of the few that needs to be fixed? What happens if its out of warranty?

A completely unscientific count of owners on this forum place the E-Tec in an iffy category when it comes to diagnosis and full repair.

--Russ

mikelinmon wrote:But, just don't say the E-Tec has more hits on problems when in fact it has the least! Tell the truth as you see it.
Mike Inmon

Like this? ETec 114,000 hits and Suzuki 85,500 hits with content like this on the first hit:

Suzuki Outboard: buy or not? - Moderated Discussion Areas18 posts - 16 authors - Last post: Sep 6, 2008
Being that these outboard are expensive, I just want to make a ... I have had no problems with my Suzuki, including availability of parts. ...
continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/005090.html - Cached - Similar

i had an '02 Suzuki 50hp on my '02 Mac X. it had very low hours. however, i consistently experienced overheating problems when going long distances at WOT. and, WOT only got me to 15 knots.
so, i decided to re-power w/ a 90hp in 2004.

my choice was to go w/ an Etec 90 or Tohatsu 90.
it was Etec -new technology/higher priced/super high pressure injection/fiery hot fuel burn/3-star emission rated vs Tohatsu old technology/lower priced/boring/low pressure direct injection/2-star emission rated.

i got scared away from Etec at the last minute because of all the things that IMHO could potentially go wrong (along w/ the higher sticker price).
i went w/ Tohatsu and haven't looked back. very good performance and reliability. absolutely no problems (knock on wood).

that said, there are Etec owners out there who are extremely happy with Etec.
however, the more i read, it appears that there are some problematic issues w/ Etec.

Bob T.
"DāBob"
'02X w/ '04 90-TLDI (14" x 11 pitch)
Dinghy Motor: '06 2.5-Suzuki

Well, I did the business thing and went to see what I could find out about BRP financials

They are privately held, and ergo no financials data. Dont confuse them with Bombardier Aviation in Montreal.

well, if we are going to do unscientific sampling here............

I was in the marine dealer service shop yesterday.......... all the outboards being serviced were suzi's and mercs......
and he was not a new suzi dealer........ no etecs were in the shop for service(he is an etec dealer) .......all those engines were being prepped for spring.

seriously
All of brands of outboards can and do have problems and reqularly scheduled service requirements......that is why there are shops. And those shops make more money on service than on new engine installs.

The simple fact is.......the more complex the engine.........the better your shop should be to service them. The better training, better tools, better knowledge. not to rain on anyones parade here........but does anyone check to see how many qualified repair techs are at their dealer? now compare that to a automotive shop you trust, or the motorcycle/quad ORV shop.

Shops with one or two guys occasionally doing service are going to have a tough time competing as the underlying technology becomes more complex. I suspect you allmost have more chance taking the engine to a good computer service shop.

good luck......most of what is on the internet is what others say should be........not what is.

I wish my old Nissan would just die completely.......

I agree, if you are having difficulties with service, then you may want to go to another dealer (hopefully that is an option).

Jim

Never had problems with dealers just the back up from BRP until really pressed.
All motors are going to have problems and the high tech ones are going to be more complex to find but if the manufacturer stands behind the product it makes it easier.