Rude E-Tec
 

Has anyone here tried the new E-tec motors, I like the 175 for my 20', any feedback? 7 year warrantee if bought by 03/31/2006. no maintenance for three years, no break in, and its supposed to be very powerful.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

If you so a serrch on this web site you should find a very long & involved thread on this topic from several months ago.

Currently, I have twin carb-pig 1998 Yamaha 150's on my 23 SF. I will drive them into the ground. Whenever they do go, I will give serious consideration to the E-TEC's (to a single 250).

I have only heard very positive things about them.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

with 7 years on it how can you go wrong?

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I have run them. And they are all that they say plus some. We have about 600 hrs on a pair right now. If you have specific questions ask away.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

The e-tech's have no Scheduled maintenance for the first 3 years. No one said anything about UN-Scheduled visits to the dealer.... Why not buy the 175 Suzuki??? The weight is nearly the same so that's not a factor. I have twin 115's and oil changes cost me 4 quarts + a $6 oil filter at Autozone. And, oh yeah, plugs are $1.50 each. Oil for the Etec is about $30.00/gallon [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] and I don't even want to know how much a set of plugs are. I know Opti plugs are about $15 each!. That's just my 2c. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

Thanks for the advice guys, still cant decide, which way to go.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

The weight of a 4 stroke zuk and an e-tech 2 stroke are the same? Are you sure about that Briguy, I thought 4 strokes were significantly heavier? Also, when is the first scheduled maintenence for a suzuki and doesn't the dealer have to do it so that you don't void the warranty. Isn't there a 20 hour check up that's pretty expenses right off the start?
Don't get me wrong the Suzuki is a GREAT engine choice, but there are pluses and minuses for everything. Any engine can have a unscheduled visit to the dealer and when that happens a 7 year warranty is nice.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

Actually, Briguy is wrong. According to Zuke here:
http://www.suzukimarine.com/sr06/df1..._and_specs.php
25" Shaft DF140 is 420 lbs.
25" Shaft DF150/DF175 are 474 lbs
25" Shaft DF200 is 580 lbs

Whereas according to Bomb, here:
http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/Engine...ications/S200/
25" Shaft E-tec 150/175/200 are 427 lbs !!!!!
That means you can get a 200 E-tec and it only weighs 7 lbs more than the Zuke 140.

Having not owned either I cannot make any comment on reliability or maintenance.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

The hole shot on the Etec is awesome compared to the Suzuki.
I friend put a 140 on his recently redone 20 and he has a HAARRDD time getting up on plane.
I think a 250 Etec on a 23 is a perfect match.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

He must have the wrong size prop....

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I was thinking the same thing. My Honda 130 "anvil" pops me up on plane easily, with no need to adjsut tabs or negative trim. With another prop that has 2" more pitch, it's a struggle to get on plane.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I would say wrong prop too. Trayder has a 20 with the 140 and it doesn't struggle to get on plane, even with me and "fat azz" Capt Chuck aboard. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I spoke to a factory Bombardier rep at the Toronto Boat Show last weekend. He noted that after the first 300 hour check-up, the next is at 600 hours. It would take me 10 years to put that many hours on. That's alot different than changing plugs, fuel filter and lower unit oil once each year! I want one - got 20k?

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I was thinking he was overpropped also.
BTW The etecs are not $20K.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

Great engines. I put over 700 hours on a 250 last season. Most troublefree engine I've ever owned (by a long shot).

Plugs can be had online for $5 and some change per plug.
rockauto.com and sparkplugs.com both carry them.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I have to admit it seems like a pretty nice engine…
Got the Sales DVD / Brochure that’s basically a half hour commercial/infomercial for the engines. Lots of interesting info and comparison against the F225 Yamaha and the 225 Verado. Makes you want to go out and buy one right now …. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]
They're da Bomb…ardier [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

A friend just bought (2) 30" shaft 200's. Paid 32K for the pair, It should be rigged by Monday on a 26'. The mechanic wasn't impressed with the controls (looked like the 60's model) He said he would replace those with Yamadogs. I'll let you know performance next weekend.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

I have a 2005 Yamaha 4-stoke 150 hp (475 lbs.) on my 20 and it has plenty of power. The boat gets up on plane faster than with my old 1986 2 stroke and I do not have trim tabs. It took me three tries before I found the right prop though.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

HatTrick,

I'm looking for an engine and I have the usual concerns about weight/effect on the scuppers, etc. What year is your 20, and did you raise the deck? What type of scuppers do you have and how are they working with that engine.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

Strick and I were talking to the Triton rep at one of the boat shows out here. We were asking him about the Etec's and if he'd seen any problems with them. He hesitated for a while and told us that he'd already seen a few back come back to his dealership with blown powerheads. He then talked for another 10 minutes about how he thought Bombardier has made a huge mistake committing their future entirely on two stroke direct injection outboards. Only time will tell, but I'd call around and talk to a few Bombardier mechanics before you buy.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

dcorbett,
I was concerned about weight also, but my other concerns were, local service availability, reliability, fuel consumption, and quiet. My boat is a 1986 20' cc, with the scuppers that go through the transom not down through the floor. I bought the boat second hand and as far as I know the floors have not been re-done. I moved two batteries under the console and took out the 2-cycle oil reservoir. The boat sits about 3/4 of an inch lower than before and the deck drains about the same. I put ping pong balls on the drains where they go through the transom (on the outside) but water still comes in when I stand in the corner. When the boat sits by itself the decks do drain. Hope this helps.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

HatTrick,

Thanks. That's the information I was looking for. Glad it's working for you.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

Got a ride with a brand new pair of 225 E-tecs on a 26' open fisherman. Motors are super quiet especialy after listening to my 200 carbed Johnson. Very quick and smooth response. Pulls real hard, 50 in no time. Running along at 30, the motors are not even noticeable.
Here's the catch though, one motor was running about 135 and the other was running about 150 to 155. I never had tempature gauge on a outboard boat so I dont know if this normal. Still has good water pressure. I'm wondering how accurate the gauges are. The owner is concerned so it goes back to the dealer tomorrow for a check-up.
Other than that minor detail I was really impressed with the performace and quietness. Hope it's true about no break-in period cause we worked em pretty hard.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

A problem here and there but they have been pretty trouble free, and too all the Merc haters the Verado has been pretty darn good too. Everybody seems to hitting all cylinders these days, the last problems I heard about were the big Yammi's but they seemed to have fixed that.

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

For repowering my 23' with twins the E-Tec debate versus four bangers is 2 fold - weight and $$$. So, then E-Tec has the perfect solution 2 200's @419 Lbs. , but are you willing to pay $17,195? A Big Block Suzi 175 @ 474Lbs is $14,750 with a bigger displacement than the 200 ETEC! So if you can handle the extra weight, the price is less, the dispalcement is greater and the technology is accepted as the future. The 175 has variable valve timing and by no means is a slug to get out of the hole. For the record-I would take either one. Sorry to stir it up.... :D

Re: Rude E-Tec
 

THT has a crazy 5 page discussion on ETEC's. The #'s I see to be the most valid are on 2 boats with twins. The McKee 24 Freedom w/ twin 200 ETecs got best cruise MPG @ 1.8 while a 26 Sea Chaser w/ twin 250 ZUKIS still was better @ 2.4 MPG cruise. Even though I'm looking @ 175 Zukis which should be @ 2.9 MPG, the 250 shows it's economy. By the way, the high price on Etecs is only meant for the dealers to be able to negotiate lower. Look @ Ed's Marine Super Center web site prices-they are way lower!