Rude E-Tec

[HatTrick]

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.

[dcobbett]

HatTrick,

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

[sailcat]

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.

[eggsuckindog]

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.

[Snookerd]

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....

[Snookerd]

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!