Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

[lucky7]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

well, i just bought a new boat with a 5.0 carb motor. for the extra 3k, i can pump the accel pump once or twice when its cold. not saying i wouldnt prefer mpi, i just dont understand why it costs so much more than a carb. an injector seems easier to manufacture than a carb. electronics in everything else has gotten cheaper.

 

[QC]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

QC: I would be happy to dig out a reading list for you and if you want I'll PM the start of one ,

We have found some instances where single point injection is better for emissions than multi-point but that is not a gasoline system, nor is it spark ignited, but the mixing concepts sound similar. I am interested in your reading list. Thanks.

 

[tommays]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Well the MARINE EFI systems have a bunch of stuff like fuel coolers that have to pass SALTWATER through them that makes the long term cost on the high side


ONE dose of watery fuel getting through the filters and your MPI system will need thousands in repairs when they have to pull the plenum to change out the injectors IF you can do it without pulling the motor



Tommays

 

[QC]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Also, you all are assuming that cost directly leads to sell price . . . perceived value is what pricing is based on. If people think it is worth more and will pay it, then you price accordingly. If you don't, you are stupid. Successful businesses get as much margin as they can within their business model

 

[njlarry]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Amen azlakes!!

 

[Caveman Charlie]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Guess I am in the minority but if find nothing wrong with a carb. I can hold it in my hand, see it work and fix it. FRED

Me too.

I still have some carberated cars and would prefer one. They're getting hard to find in good shape in my area though. FI was mostly for emissions. And, it's just so darned hard and expensive to work on.

 

[Scout Sport Fish]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

The way I see it, I have a 2-Stroke and with 2-strokes I feel the only way to go is carbed. I feel the fuel injected cant keep up with high RPM's due to latency. Carbs though are instantaneous and work off vacuums.

 

[QC]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Just found this on Lake Mead's site today . . .

Clean Engine Requirement - 2013
Beginning January 1, 2013, boats that do not meet the Environmental Protection Agency Rule for gasoline spark - ignition marine engines would be prohibited on Lakes Mead and Mohave. The National Park Service will require the exclusive use of four-stroke engines, direct-injection two-stroke engines, or equivalent technology.

http://www.nps.gov/lame/planyourvisit/boating.htm

 

[hibbert6]

Re: Are 4-stroke carbureted Stern drives bring down the industry

Problem NUMBER ONE starts right with the NMMA and promoting boating as a carefree activity like taking your car for a drive in the country

Problem number TWO is that GREAT lengths are gone to to hide the true cost of owning and keeping a boat maintained

Tommays

I own an 30 year old trihull with a 65hp O/B. I've had it 10 years - bought it for $2100 and have probably put $1500 into it since then. I read iBoats BBS at least twice a week. I figured I know something about boats.

Last weekend I was speaking with a friend's father in law, who is quite wealthy. He was telling us about how his beautiful houseboat is now about worthless, as the outdrive has deteriorated to nothing. It's costing him thousands of dollars and many hours in boat wrecking yards trying to find the parts. Unless he gets it working, he said, he'll have to give it away. I was about to offer to take it off his hands for him, but then I asked him about berthing and maintainance: $300/mo for a covered slip; pulling it out of the water every 2 years for cleaning/painting (wouldn't tell me what THAT costs!); battery replacement - far too often; and generator problems that keep happening just as it fell out of warranty. Ouch.

Not that he ever would have given his boat away, as he was threatening to do. But I had been lusting after older, used houseboats that I thought I could "fix up" and love. But my bubble has - thank God - been burst.

There are all sorts of caveats given to teenagers about the expenses of buying their first car. (My dad said I couldn't have one because he said I'd spend all my non-school hours working to support it!) That same information ought to be readily available to new boatowners. Most of us probably don't think to warn newbies as we're still in denial ourselves!

Dave