opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

[mnut]

May I have an opinion or 2 on buying a new 40 or 50 hp 4stroke motor? I hear Honda is the king about $8300.00 installed,long shaft,power tilt 50hp..Yamaha about $300.00 less..Mercury only builds motors,not cars,not mototcycles,nor lawnmowers so they have the experience and can be about $1200.00 less than the Japanese ones.
I hear all these later,after 2005 or so models,are more efficient than late 90's with carbs since they are fuel injected but are costlier to have work done to them. Can anyone help me cut through all my info overload? If you'd know anyone near Ohio that has a low hour late model 4 stroke for sale,I may inquire about it? thanks for the help!

Bob

 

[Texasmark]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

I can't advise you. All I can do to help is tell you this. A local dealer was a Merc dealer for 10's of years. He quit the badge about 10 years ago and went with Honda. I was by there the other day picking up some Merc stuff that he still had in stock and business is humming right along. He survived the financial balloon bust just fine and is not in a large metropolitan area.....i.e. not a large customer base. Owner is happy with the brand and OEM support. I own a Merc 2 stroke. What can I say?

HTH,
Mark

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Not gonna tell you what motor to buy. Just this; I have a 1999 yamaha 4-stroke tiller I bought new. The only thing I have done in all the years since then is change engine oil, lower unit oil and sparkplugs. This week i am changing the water pump for the first time in 13 years. It still pumps water fine, I'm just nervous about it. I have nearly 2000 hours on it. Installed the hour meter when it was new just to know when to change oil. Oh, yeah, I have used synthetic oil since the warranty ran out.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Don't overlook Suzuki. The 40 on my pontoon has been great. One or two points for you to consider. At wide open throttle two stroke carbed engines burn nearly the same amount of fuel as the four strokes. When comparing performance charts, make sure you understand what you are looking at. A two stroke almost always pushes a boat faster than a four stroke at any given rpm. Because of this, fuel economy numbers tend to be stated at a given rpm which skews them in favor of the four stroke. In other words, a four stroke at 30 MPH will be turning xxxx rpm but the speed is not the first column of numbers -- RPM is usually stated first. So the point here is that it takes fewer RPM to get 30 MPH on the two stroke than it does on the four stroke. So make your fuel economy comparisons at a given speed, not a given RPM. Four strokes tend to be heavier. While you don't have to add oil like you do on a two stroke, you still need to check the oil on a four stroke. Prolonged idling can create a situation called "making oil" where oil level rises due to build up of condensation (water) in the oil because the engine never gets warm enough to burn it off. Valve adjustment, timing belt wear/breakage, and oil/filter changes if done at a dealership are definitely more costly on a four stroke because a two stroke has none of this stuff. Are they nice engines? Certainly. Just trying to point out the issues you asked about.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Don't overlook Suzuki. The 40 on my pontoon has been great. One or two points for you to consider. At wide open throttle two stroke carbed engines burn nearly the same amount of fuel as the four strokes. When comparing performance charts, make sure you understand what you are looking at. A two stroke almost always pushes a boat faster than a four stroke at any given rpm. Because of this, fuel economy numbers tend to be stated at a given rpm which skews them in favor of the four stroke. In other words, a four stroke at 30 MPH will be turning xxxx rpm but the speed is not the first column of numbers -- RPM is usually stated first. So the point here is that it takes fewer RPM to get 30 MPH on the two stroke than it does on the four stroke. So make your fuel economy comparisons at a given speed, not a given RPM. Four strokes tend to be heavier. While you don't have to add oil like you do on a two stroke, you still need to check the oil on a four stroke. Prolonged idling can create a situation called "making oil" where oil level rises due to build up of condensation (water) in the oil because the engine never gets warm enough to burn it off. Valve adjustment, timing belt wear/breakage, and oil/filter changes if done at a dealership are definitely more costly on a four stroke because a two stroke has none of this stuff. Are they nice engines? Certainly. Just trying to point out the issues you asked about.

Well said sir. Very knowledgeable (I know you are) and professional, non-biased answer. Gutsy too as I have never read any verbiage from anyone clarifying what you just said.

Mark

 

[Davem3]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Do not overlook Tohatsu as well. I bought 2 new ones this year (although i am only using a 6HP and 9.8HP) certainly smaller than what you are looking for, but what i learned is that Tohatsu makes a major chunk of outboard motors for almost everyone at this point. and when i bought them they were:
a) much cheaper than the Merc's and most everyone else!
b) way lighter than everyone else as well............

just 2 things to consider, not to mention they are pretty much bulletproof, like the 60's and 70's Johnny's and you harldy see any major problems with them judging by the posts in the Nissan/Tohatsu section ............

however, this does not preclude you from doing the usual maintenance and work on them as usual

my 2 cents worth, hope it helps

 

[BaileysBoat]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Don't overlook Suzuki...........Prolonged idling can create a situation called "making oil" where oil level rises due to build up of condensation (water) in the oil because the engine never gets warm enough to burn it off. Valve adjustment, timing belt wear/breakage, and oil/filter changes if done at a dealership are definitely more costly on a four stroke because a two stroke has none of this stuff. Are they nice engines? Certainly. Just trying to point out the issues you asked about.

Good points about making oil, I had trouble with my Yamaha early on, but problem solved with the correct prop. Another thing in Suzuki's favour is an oil bath timing chain, no timing belt to change.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

I don't work on Zuk's or Honda's but I do work on Yami's, Merc's, Nissan's and Tohatsu's. My favorite motor of all is the Yami's because they seem to go to the end of the warranty without any major service work needed. Just do the routines stuff and run the heck out of them. The Merc's are my next choice because parts are so easy to get and there are a lot of Merc mechanics out there to call on when I can't figure something out. The Small Nissan's, Tohatsu's and Merc's are all the same except for the covers and a few add-ons. Again, lots of parts and not expensive by comparison.

Merc's warranty extension to 5 years is a pretty compelling reason to give them a second look. I never have a problem getting warranty work approved for either Yami's or Merc's. All of them are tough on the small motors but they loosen up on anything 150 and up.

 

[Philster]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

40 HP Merc owner checking in. The new warranty extension is sweet.

Other than that, it's just a 40 HP engine. Nothing to report. It just runs.

 

[Georgesalmon]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

I don't understand the "making oil" thing. I run my F50 yamaha about 30-60 min WOT (weather permiting) and then troll for salmon for 6 to 10 hours at no more than 1000rpm, usually less. Then run again WOT 30-60 min back to home port. I have done this 100's of times in the last thirteen years and I've never seen an increase of oil level.

 

[pootnic]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

I think Merc. makes 2 types of 40hp's;ones a 3cyl 45ci;the other a 61ci 4 cyl,different gear ratios between the two.
I've read where people have changed the 4 cyl into a 60hp(restrictor plate/ecu),bye bye to warranty though.

Google 40 or 50 hp outboard shootouts or round ups;lots of information to overload you with there.
All modern outboards are made well,look for good dealer support close by.
Although theres no replacement for displacement

 

[Texasmark]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

Although theres no replacement for displacement

Yeah verily. Merc learned that years ago when they upped their 150 from 2 to 2.5 liter. Helped the hole shot on bass boats. OMC knew it years ago, like back in the 50's when their 2 cyl 25 hp could push a 16', wide beam, runabout with 2 guys and all their gear at 30 mph.

Mark

 

[Silvertip]

Re: opinion on what brand new 4 stroke to buy

That's why you are not having a problem. It is people that don't understand the need to heat the engine that have the problem. Those same people are likely the ones that never pull the dipstick to check oil condition and level. But then they probably don't on their cars either. Many drivers today don't even know how to open the hood.

I also neglected to indicate that fuel dillution from prolonged idling can raise oil level as well. Againi, the problem goes away if the engine is run long enough at higher throttle settings to the contaminants can burn off.