My 2003 Yamaha F225 failed again, thinking repower

[Ludicrous40]

Here is the picture: Purchased the boat last year with ~1300 hours on the motor. Then had the exhaust repair done including the larger parts kit with new oil pump. Then had fuel and top end problems resulting in new fuel pumps, and all the filters. FYI - when the exhaust repair was done, the mechanic felt that the power head had been replaced, and had found some "debris" in the oil pan. The compression was very good across all cylinders. Did some research of my own and determined that the power head had indeed been replaced as the Zyncs next to the spark plugs required the parts from a 2006 power head.

Fast forward to yesterday, on the way out with a beautiful morning and flat seas.....started to lose power, so I throttled down and stopped. No codes, but now the engine is idling rough, sounding like it lost a cylinder or something. I was hoping that I lost a coil. Throttling up sounded bad, so we limped in at no wake speed without any changes in the situation. At the dock we check all the plugs (good), oil (good), but on closer observation the motor sounded like it was making "mechanical" noises. Put it in neutral and gave it a little throttle, and let's just say everyone there said: "that doesn't sound good". I have a fair amount of experience with motors, but not outboards. My opinion is that something mechanical has failed, and it's going to cost me. In either case, I have to consider that my engine may have been abused, and I was the uneducated consumer that was more excited about my new Parker than the possibilities of any problems. Right now I'm getting in line to have it checked by the dealer within a week and half. In the mean time, I'm really starting to consider the warranty and peace of mind that I may acquire by putting a new E-Tec 250 on the back....More power, no oil changes, no VST, and warranty.

Opinions welcome.....

I'm looking forward to the day when I can be a positive contributor without whining about all my boat/motor issues. You guys have all been great.

 

[Megabyte]

Tough call, but if she were mine, I'd take her to a reputable Yamaha mechanic and have her diagnosed.
Doing it here on the forums might give you some ideas, but a competent and reliable Yamaha mechanic is better than we will ever be.

 

[Ludicrous40]

Thanks Kevin, That's what I'm doing, and is the reason for the week and half wait.

 

[Megabyte]

If I were that mechanic, first thing I'd do would be to plug a laptop into her and see if she is holding any codes.
If the shop is a good one, they should have diagnostic software that might be able to pinpoint the problem, rather than just throwing parts at it.

Let us know what you find out. :wink:

 

[Kris360]

I would take it to someone who is competent in Yamaha , these are tough motors and it sounds like the previous owner either abused it or used it a lot . I would have my mechanic hook up their Yamaha diagnostic software and see how many hours are on it and what codes if any are present. Rather than jumping ship spend the money on a competent person to diagnose it properly. Personally I wouldn't take the E tec route.

 

[Ludicrous40]

Posting the problem wasn't an effort to find a solution, I'll let the yami tech do that. But if the solution is expensive, I'm moving on. I just don't see any point in continued investment in a motor that has not demonstrated reliabilty, and at the end of the day does not have enough power for the boat.

It really isn't different from ford vs dodge, etc.. There are several good motor choices, and this site already has a fair amount of debate on the subject. IMO an E Tec is an intriguing choice, plenty of power, less maintenance, and I've already found the oil at $30/ gallon verses the $50/gallon that is complained about. Given the yami maintenance, break in, ring free, oil changes, etc.. It seems like an easy decision, except when I look At some of the performance numbers that DaleH regularly achieves with the Suzuki. I haven't found any other posts where a yami was providing near 4mpg, that is just awesome.

So anyway, I'm just trying to prompt some discussion and get some response, I don't take a $20 to $25k investment lightly.

 

[Brent]

Tough to know until they dig into it. ...and plenty of time of shop for new motors except the sticker shock

 

[Megabyte]

I don't take a $20 to $25k investment lightly.

I can relate.

The good news is that there really are some good outboards on the market now.
It's no longer the 'bad old days'.

 

[Brent]

If u repower, what will u purchase?

 

[Ludicrous40]

Leaning towards E Tec 250, but have to do some due diligence. If it comes time to purchase I probably will pm Dale to make sure I understand what the Suzuki is providing. He is definitely happy with that choice

 

[kidfreediver]

I just put an etec 250 on. My first day out was today.

 

[warthog5]

Leaning towards E Tec 250, but have to do some due diligence. If it comes time to purchase I probably will pm Dale to make sure I understand what the Suzuki is providing. He is definitely happy with that choice

Me Too.

 

[Ludicrous40]

So I got the news. The oil pressure is/was just high enough to not trigger the oil alarm, and the rest is history. I just created a post warning members not to ignore any oil pressure alarms, as I posted about it last year, and had a few responses about faulty oil sending units, and similar alarms, and somehow I decided that I just needed to replace my sending unit and I'd be fine.....no oil alarms this year after replacing the oil sender, just a dead motor...

It would take about $11k to "start" fixing it, so that isn't an option. I just received quotes for an E-Tec repower, and it is a quite a bit more than Kidfreediver paid for his 250. None of the prices below included tax or labor which would be another ~3k.

250 mechanical ~21700
250 digital ~23300
300 mechanical ~22900
300 digital ~24700

Cheapest option would be to bolt on a new "mechanical" Yamaha 250, but I just have a bad taste with the Yamaha product right now....probably my fault, but nothing went right for me with this motor. I'm going to make some additional calls, check out the Suzuki 300, maybe other E Tec dealers....

 

[kidfreediver]

I wish I could help with a quote for u but since u live so far away it would be and even bigger hassle. The dealer out here is a very good friend off mine and gets me these motors at cost after he reaches his quota for the year which changed from 750hp to 1100hp this year. So it took a little longer to get the deal. He charges me a flat rate of the install which is 10hrs for the big motor at $85 an hour so he says total will be about 1500 for the second steer station and the little kicker motor.

 

[Ludicrous40]

Found an Evinrude dealer with pricing more in line with what Kidfreediver paid. Turn key pricing of $20500 for an E-Tec 300 with Iconn controls. I just have to get the prop.

Good bye Yamaha.....