An outboard motor whine

[Oil Gypsy]

So……

A couple of years ago I treated “us” to a bright shiny new outboard, it replaced an old Merc two stroke which worked marvellously but the smell and cloud of smoke that followed us around was mildly embarrassing.

We needed one of these modern low emission motors, no mixing fuel, no smoke no trail of oil in the water.

We opted for a Yamaha 6hp, it has all the emissions awards in existence, lots and stars and decals gleefully letting you know how good it is, it should have ticked all the boxes.

What a mistake…. Its about the size of a small car, starting it is a nightmare, you pull your arm off trying to get it going, about one time in ten it locks up completely just as you start to pull the cord and you dislocate your shoulder or the cord springs back and almost removes your knee cap. The combination of throttle and choke to start it are an absolute mystery, the settings that were successful last time will never, ever, work again. It doesn't have the power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, turn the handle past the little start indicator and it just sucks fuel like a demon, no extra power, just masses of extra vibration, so much so that its mildly uncomfortable to hold the handle.

It has less than 15 hours on it, barely out of the run in period but I hate it with a vengeance, it is so close to becoming an anchor that I doubt it will last till the end of season.

It may have won many awards, but personally it has got to the stage that I would much rather use the oars than try to start it.

In the meantime Im scouring Marketplace for a halfway decent Mercury.

 

[psneeld]

Funny, everyone I know with small Mercs get rid of them for the same issues you claim the Yammie had.

Good luck with your ultimate choice, but I find many boaters that seem to have lot's of issues with all sorts of equipment and yet others swear by the same equipment.

Hard to make an recommendations based on internet reports...I usually go by what the rental companies stick with (not any given year as sometimes they are offered "deals" by the different manufacturers). I go with what brands they use year after year and I got to say, my last dingy outboard, 8hp, was a Yammie that was a rental outboard for one year when they trade them in. Worked like a champ for years.

 

[Barking Sands]

Did it ever work? When brand new? Sounds like the carb needs cleaning.

 

[rslifkin]

If the compression release on the Yamaha is anything like my 6hp Tohatsu, don't just yank on the cord. Otherwise you get the shoulder killer. Instead, pull slowly at first. Once you've gone a few inches or hit a hard spot and slowly pulled through it, then speed up for the rest of the pull. That has avoided the sudden stops on every small single cylinder 4 stroke engine I've tried it on (outboards and others).

 

[klee wyck]

So……

A couple of years ago I treated “us” to a bright shiny new outboard, it replaced an old Merc two stroke which worked marvellously but the smell and cloud of smoke that followed us around was mildly embarrassing.

We needed one of these modern low emission motors, no mixing fuel, no smoke no trail of oil in the water.

We opted for a Yamaha 6hp, it has all the emissions awards in existence, lots and stars and decals gleefully letting you know how good it is, it should have ticked all the boxes.

What a mistake…. Its about the size of a small car, starting it is a nightmare, you pull your arm off trying to get it going, about one time in ten it locks up completely just as you start to pull the cord and you dislocate your shoulder or the cord springs back and almost removes your knee cap. The combination of throttle and choke to start it are an absolute mystery, the settings that were successful last time will never, ever, work again. It doesn't have the power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, turn the handle past the little start indicator and it just sucks fuel like a demon, no extra power, just masses of extra vibration, so much so that its mildly uncomfortable to hold the handle.

It has less than 15 hours on it, barely out of the run in period but I hate it with a vengeance, it is so close to becoming an anchor that I doubt it will last till the end of season.

It may have won many awards, but personally it has got to the stage that I would much rather use the oars than try to start it.

In the meantime Im scouring Marketplace for a halfway decent Mercury.

Ha! whining in harmony...
I finally gave up on the last two stroke this year before a scheduled cruise this summer. I bought the same brand, a little more hp, same exact story as yours with same experience. Missing my two strokes now. I own three different four strokes in two different brands and sort of loath all three of the heavy gutless wonders.
That's progress.

 

[Delta Riverat]

I snagged an old Evinrude 2 cylinder, 15 HP when I could. These motors have tons of power, start easy and last forever.

 

[BruceK]

I bought a lightweight Merc 3.3 2 stroke new, just as they went off the market. It hated the older fuel I was using in a Tohatsu 4 but once I gave it new fresh fuel with a stabilizer/preserver,love prevailed.

 

[Action]

I love the smell of two stroke in the morning.

 

[CharlieO.]

Really like my Merc 3.3 2 smoker, light, minimal parts on it. I just run the carb dry of fuel when I put it away. We do 4.3 knots wide open with 2 in our dingy.

 

[Bmarler]

Temperamental outboards are a good reason to switch to electric. I love my torqeedo, no gas cans on the boat, no pull cord.

 

[O C Diver]

In 1994 I bought a 6 HP Mercury. In looking through the accessory booklet, I found that they offered an electric start as an option. Had my mechanic install it including the 6 amp battery charger coil. Haven’t bought an outboard since without electric start.

Ted

 

[hollywood8118]

As I have mentioned before, someone will have to pry my 2 stroke dinghy motors 2- Yamaha, 1- tohatsu from my dead hands. They are dirt simple, almost always start by pull #2, are light for the hp output and have minimal electronic crap to go wrong. If ran at the recommended 100/1 oil ratio they barely to never smoke or leave a oil sheen. Most folks seem to up the oil/gas ratio and they will smoke. If they don't start it is typically something in the carb bowl and a 3 minute drain of the bowl usually takes care of it. Some day I will have to resort to a larger 4 stroke when we go up to a larger RIB with console and seating but until then the 2 stroke will win out.
Hollywood

 

[Barking Sands]

Temperamental outboards are a good reason to switch to electric. I love my torqeedo, no gas cans on the boat, no pull cord.

I love working on and repairing all sorts of things. But a boat motor when you need it aint one of them. I am leaning more and more towards electric dingy motor. My only requirement is it must accept external standard batteries such as a 12 v 100 ah lifepo4 or a 36 volt 50 ah etc. Proprietary batteries is also something I am not fond of.

 

[Cold Duck]

Now I use a little more hp, but currently have Hondas, 15hp, 30hp and 50hp. The 30hp has been sunk twice, underwater for 3 days (freshwater). Engine pulled out, drained, oil in the cylinders, new gas and oil and started right up and still running. (This will seldom works with a 2 cycle as rust forms on the crank journals and tears them up quickly.) Still running 5 years later including starter and alternator. All connectors have an "O" ring to protect the connections. I swear by this engineering. The 15 and 50 are in Hawaii, the 15 is a "get home" pull start engine so gets little use. Always starts. FWIW, these engines are over 10 yrs old and work as advertised. I've had Yamahas, Mercs, Evinrudes and Suzukis, 2-250hp. I would buy another Honda any day.

 

[SteveK]

3rd season now Mercury propane 5HP. Must remember to fresh water flush, maybe check the plugs. Once I had to pull more than 3 times before I realized propane was not turned on.

All OB should start on a few pulls or something is not set right, carb fouled, plug gap, timing. Lack of use and stale gas sitting in carb. use premium gas and run it dry after disconnecting fuel. Use fuel stabilizer or empty tank at end of season.