2005 225 Evinrude (My rant!)

[times two]

Had a 2005 225 2 stroke evinrude (pre-ETEC). Came new with the boat as a leftover;

put in service in 2007. Always maintained at an Evinrude dealer, ran all the right oil, fuel conditioners, etc. and did exactly what the dealer told me to do. 550hrs.

Engine blew earlier this month while running down the lake. Mechanic said it looked

like you threw a hand grenade inside the powerhead.

Did my due diligence on the internet, and found that this particular series is known

for this. Called Evinrude to complain, and got the standard company blah, blah, blah.

Sorry for your troubles, but there's nothing we can do. No we don't offer any repair

incentives. No, we don't have any discounts for you if you buy an ETEC.

Pointed out the internet stuff and they said that, "only unhappy people post, and we

have many other motors that are still running.". Didn't budge. Thank you for

nothing.

**

Moved on to another 225, but you can bet it was not an Evinrude. If you have the

chance to ever buy one, don't.

[K Gonefishin]

Those motors are junk. I had a 2003 250 DI. Sold it after a year of having problem and purchased a new boat because I wanted new with warranty, guy who purchase it blew it up TWICE! another friends had a 02 200 DI, he also BLEW it up. BOTH of these motors had issues with TPCS, fuel pumples, starters, chewing plugs, etc. Both of these motors didn't even make it to 350 hours, WEAK. They are just garbage. Merc and Yammy is where it's at. The E-tec's aren't much better lots of powerhead and lower unit problems, my dealers words not mine.

Sorry to hear you are another victim of BRP.

[adam2000]

Heard the etecs are junk. Always go yamaha or merc if you can

[ Post made via Android ]

[times two]

The mechanic that had done the annual service said "well, you made it longer than

most do".

Evinrude didn't want any part of me telling them about all the posts on the internet.

Thank god I had bought the extended warranty. They ended up buying me out because they didn't want me to fix it, then have to do it again in 6 months. They told me that the 2000-2005 Evinrude was there most frequent claim.

**

Yamaha on there now.

[jimski2]

This rant and the weight and prices of the new four stroke O/B's make my old 2 stroke 90 hp Evinrude with carburators more valuable. I had a 1964 65 HP v4 and except for the six gallons an hour it would not self destruct. My 115 and 90 hp motors just keep on running and save a lot of weight compared to the four strokes. I have a 4 stroke 10 HP Honda for a trolling motor that serves me well. The future seems to bode well for the old time motors especially when you hear of fuel injectors problems. Simple is better.

[MCF]

The V-4 Evinrudes and Johnsons may have been the best motors ever produced, and parts are readily available. I have just purchased my first four stroke this summer, a used 90 Mercury, it is sweet. I have a couple small evinrudes from the 70's which are great motors and will probably run well for another couple decades. OMC and Mercury tweaked their two strokes over the years so they are still relatively fuel efficient. OMC got in trouble when the bankruptcy hit and produced a lot of bad product from 1999 til the ETEC era. Costs were cut and corners were cut as well.

[Trap Jaw]

I hate to tell you all, but every manufacturer is like that now. Just go back and see the post from earlier this summer about Yamaha. They all want it out the door and never have to deal with it again. Customer service is a thing of the past.

Similar sentiment, I sold my '71 Mercs(4 & 80hp) to a friend of mine to get his duck boat going. We just did a compression test on the 80 last year and it still has 130psi on all 4 cylinders. I told him this summer that if he ever upgrades boats I want my motors back. After 40 years that thing will still start within 5 seconds of cranking.

[times two]

I had a 1990 70 hp Evinrude that I ran for 10 years. The only thing I ever

did to it was change the water pump impeller.

I'm not an idiot, and I know things eventually need repair. My issue was that

it had everything done the way it was supposed to be done, service, etc. and than

out of the blue it goes down. Ok, that happens. But then you do the research

and find out that its been a problem, so the assumption would be that they would

at least try to make it right, even if was to only offer a discount on a new engine.

Instead, it was a basic blowoff. When a new one is $20k, you'd think there would

be a least something they could do.

[NitroMusky]

They do for you, and they have to do for all. Not a door they want to step through when there is a known issue. Sad, but that's business these days...make the quarterly numbers for wall street, sacrifice the customer base, reputation and long term viability of the company.

Sorry you had a bad experience, hope the change of cowl colors serves you well

[Trap Jaw]

When a new one is $20k, you'd think there would

be a least something they could do.

And that is why I have sworn off(and at) outboards on my fishing boats. I/O's all the way from now on. If I need to repower, like I had to do on one outboard already, at least it'll only run 4-5 grand instead of 20. The since the 90's, outboards just aren't built like the old ones.

[times two]

Trap Jaw:

You make a good point! One of the reasons I got the outboard was so I could

repower if I ever needed to.....but an i/o would have been a lot less!