Struggling with Outboard decision

[ColinJ]

Looking for some advice from those with experience..

Bought my first sailboat (Tanzer 22) this fall and just got it in the water yesterday. The boat came with an evinrude 9.9 which the previous seller showed me working right before the water came out for the season. I then had the motor winterized and the carb cleaned. This spring I tested it on the hard and it fired up no problems. I then tested it as soon as it went in the water and no issues. Then I went to move the boat, put it in gear, got a bunch of smoke and the engine quit. I haven't gotten it running since then... Others at the boat club are telling me the motor never worked last year and the guy was getting a tow every weekend and the engine was into the shop almost on a weekly bases.

So here is the issue.. I've got a 100+km first trip with the boat to bring it home. I don't trust this motor even if I get it fixed.

-Do I take my changes and have a mechanic look it over and completely go over the engine.
-There is a 7.5 evinrude (1980-85) for sale locally for $600 which the owner has told me if it doesn't work for me just take it back.
-Sink $3000 into a new motor..

Since yesterday one second I'm buying the 7.5 then the next keeping the 9.9 then going with the new motor. I do not want to hate my boat because the motor never works and I certainly don't want to get stuck down river.. Which is why the smart choice is newer engine but the funds are all tied up with the boat, memberships, moorings, etc..

[olson34]

Those are not lightweights. That's about a 3000# boat. I would advocate something tried and true like a Honda or Yamaha 10. If you go for the Yam, get the "Hi Thrust" model with the higher-ratio final gear, meant for displacement hulls. Honda will put a lower-pitch four bladed prop on for a sailboat application, but the lower gear in the Yamaha is preferred.

You did not ask, but if you can track down the newer MUCH IMPROVED rudder blade thru the class association, for Heaven's sake do so.

Solid little sailors, and somewhat over-built... which is a good thing after all these decades...


LB

[dabnis]

Colin,

You didn't say if it is a 2 or 4 stroke or what year. If it is a 2 stroke
they are pretty simple. Motors from about the earlier or mid eighties
have solid state ignitions, IIRC, generally they either run fine or not at
all, ignition wise. So it is likely to be an over rich problem, based on
your description. A good shop should be able to verify the ignition
and determine what the fuel situation is. Short of crankcase seal
problems, which is rare, or an air leak in the hoses or carb, it probably
is a carb issue. Shouldn't take a shop more than an hour or so to find the
problem. I had a 15 HP Evinrude 2 stroke, same basic motor as the
9.9, ran it hard for 10 years, was running perfectly when I sold the boat.
Suggest you drain the carb if it is not going to be used for 2 weeks or so.

Dabnis

[omaho5]

I had the 9.9 Yacht Twin on my Cape Dory 22. It drove me crazy even after a very complete overhall.
Finally got an 8HP four stroke Mercury. I think all ob's suck. But the new four strokes suck less.
You do not need any more than an 8HP long shaft to push you.

[killarney_sailor]

I have a 6 hp 4 stroke Mercury for my dinghy (two years old) and it has been a piece of crap in the hard usage I give it. I have gotten very good and stripping the carb since I do it about once every two weeks or so. You see an awful lot of Yamahas in the long-term cruising community and for pushing big fishing boats in obscure spots. Wish I had gone that route.

[SailKing1]

I went through the same crap with an old Honda 9.8. I spent money trying to keep it running and kept having one problem on top of another. I finally bought a Nissan 2 stroke electric start online brand new in the box with everything needed to run except fuel for $1800 shipped to my front door. This was 6 years ago. I used is with no issues for 4 years and then sold it with the boat. The electric start was great and the comfort in reliability was with spending the money. There are still a lot of 2 strokes out there if you don't mind the mixing of gas and oil. I will also say that at the time the least expensive comparable I could find was $2600 plus.

[ColinJ]

Wow thanks for all the info and suggestions I'm new to this site and its great to have such support.

The motor in question is a late 70s evinrude if I had to guess I'd say a 79. Also be the boat is a 79 so most likely the original motor. I tracked down ownership of the boat at least 10 years back now and everyone said the motor has always had issues and I guess it sat unused for 5 of those years and the motor was left outside in the winter.

dabnis - I agree a 2 stroke motor like this should be easy.. I suspect a great mechanic would be able to get it running no problem. The great part being the key point and I've had a hard time in the past finding a good motor mechanic. I still like I'd like to play around with it before dropping 3g but the boat is stuck on a mooring 200km away.

I think I'm sold now on at least looking at a new motor on Monday. I'm going to call around some to Honda and Yamaha. I love the idea of the Hi Thrust or BigFoot models but they are quite costly. However I think I've convinced the wife this is a good long term investment. We do keep thinking about that used 85 evinrude and having it inspected but I'm one of those guys that being cheep always kicks me in the ass.

[deniseO30]

Welcome to the site! get another motor! 5 hp should be MORE then enough. I see 25 ft boats with less. 4 strokes rule

[MikeWhy]

I've read that the Pardey's think it a good idea to learn to scull. I haven't tried it myself, for lack of an oar and other excuses.

[tommays]

Old motors like Evinrude 9.9 twins were about the best motors ever made which means you pretty much have to have a really bad mechanic

Its got ignition a really simple fuel pump and carburetor