2 stroke outboard question

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1114C

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Hi

I have been looking for a small outboard to serve as an auxiliary on a 14 foot motor boat i have and also to use on the avon going to and from the main boat. I have preferred a 2 stroke due to weight issues

I have found one online which it claims to be a 1996 model but is in fact (I have since found out) a 1992 model. It appears to be in very good condition although i have not seen it running yet

Question i have is should i be worried that it is over 20 years old - it appears you can get parts online in the US but not sure if you can get them in the UK - do these engines have a life span that means I should not touch anything more than a few years old?

It is a Johnson 3hp, in good nick in appearance both externally and under the hood and mine for £220 - does that sound too much

I have limited experience of outboards so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
The Johnson / Evinrude 2 & 4hp were poor & prone to seizure, i had 2 x 4hp & 1 2hp.
the yacht twin & the 3 hp were ok as was the 6hp.
if you can get a mariner/ yamaha ( re badged tohatsu) so much the better.
i have a 30 yr old 2hp mariner in the garage, its my spare, superb engine
 
tomgregory said:
Hi

I have been looking for a small outboard to serve as an auxiliary on a 14 foot motor boat i have and also to use on the avon going to and from the main boat. I have preferred a 2 stroke due to weight issues

I have found one online which it claims to be a 1996 model but is in fact (I have since found out) a 1992 model. It appears to be in very good condition although i have not seen it running yet

Question i have is should i be worried that it is over 20 years old - it appears you can get parts online in the US but not sure if you can get them in the UK - do these engines have a life span that means I should not touch anything more than a few years old?

It is a Johnson 3hp, in good nick in appearance both externally and under the hood and mine for £220 - does that sound too much

I have limited experience of outboards so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I have a 3.5 HP Johnson which replaced a 3 HP Johnson. The 3 had been immersed and had rusted the upper main bearing out. I stripped it-a very straightforward job-and replaced the defective bearing and one gasket. It started ran and like a new one afterwards. My 3.5 was NOS-New Old Stock-and is just what I need. light, punchy and easy starting. It did not start one morning-I had to pull the cord again..........................IMHO they are fine. Modern fuel soon gets the stickers off and stains the white casing. I removed them on my 3.5 and masked up our boat name both sides of the cover. I then sanded the plastic and used flexible black Dinghy lettering paint to put our boat name one the cover as an anti theft device. If the one you are looking at runs well and starts easily when hot it could be worth a punt. I certainly have no issues with either of the ones I have experience of. Good Luck!
 
We have a 20 year old Yamaha 3hp as our d=tender outboard. Apart from clearing some blocked cooling water passage ways and fitting the occasional new impeller, the thing is great. Also easy enough to get spares for it; there are a number of sites selling either brand new spares or recycled bits. There are also some new Chinese made 2 strokes available on ebay for not a lot of money - less than you're being asked for a 20 year old motor......
 
£220 is way too much.
I sold my excellent old Tohatsu 3.5hp for £70 on ebay.
The buyer was chuffed to bits. (I would have liked about £100)
 
tomgregory said:
Hi

I have been looking for a small outboard to serve as an auxiliary on a 14 foot motor boat i have and also to use on the avon going to and from the main boat. I have preferred a 2 stroke due to weight issues

I have found one online which it claims to be a 1996 model but is in fact (I have since found out) a 1992 model. It appears to be in very good condition although i have not seen it running yet

Question i have is should i be worried that it is over 20 years old - it appears you can get parts online in the US but not sure if you can get them in the UK - do these engines have a life span that means I should not touch anything more than a few years old?

It is a Johnson 3hp, in good nick in appearance both externally and under the hood and mine for £220 - does that sound too much

I have limited experience of outboards so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Not recommended as a good buy. Try for one of the rebadged Tohatsus (Mercury, Mariner, Tohatsu) the 2.5 and 3.5 are the same engine but different waterpumps and carbs.
I bought mine for £M80.
They're still available as grey imports and parts are easy to obtain.

I had the original 1.5 Johnson - a right pig.
 
I bought a used Johnson 4 about 20 years ago when it was about 2 years old. It ran very smoothly then as it does now. It's twin cylinder unit, I think the smallest 2 stroke twin outboard ever made. I only sometimes winterise it but I regularly rinse the salt out buy running it in a fresh water tank. If I had to replace it I would seek out another used one, they are excellent engines if treated properly.

I also have a Tohatsu 4, single cylinder, which is also very reliable but nowhere near as smooth as the Johnson 4. I have an inflatable and an aluminium dinghy.
The Johnson 4, being a twin, is fine on the aluminum dinghy whereas the single cylinder Tohatsu tries to shake the rivits out of it. So I use the Tohatsu on the inflatable where it's fine, I assume that the flexible nature of an inflatable absorbs the vibrations of a single cylinder motor.
 
Funny. I had exactly the opposite experience. The Johnson 4 was noisy and vibrated. The Tohatsu 3.5 was smooth and quiet. They were both pensioner motors.

BTW Charles was not quite right. The bigger Tohatsus (Mercury/Mariner/Nissan etc) had the water pump in a different place because they had a neutral gear.
The smaller ones had the water pump behind the prop because they were in gear all the time.
Very early 3.5 Tohatsus had no gearchange either.
 
tomgregory;3988017[SIZE=1 said:
]Hi

I have been looking for a small outboard to serve as an auxiliary on a 14 foot motor boat i have and also to use on the avon going to and from the main boat. I have preferred a 2 stroke due to weight issues

I have found one online which it claims to be a 1996 model but is in fact (I have since found out) a 1992 model. It appears to be in very good condition although i have not seen it running yet

Question i have is should i be worried that it is over 20 years old - it appears you can get parts online in the US but not sure if you can get them in the UK - do these engines have a life span that means I should not touch anything more than a few years old?

It is a Johnson 3hp, in good nick in appearance both externally and under the hood and mine for £220 - does that sound too much

I have limited experience of outboards so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks[/SIZE]
Click to expand...


I take it you are sure about the age.... the date letters are EN for a '92 model

There is still a good range of spares listed

Good sources in the UK are Willsmarine http://willsmarine.co.uk/ in Devon and Outboards direct (aka Oakley Marine ) in Brighton http://www.outboards-direct.co.uk/detailsmain.html. I ve had good service from Oakley others have had good service from Willsmarine

I don't know about the price but if Lakesailor says £220 is too much then it probably is.

The similar 4hp Johnsons and Evinrudes were reckoned to be among the best small outboards going at one time.

Engine siezures were a problem during the late 1980s when OMC tried to run them on 100:1 fuel mixtures but they should all be fine on 50:1


Cooling is an aspect to check on as after 20 years water passages can become blocked esp if not flushed regularly.There is no telltale ( "pee") on these small ones apart from the exhaust relief holes on the leg.

If you buy any second hand outboard look at the recommendations for things to check/do at http://forums.iboats.com/engine-fre...kening-sleeping-outboard-boatbuoy-158086.html
 
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