Honda 2.3 whinge

Kukri

Kukri

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I have never before owned an item of yottiquipment that I have actually hated.

I hate my Honda 2.3.

I bought it new from Seamark Nunn. It has enjoyed a diet of pure four stroke Aspen Fuel.

It is quite light. That is all that can be said for it.

It is hard to start, and once started it will not idle. It runs full blast, with a vicious tiller action, and stops erratically.

This is the worst thing I have ever bought for a boat.

I am going back to my honest and dependable Seagull Forty Plus*.

* with biodegradable two stroke, at 25:1
 
I also bought one a year ago, from the same supplier.

I run it on regular unleaded petrol. We did suffer a temporary issue which i think was caused by some dirty fuel. Bought a new 5l container and new fuel, and no problems since, other than it needs quite a bit of choke until fully warmed up.

Pluses: It's light; it gets us to where we need to get to; apart from the temporary issue noted above no problems with starting it, it generally starts first pull and will run at tick over once warm; no water pump to get clogged up and cause overheating.

Minuses: It's noisy and I agree that the tiller action requires a bit of care.
 
as an aside, it was a toss up between the Honda and the water cooled Yamaha 2.5. The guy at Seamark advised that while both engines have some compromises, the Honda was *less* liable to suffer carburettor issues than the Honda!

No doubt we will now have a big queue of people telling us that the Yamaha is bomb proof!
 
Mine started 2nd pull yesterday after having been sat hanging off of the back of the boat for a couple of months. Revved and ticked over perfectly for 5 minutes, when I then switched off the fuel and let it run itself out of fuel, which I believe (very firmly) is the trick for keeping it as the most reliable small outboard in the World. (y)
FYI, mine's got scores of hours on it, and has pushed my Folkboat all around the North of Scotland and up to Shetland.
Kukri, you might do worse than PM'ing Steve65 perhaps?
 
We "fixed" ours by putting clean fuel in, getting it going with some difficulty and lots of choke, and then running it for at least half an hour (during which time we inspected the inner area of the Deben bar at low water).

Interesting tip about letting it run out of fuel - will try to remember to do that in future!

The views on whether Aspen is useful for this engine seem mixed - maybe try some unleaded?
 
Thanks for the advice. The fact that Steve sold me, at a very modest price, the stainless bolts that Honda had not seen fit to put on a marine engine, tells us a lot about the contempt with which Honda view yachtspeople!

Wouldn’t it be nice if it ran at tick over straight away? That surely is, in the immortal words of Barack Obama, the “whole point” of the centrifugal clutch!
 
Umhh? Mine does tickover from start-up, albeit with the choke out until it begins to 'stutter' which is when I knock the choke in, and it ticks over like a good'un!
 
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Chae_73 said:
I also bought one a year ago, from the same supplier.

I run it on regular unleaded petrol. We did suffer a temporary issue which i think was caused by some dirty fuel. Bought a new 5l container and new fuel, and no problems since, other than it needs quite a bit of choke until fully warmed up.

Pluses: It's light; it gets us to where we need to get to; apart from the temporary issue noted above no problems with starting it, it generally starts first pull and will run at tick over once warm; no water pump to get clogged up and cause overheating.

Minuses: It's noisy and I agree that the tiller action requires a bit of care.
Click to expand...
Re the tiller action; In my tender I once provided a few laughs in Baltimore Harbour for the usual audience when attempting to swivel the engine to slow down a too quick arrival. In my haste I held onto the throttle, initiating a dizzying pirouette?
 
I hated mine and gave it away with my last boat. (Sorry Steve) I replaced it with a Mercury 3.5 4 stroke, an overweight piece of s**t. We now have a twenty five year old Mercury 3.3 two stroke which is superb.
 
My Honda 2.3 is fine, also bought from Seamark Nunn 6 yrs ago - fitted with stainless bolts etc, starts 2nd/3rd pull, I never drain the carburettor even over winter, use standard petrol BUT I always add Honda fuel additive which seems to keep it going ok. The additive also used in Honda lawnmower & strimmer. Yes, it's noisy but no Impeller so no water issues. I like it!
 
Kukri said:
I have never before owned an item of yottiquipment that I have actually hated.

I hate my Honda 2.3.

I bought it new from Seamark Nunn. It has enjoyed a diet of pure four stroke Aspen Fuel.

It is quite light. That is all that can be said for it.

It is hard to start, and once started it will not idle. It runs full blast, with a vicious tiller action, and stops erratically.

This is the worst thing I have ever bought for a boat.

I am going back to my honest and dependable Seagull Forty Plus*.

* with biodegradable two stroke, at 25:1
Click to expand...

It's not the engine. See my post re my relationship with my 2.3 posted elsewhere on the forum!

Ink
 
Kukri said:
I bought it new from Seamark Nunn. It has enjoyed a diet of pure four stroke Aspen Fuel.

It is quite light. That is all that can be said for it.

It is hard to start, and once started it will not idle. It runs full blast, with a vicious tiller action, and stops erratically.

This is the worst thing I have ever bought for a boat.
Click to expand...

How long ago did you buy it? What do Seamark Nunn have to say about your problems? Is it too late to ask for a refund?

Edit: Just in case @Concerto gets apoplectic with rage that I've dared to comment on a thread about petrol outboards when I don't own one, can I say that I have owned petrol outboards in the past! :rolleyes:
 
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I had a Yamaha stolen about 15 years ago and couldn’t decided what to buy as a replacement; the veritable Tohatsu 2.5 or the veritable Honda 2.3, so I bought both ?

I’m not much of a tender user so only clock-up a couple of hours per season. I tend to alternate their use each season. I try to make a bit of an effort to give them some TLC before winter.

Both performed extremely well and I still don’t know which I prefer ?
 
coopec said:
Did you see these threads?

Honda 2.3hp outboard problems | YBW Forum
https://forums.ybw.com › honda-2-3hp-outboard-probl...

16 Apr 2010 — Start by checking that you have a good spark from the plug lead. Plugs can fail so yes change it if you have a good spark available. If no spark ...
Honda 2.3 Outboard won't start - any pointers 4 Apr 2009
Honda 2.3 ouboard starting problems 12 Nov 2018
Honda 2.3 Outboard...rough 19 Sept 2012
Honda 2.3 outboard problem 4 Oct 2015
Click to expand...
People don't tend to start forum threads when their engines perform well so half a dozen problem threads doesn't count for much when you consider how many are out their. (A recent unscientific poll at Dartmouth dinghy pontoon revealed that the Honda is the most common by a country mile).
I used to have one (secondhand) and never had any problems. I sold it too a friend who also has had no problems although he doesn't use it much.
I always ran it on standard fuel.
 
pvb said:
How long ago did you buy it? What do Seamark Nunn have to say about your problems? Is it too late to ask for a refund?

Edit: Just in case @Concerto gets apoplectic with rage that I've dared to comment on a thread about petrol outboards when I don't own one, can I say that I have owned petrol outboards in the past! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

1: Three years ago; far too late!
2: Andrew has very kindly agreed to give it the first service that it never had because of the Dreaded Lurgy.
 
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