Myths around 4 stokes

[BrianH]

Check the big end when you get the chance, but yes my Mariner 2hp 2 stroke tender engine has been inverted and submerged in salt water 4 times since I bought it in 1987, thanks to the ineptitude of myself and others.

It has got away with fresh water flushes and one set of main bearings and still delivers, I hate to say it about a Japanese product and wish there was a British alternative, but it's a brilliant engine, I know a friends' Yamaha 4hp 2 stroke has gone through a similar career and is the same, still a good 'un.

I don't care where it's made, I'll buy based on suitability, even Chinese, if it fits requirements. My Johnson is no longer US made, it's a re-badged Tohatsu - and made in China.

Some parts are rubbish, the fuel tap is made from two moulded parts, a static and rotating one, held together by a spring (that shows rust) but the spindle is part of the rotating section and sheared, unable to sustain the spring tension. This caused fuel to flow out while just sitting on its bracket and not even being used ... a highly dangerous design fault in the interest of cheap production.

On the other hand, all the electrics are encapsulated, making them waterproof and reliable, a big improvement on the old design, which is one reason my Johnson could recover from its dunking.

 

[macd]

Some parts are rubbish, the fuel tap is made from two moulded parts, a static and rotating one, held together by a spring (that shows rust) but the spindle is part of the rotating section and sheared, unable to sustain the spring tension. This caused fuel to flow out while just sitting on its bracket and not even being used ... a highly dangerous design fault in the interest of cheap production.

My old Tohatsu 3.5 had the same, which also failed in the same way. Pending arrival of a new one, I managed to drill through one part for a self-tapper into the other. A horrible botch but at least it meant I could use it.

 

[BrianH]

My old Tohatsu 3.5 had the same, which also failed in the same way. Pending arrival of a new one, I managed to drill through one part for a self-tapper into the other. A horrible botch but at least it meant I could use it.

A thin plastic component not of the right material for the stresses applied; an unbelievably poor design to reduce to two injection moulding components in a critical safety application. For a moment it made me wistfully remember my Seagull fuel tap fabricated all in metal parts ... but only just for a moment.

 

[dartmoor]

Ok here we go....... i have a 2hp honda 1991 still singing like a sewing machine and have bought and sold many more like it. Your absolutely correct small 4 strokes dont have oil pumps, they have oil slingers that if you have oil in the sump work perfectly well. You have a look at the jet size on your 2 stroke and i will bet my house its far larger than an equivalent 2 stroke so a 4 stroke whatever the hp will be far more efficient. Whatever outboard you have whether its a 1965 40 plus or a 2013 3.5 mercury it owes its reliability to good maintenance

Slingers or 100:1 - now the Selva 2.5hp loathsome engine that I have (for sale if anyone is interested) - says its a 4 stroke - sounds like an amplified Honda with inards like a bag of spanners - but has no oil sump at all. Apparently it draws in oil fromthe reservoir where you put good old fashioned 2 stroke oil. No clue as to how on earth it knows how to draw enough oil in not to seize....Anyone know how that works??

At the boat show today, round the back of one of the tents was the lonely Selva stall...but didn't see any customers.