Outboard reliability - Mercury vs Yamaha

[Achillesheel]

Our 4hp Mercury, 8 years old, has been unreliable once too often, and we're thinking of replacing it. Have found what looks like a good deal on a new Yamaha 4hp; the engine is for an Achilles 24, sits in the engine well, and will be used mainly to get on and off pontoons and moorings, with the occasional longer trip up Carrick Roads when the wind dies.

Any experiences with the latest Yamaha offering? Any thoughts on how long an outboard should be reliable, given that the boat is only in the water for six months a year, and even during that time we only use her at weekends? Any thoughts about Yamaha vs Mercury?

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

i can't comment on the latest offerings but I've had Mariner (same as Mercury) and Yamaha in the past.

FWIW my impression was that the Yamaha was better made, more sophisticated (i.e more complicated!) and more reliable. The Mariner was easier to work on which was a blessing at times.
Personally, I would go for Yamaha.

 

[Lakesailor]

I too have had both. Bit of a toss-up.
On balance I would go for the Mercury/Mariner/Tohatsu motor. Not that the Yamaha was any worse, but spares were more expensive. Also check the gear change. On the Yamaha I had to extend the stubby lever to make it usable on the stern of a boat. In a well may be more awkward.

 

[iain789]

FWIW yesterday I took my 8y.o. Yamaha back to the dealer where I bought it to have them deal with a small problem. The dealer now sells Suzukis. I spoke to the mechanic whose opinion was that the Yamahas were streets better than the competition despite being heavier.

 

[Seajet]

Please don't say you're leaving the engine in the well all the time !

Apart from corrosion there's the horrendous drag, the engine should be lifted, drained, stowed and a fairing plug put in the well; this is one of several reasons why I prefer 2 strokes, they're much lighter.

Sailing a decent boat like an Achilles around with the engine in is like flying a Spitfire with the wheels down !

I've had an Anzani - totally unreliable but still an item for playing on in the garage - Evinrude 4 twin - a bit unreliable - Yamaha 4 - brilliant but required a mod' to lubricate the gear lever - and now Mariner 5 ( all 2 stroke ) which seems the cream of the bunch for this size boat.

 

[LadyInBed]

Neither, my OB of choice is Suzuki.
My experience of small Mercury's is one of unreliability.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Any thoughts on how long an outboard should be reliable?

My Yamaha 9.9 is 15 years old now and works perfectly. Many years life yet. It gets new oils and filters every year and new spark plugs and impeller every few years. The only things to go wrong in all that time was the fuel pump diaphragm which I replaced at a cost of 80p. This model was the engine of choice for small multihulls a while ago. I don't know if it still is because once you buy one you don't seem to need to buy another one.

 

[dave_gibsea]

I have a 3.5 Yamaha bought second hand about 20 years ago, it must be 30 years old now at least! Starts second pull and runs well, very occasionally oils a plug but it's brilliant!

 

[lustyd]

Yamaha do tend to end up on top in most reviews and are generally highly regarded by the mechanics and shops.

I would question the validity of anecdotal evidence on a forum, however, since unreliability is often down to the kind of life the outboard has had and the competence of the home mechanic. If I don't screw the spark plug in quite far enough, does that make the engine an unreliable model? Or if I use the wrong gap, wrong fuel mix, wrong oil, don't replace the impeller or a whole host of other mean things owners can do to their engines.

 

[LadyInBed]

I would question the validity of anecdotal evidence on a forum, however, since unreliability is often down to the kind of life the outboard has had and the competence of the home mechanic. If I don't screw the spark plug in quite far enough, does that make the engine an unreliable model? Or if I use the wrong gap, wrong fuel mix, wrong oil, don't replace the impeller or a whole host of other mean things owners can do to their engines.

You may do these things, I couldn't possibly comment!
Reliability is surely a comparative, you know one is unreliable because another that you have owned, and treated in the same manner, was totally reliable.

 

[Rigger Mortice]

unreliability is often down to the kind of life the outboard has had and the competence of the home mechanic. .

Whilst that is undoubtedly true, it must also be said that the quality of workmanship by some so called "professionals" is truly dreadful. Having seen what some of them try to get away with, I always do my own maintenance.

 

[gunman]

Yes, it's not just the outboard which determins which make I would buy but also the local network of dealers. My nearest outboard dealer is a Suzuki one and I have had some pretty horrific dealings with them. OK, one was on a yamaha outboard where he rebuilt a gearbox and didnt repalce oil seals but even on a fairly new suzuki outboard he gave it back no better than it was, In fact, I almost ended up in court for selling an engine he had alegedly checked over and fixed. Turned out it was no better! I have no doubt Suzuki make good outboards but with my experience I wouldn't buy one.

On the other hand, a local Mercury agent is superb and I now use a 60HP mercury and a 3.3 aux engine. Both supplied by him and I find his service and knowledge exceptional. Possibly for this reason alone I would always buy Mercury. Mercury have a good reputation locally but this may be due to him as much as anything else.

For waht it's worth, once I had the Yamaha gearbox sorted by someone who knew what they were doing, it was a superb engine and ran faultlessly for years.

 

[Achillesheel]

Thanks for all your replies. I agree that the reliability of an outboard will depend how its treated, but ours is used relatively little, and normally lives on its side in the locker under the cockpit when its not in use. It is usually serviced every year, but one of its little foibles is to cut out at particularly difficult moments, particularly during the first few times we use it each year. This year we decided not to have it serviced, but kept the fuel tank topped up to the brim to avoid condensation in the tank. Its been starting ok, until the other day when it wouldn't start at all.

When you get to the point where you worry about the engine every time its running, its time to move on...

 

[AngusMcDoon]

This year we decided not to have it serviced, but kept the fuel tank topped up to the brim to avoid condensation in the tank.

Fuel tank condensation has been debunked...

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/myth_of_condensation_in_fuel_tanks.htm

If there's water in your fuel it has got in some other way. A leaky air screw or filler cap for engines/tanks that are outside is common. Rain or spray when filling is another.

 

[gunman]

but one of its little foibles is to cut out at particularly difficult moments, particularly during the first few times we use it each year

If you had it serviced at the end of the season it should have been winterised, this involves spraying oil into the chamber to coat it to stop corrosion. This could make it harder to start etc. at the beginning of the next season.

 

[TQA]

In the Eastern Caribbean it is rare to see anything other than a Yamaha on the back of the local fisherman's boats. These guys literally depend on a single motor for their lives.

Very few carry a VHF and I doubt if any have an epirb but they still venture miles off shore to fish.