Selva 5hp ob - Should I Buy ?

[Guest]

I Have been offered a Selva 5hp outboard. Low hours but 1998. Looks like new , but when vendor tried to start it for me, the white nylon drive cog for the pull starter had sheared. It started ok with a piece of line around the top of the flywheeh though. He Is getting part replaced b4 I buy.
Has anyone had experience of this outboard?
The starter mechanism looks to me a poor design, and I would appreciate advise b4 I buy.

Bernard

 

[davidwf]

I had one from new in 1997 ish absolute nightmare, fuel tank leaked, difficult to start ran roughly and to cap it all on occasions failed to stop. Which was a real pain because there is no fuel tap to turn off. Took a serious loss and traded it in for a Suzuki 4hp after 3 months. Different worlds Suzuki started first time every time, ran smoothly from day 1 and was a joy to own.

Best advice I can give is to walk away from it.

 

[robp]

Sorry, I didn't see your post till today. Hope you pick this up, I will e-mail you too.

I bought a new 5HP Seagull in about 1998. It is a re-badged Selva, so exactly the same. The service agent that has serviced and repaired it a couple of times tells me that it is a heavily built no frills motor that will last for years. Problems I had are; Forward/reverse mech broke, possibly due to laying engine on it. Cover comes off easily, so I use shock cord over it. It has become stiff to rotate. None of these is reason not to buy in my opinion provided the price is right. The same agent told me that Selva (Italian) make blocks and parts for Yamaha.

Hope this helps

BR

Rob

 

[robp]

Rob, put brain into gear and read answers before posting!

Mine has a remote tank. I have since seen some with integral though. The engine does need a service each year to make sure that crud is cleaned out. Other than that, it has run OK.