Tohatsu/Mariner/Mercury 2.5hp 2 stroke- new carb- Ali Express?

[Kelpie]

So I dug out my old 3.5hp Tohatsu and found that the carb had gone walkabouts. I think it jammed up a few years back and I stripped it down, but have since moved house and the various bits of it have been scattered to the four winds.
Not to worry, I picked up a 'spares or repair' 2.5hp Tohatsu for £50 with the intention of robbing the carb off it... but found that all it needed was a new plug and a bit of fettling. So, that's great, I have a bargain working motor... and still need a carb for the other one

I see you can buy them brand new for about £85, which seems a wee bit steep, especially when carbs for similar engines like the little 2hp Yamaha are around £30.

A bit more digging around and I've found this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...chweb0_0,searchweb201602_1,searchweb201603_55

Looks like the right bit. But before I try one out, has anybody on here had any luck with one of these? It is made of cheese-grade alloy?

And, lastly, if anybody has a genuine Tohatsu/Mercury/Mariner carb lying about I'd be very interested

 

[miha90]

A friend had a similar dilemma. Either pay £45 for a genuine carb or buy one from the Chinese for around £15. He went for the cheaper option and ended up asking for a refund as the carb ended up leaking from three different places. If you are on a budget I would opt for a genuine used part rather than new Chinese one.

 

[Kelpie]

A friend had a similar dilemma. Either pay £45 for a genuine carb or buy one from the Chinese for around £15. He went for the cheaper option and ended up asking for a refund as the carb ended up leaking from three different places. If you are on a budget I would opt for a genuine used part rather than new Chinese one.

Thanks- I did have my suspicions! I'll probably just wait for one to come up secondhand, after all I have the other motor now so there's no rush.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

There's a lot of cheap chinese carbs for small motorcycles and they're awful. I would look for a secondhand one or stump up for a new genuine one.

 

[Fosdyke Wash]

I bought a "High quality OEM 3.5HP CARBURETOR ASSY (3F0-03100-4)" from China for USD 67.00 in September 2014 for my 3.5hp Tohatsu 2 stroke. Still working fine after 5 years light use.
I think I found it on Aliexpress but you can find it on their website www.toprealbusiness.com (https://www.toprealbusiness.com/carburetor).
For a used one, you might try Cambridge Outboards.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I think that the Chinese need to do something about quality control if they want to succeed .

It's good to hear from others that they also are having problems with so called after market products .

I recently purchased two items where one didn't work at all and the other only for a day or two.

In both cases the cost including delivery was ludicrously cheap so I only have myself to blame. Having said that, in both cases, I received refunds including postage. Also, they were very polite and helpful .

But when the real thing costs about £85 and one is buying from elsewhere for about £10 are
we being fair to the bloke who invented and marketed it after probably putting his house and life savings on the line ?