I want all opinions--Etec motors

[workinprogress]

It's a good thing I have the slapped-together j14 to use, because I am taking forever to decide exactly how to set up the j16. I am leaning hard towards the Evinrude Etec 40hp. I am curious to hear from owners of Etecs in any hp range, but I would love to hear from owners of Etecs in the 40-60hp range on a boat similar to the j16 I am putting together. Tell me it's a great idea! Tell me Etecs suck! Tell me what your brother in law's cousin's uncle said about his Etec! Tell me something!!!

[al_e._gator]

I have an 08 90hp etec with about 10 hrs on it. So far I love it. It's very quiet, doesn't smoke, and runs strong. E-tecs have computer controlled break-in that adds extra oil so Evinrude says you can run WOT straight out of the box. A brand new etec 250 won a ski boat race with only setup hours on it in Australia last week. If you want to see the good and bad of etec go to the Bass Boat Central website and look in their Evinrude forum. The engines discussed are high hp motors that are run hard. They haven't been out very long so there have been some teething problems to do with thermostats and oil ratios but Evinrude has been overnighting new powerheads to get people back on the water ASAP. From what I have read the 90hp and smaller motors have been out for a while and are pretty well sorted out.

[Slab]

I have the E-tec 75. I bought an 04 Motor 2 years ago for one of my work barges, and it sat up after the job. So I bought an 07 1780 dlx to hang it on this year and I could not be more pleased. It starts and runs great. It is the best sounding evinrude I have owned. It sips oil; i put a piece of tape on the oil tank to moniter the oil use because i was worried it wasn't using enough oil!! So far no problems, but I have maybe 12 hrs on it. I am running the synthetic XD oil, which the dealer programs the engine to use. Supposed to use less oil, but you can only use the XD oil with motor programed that way.

Good luck with your engine selection.

Slab

[otter]

I don't own one but it will be my next motor. I have read and read and read and everything points to the etec. Another good engine you don't hear much about is the tohatsu fuel injected 2 stroke. I just don't want the maint expense and time out of the water for maint you have with a four stroke or the weight or the maint. expense. My son recently rented a large salt water boat with two four strokes on it when he was in fla. on vacation. He said he couldn't stand the sluggishness of them; although they were quiet and ran fine at top end.

[yalc]

I have a 08, 60hp etec on my JVX16. I love it. Quiet, sips gas and has plenty of power. It has only about 10 hrs on it so I can't comment long term but initial impression is great.

[spraynbuckshot]

1st off, this is the first outboard I've ever owned so I don't have a lot to compare to. From what I understand it is the same motor as the 40 and 50, just with a different fuel management system. I can't think of any drawbacks to the motor at all, period. It is strong out of the hole. It lifts my boat out of the water with the greatest of ease. Anytime I'm not at full throttle and I punch it, I feel it pull me back and this is with three people and fishing gear. As for the oil, it was programmed for the XD 100 (synthetic) from the factory. It sips the oil and it sips the gas. I've filled up on gas everytime I've put the boat in the water just for peace of mind. Generally it takes 1-3 gallons to top it off. The noise at idle when in the water is fairly quiet. It is not as quiet as my friends 200 Suzuki 4 stroke, however. At WOT,it is more quiet than the same 200 suzuki at WOT. I can hold a regular conversation with someone sitting beside me. I must speak a little louder when talking to someone sitting in front of the console (further and the windshield blocking). It is mostly smokeless. I had it smoke one time after a long WOT and an abrupt idle. Nothing to worry me though. I haven't had to dive into the motor for any work or to fix any problems so I can't comment on how easy it is to work on (which is a good thing). It starts up the first time after sitting for a few weeks like it has already been run that day. I like the water pump system on this motor. The exit hole is large so debris can't build up and clog. The water exiting is not under high pressure (peeing a forceful thin line), it is more or less like a water hose at home with the valve turned 1/3 to 1/2 on (a large, less forceful flow). I can't think of anything else to comment on right now. If you have any specific questions or want specific photos of the motor let me know, i'll see what i can do.

(Edited to improve readability (removed from "quote" box) - no part or portion of the text was changed in any way.)