New outboard- want opinions

That's got nothing to do with it, that stuff will clean the entire fuel system and the tiny jets and passageways in that carb.
 
Those little carbs can be a bitch, ultra sonic clean is the only effective way if seafoam don't work.

So is it a fuel delivery problem?
 
I believe so ....

I'll check the papers that came with the Merc but I believe it said if there's a problem, contact the local dealer -- don't ship it back.
 
The dealers up here take all but will normally (and understandably) give their priority to the ones that support their sales department.
Our local Merc and Yam dealers don't give any breaks from MSRP. The next town, 1.5 hrs up the road, they are very competitive and give substantial savings. It's only 1.5 hrs away though so they can have the warranty work as well if it is needed.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Can all local dealers do warranty if I get out of state? They are all closed today Sunday and I want to move on this while it’s available.
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I also believe so but do not be surprised when you need service if it is a low priority for them because you did not buy from them. This happens often in a variety of situations…
 
Pirate Lady said:
It’s been in the shop 5 times in 2 1/2 years, 3 since June. And now left me stranded down the river with a 2 hour row home. Cant trust this one anymore. Not rowing home again. I can forgive a cheating woman, but neither a battery or motor that leaves me stranded.
We have tried everything, cleaned carb twice, fresh non-ethanol marine gas, various plugs. It’s just came out of shop 2 weeks ago, took it down river, quit, 3rd time this summer. Outboard shop is out of ides why it keeps dying.
Going to try one more shop and that’s to get it running to sell.
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Sounds like you need to find a better mechanic. Hopefully you can sell it at a fair price to offset the purchase of the new motor.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Sputtered and died like out of fuel, full tank. Got spark. What we can’t figure out is this motor seems to be crazy particular about fuel.
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Typical problems are sucking air (e.g., through the fuel line), clogged jets (or shellac), or water (or separated ethanol) in the fuel.

(We had an old 2-cylinder 4-hp Johnson that ran like a champ... once I replaced the old (ancient) fuel hose from the external tank which turned out to have a pinhole leak in it. OTOH, that was also the hardest-starting outboard I've ever come across. The air leak symptom was that the engine would run great... until it stopped Re-prime, do it all over, same results. Et cetera.)

Assuming no air leaks in the fuel line, and decent gas...

Very small carbureted outboards with only one cylinder and with really tiny jets in the carb are probably the most difficult to keep running.

On the other end of that spectrum comes multi-cylinder (or at least 2 cylinder) electronically fuel-injected motors. (My theory is that the heavier mass of multi-cylinders also improves carbureted models too, but I dunno enough about it to know for sure.)

Anyway, I think all that means comparing across brands isn't really useful if you're not always comparing the same kind of engine. For example, a 20-hp 2-cylinder outboard with EFI isn't at all comparable to a 2.5-hp 1-cylinder carbureted outboard... so brand comparisons that include motors outside of the range you're eyeing probably don't really help.

Cleaning carbs sucks. And it'd help to have a clue about how best to do that, though I never really did...

-Chris
 
That is great they will service it. I will say my 2008 Tohatsu 4Stroke has run great. I run it dry after most uses.
 
Going back thru old thread and came across this. Never gave an update so…
I bought the Suzuki 2.5 and so far it has been great. Wife and I enjoy zodiac again. Still on break in period, at about 3 hours of 7.
I am a stickler for doing break in exactly as told. Still haven’t been over half throttle. Very light weight, easy to transport (29# vs 47# old one).
Sold my previous Chinese inflatable and Coleman/Parsun to my slip neighbor. Gave him a good deal $400 both, he’s helped me out a lot so what the heck. Paid for half the Suzuki, all good.
I’m just happy to finally have an inflatable that doesn’t lose air (Zodiac) and motor that runs (Suzuki). A combo I can trust not to leave me stranded. And wife isn’t scared when I go down river for the day any more. She was all in on this, god love her.
7EF529C4-FF8C-49BD-BBB0-E6C77982C7BB.jpeg
 
Not sure about Suzuki but on the small Mercs, they must be shifted into FWD or else you can't tilt it forward

Also the Merc has a partial-forward locking position that you can use if running ..... it's higher than normal but still low enough where the water pickup is below the surface
 
Also it goes w/o saying, if you tilt all the way forward, spin it so the tiller side is down :cool:
 
Pirate Lady said:
Got a question. Read manual many times. It says to tilt motor forward, grab the back handle and pull forward, it will lock in place, then to put back vertical reach around back and lift lever under cowl.
Well, when I want to tilt forward I grab the back carry handle and lift and pull and no amount of effort will tilt it forward. I cannot get this out of the straight vertical position.
Since I keep on rack it’s not that important but if I got into shallow or wanted to beach it, how the hell do I get it to tilt forward?
View attachment 133448
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IIRC, It’s captured in a little compression type clamp. Yank it.
 
Pirate Lady said:
Going back thru old thread and came across this. Never gave an update so…
I bought the Suzuki 2.5 and so far it has been great. Wife and I enjoy zodiac again. Still on break in period, at about 3 hours of 7.
I am a stickler for doing break in exactly as told. Still haven’t been over half throttle. Very light weight, easy to transport (29# vs 47# old one).
Sold my previous Chinese inflatable and Coleman/Parsun to my slip neighbor. Gave him a good deal $400 both, he’s helped me out a lot so what the heck. Paid for half the Suzuki, all good.
I’m just happy to finally have an inflatable that doesn’t lose air (Zodiac) and motor that runs (Suzuki). A combo I can trust not to leave me stranded. And wife isn’t scared when I go down river for the day any more. She was all in on this, god love her.
View attachment 133446
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Do yourself a favor and fill the tank with non-ethanol gas. That is the key to maintaining your engine. Almost all dinghy engine complaints are associated with clogged carb due to ethanol in fuel over time.
 
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