REPOWER: Time for new outboards???? Need advice

[stephendudra]

Fixed

My issue is solved!

I had a bad oil pump in the onboard tank that was not pushing oil to the tank on the engine.

Sooooo New parts:

Oil Pump
2 new filters for tanks
clips on oil rod

Everything running smooth!!

Now the thought of having HPDI's does sound attractive to save on oil burned and a quieter engine. But as the mechanic said, the OX66 runs fine and still pushes my chase a little over 60 MPH (not that I do that) why spend the money unless it is just burning a hole in my pocket!

thanks everyone for your input.

 

[High C's]

Do yourself a favor and research Etec. That's what I just put on my gulfstream. Much lighter than 4 stroke with less emissions ,very quiet,fuel efficient,less maintance,and best of all it is a 2 stroke which means more torque and less moving parts. I love it. Check them out. I did a lot of that after my yamaha quit and I'm glad I did. Good luck !

 

[stephendudra]

What size boat do you have? What size engines did you go with? What kind fuel economy do you get?

 

[bc282]

Re:

Have you looked into the new F series motors? They're only about 50# more per motor.

the older 2002-2009 F200-F250 engines would be too heavy IMO.
the F150's would see you lose too much speed, cruise, top end, etc., you'll probably enjoy the fuel savings but feel like the boat is a dog in the water.
the new v6 offshore engines look sweet, but i think they will still be too heavy.

I would re-power with 200 HPDI's (good 2S engines which you'll see 4S like fuel #'s, likely the cheapest set to buy too)
or
Suzuki 175's as others have also recommended if you choose 4S power, but you'll lose some speed having 100HP less than the twin 225 set-up.

 

[boattune]

Before you consider repowering: Make sure you love your boat and that you plan on keeping it for at least 5 years. If not, buy used engines so you won't loose your shirt in depreciation. Once a new motor is used...........it is used and it will depreciate even if hours are very low.
If you have Yamaha power it will be less expensive to repower with Yamahas, you can probably reuse the control box, harness, gauges, fuel lines and control cables. Although i like the idea of all new stuff so that you get what you are after.............a more reliable, enjoyable product. The more old stuff you use, the less reliable the unit.
Yamahas are generally more than Suzuki's, Honda's are generally more than Yamaha's. Being a dealer for all brands: Mercury, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, Evinrude... we find that if you read the owners manual and have the engines properly installed, do your maintenance, you will be happy with any of them. so i say stick to the one that suits your priorities: If you like high performance.........Mercury or Evinrude. If you like the least maintenance..........Evinrude. the best resale............Yamaha (at least in central fl),
least expensive four stroke......Suzuki, the company that considers theirs the best............Honda (and all of them).
If your going to have a local dealer do the install and take care of your motors, then the brand he represents would be a good choice. So if you had a great Mercury dealer close by and he gave you good competitive pricing (out the door price is all you need) then that would be a good choice for you. In central Fl , i would pick Yamaha, so that i could easily sell the motors or boat. Four strokes rule here also, so i would not get two strokes (yam HPDI or Evinrude)
Avoid buying motors from one dealer, then having another install them. The best for you is an out the door price where you get a ride on your new powered boat and when you are happy you make the final payment. Any dealer will require a substantial deposit- that is normal. Call me or write if you want to discuss further.
Bob Leatherman 407-249-1124 bobl@boattune.com not soliciting, just offering my advice.

 

[High C's]

You really need ro check into etec. All the advantages of 4 stroke without the extra weight or all the maintaince , and more torque !

 

[jazzy1]

im in same boat,i have a 1996 263 chase twin 175 johnsons, was going to go new 150 etecs,but came across a f225 twins deal and would like to hear more pros and cons filling the holes and redrilling to mount is no big deal im more concerned on the weight, as anyone here done this repower and could shed some light on fuel burn cruising and topspeed burn per hour motors are coming off a 33 grady show I cant really use his numbers. thanks in advance jeff

 

[ROBERTH]

My HPDI's are awsome! Run like a swiss watch!

However, if it was me in your situation and I wanted to get new motors, and HPDI's were not available, I would do 2 things to make my decision:
1) Add some weight to back of transom to simulate difference of what a 4 stroke set would weigh. Then, check scuppers and see if water comes in. Stand in corner and lean over as to have some of your weight leverage leaning the hull and see if water comes in, then make the judgement if they will be too heavy. Also, you can offset some of this by adding some additional weight as far forward as possible.
If finding too heavy....
2) Check new F series motors weight difference, assuming you would be ok with 200 over a 225 as I don't think they have a lighter 225 yet. If still not happy....
3)First choice is Etec, Second choice would be Optimax. In both cases, you can get 225's with near same weight as your current motors. I am intrigued with the Etec's. I think they have come a long way to recovery and are now a really good motor. However, the other thing to consider there is where you can get service support. Around my parts, there aren't many around for Etec's last I checked a year or so ago. Might be different now.

 

[onoahimahi]

3)First choice is Etec, Second choice would be Optimax. In both cases, you can get 225's with near same weight as your current motors. I am intrigued with the Etec's. I think they have come a long way to recovery and are now a really good motor.

I'll second the E-TEC choice. The E-TEC you want is the 200HO which comes in at 219 HP but at a savings of ~$1000 per motor over the 225. My Sailfish will hit 50 MPH, plane on 1 engine at 35 MPH, get 8 MPG slow trolling and at least 1.5 MPG cruising at 32-36 MPH, and is quieter than most 4-strokes at cruising speed (according to the powerboats test results that I posted here previously.)

Good luck with your decision

Cheers,
-Scott

 

[ocnslr]

We repowered from the original single 250HP OX66 to the twin F150s and now have >1600hrs on them.

Performance is fine. Cruise all day at 25-28kts, at approx 1.7-1.8nm/gal. WOT speed of 36+ kts.

Your Chase 263 is lighter than our 270 Islander, with a similar hull. I would expect you to get slightly better performance.

Or, go with the new F200 Yamaha and probably no difference in performance.

Brian

 

[jazzy1]

i made a deal on the f225s and now just waiting for the swap over to begin probally more toward end of october as he getting prices for the new 300s after my install ill post some fuel readings for future guys looking to do similar repower, in my case the mounting holes will be perfect distance for the wider 4 strokes so there is no filling/redrilling involved , cheers jeff

 

[Marty grady 272]

I went to 200 hp HPDI. I actually got better speed at all rpm's, 1 half of the oil usage, and much better economy, and reused the same transom holes and all of the old engine controls.

 

[matt9966]

Sailfish stern low in water

OK, it sounds like this string has some expertise chiming in. I have an 85 Sailfish and it sits 2"-3" low in the stern. If I have the aft tank full and two people standing at the stern the water line is close to the splashwell. That being said, if the stern sat 3" taller in the water the bottom corner would be at the surface. This boat was repowered with twin 94 Yam150 4strokes and have talked to GW and they said look elsewhere for the cause. It seems to ride well and speed/power out of the hole is very good. Rescuppering doesn't make sense to me but neither does the bottom corner sitting 1/2" under or even on, the surface. SOOOOO, does anyone have an idea - I really like this boat and have a fiberglass guy ready to go to work.

 

[GW 255]

I have an 86 Sailfish 255 and originally had twin 175 Johnson VRO's on the back. with the aux tank empty and all of the weight forward, main tank full and water tank i was still having problems with freeboard at the transom. Have you checked the condition of the transom as that was where i was carrying alot of extra weight in the form of water. Ended up having to have the transom redone and in the process i have opted to enlarge the main tank to about 145 Gallons and remove the auxiliary tank all together.

 

[GW 255]

Just those changes alone have helped me to shave off about 600#'s in the stern of the boat.

 

[BobP]

Price up the new Yami F200 4 stroke 4 cyl twins, vs. the 200 HPDis. The old F200 is a V6 motor ( ie HEAVY).

Get back to us.

If you want a 4 stroke Yami, the new F200 is about the same weight as the 200 HPDI. Still losing 50 HP.

If you want 2 stoke, ETEC has some nice motors.

After you get pricing, find out what is wrong with existing motor, presuming powerhead worse case, then price up NEW powerhead by Yami dealer. I repeat NEW.