My family was in the boat biz for many years.we sold merc an Yamaha,i will never forget the first 25 merc 4 stroke i sold as the customer had traded in a pretty decent yammie 25 2 stroke.About a month or so aftrr the sale he came back and asked if he could get his 25 yamaha back as he was not very happy with the performance of the new 4 stroke,major problem,we sold that used 25 yammie soon as we got it ready for resale.True story.I went to Merc service school for the new 4 strokes when they first came out so i never really had much trouble keeping them running good,just a few customers that were kinda dis-apointed with the 25 and 50 h.p. performance when compared to their old 2 strokes,but they did like the better fuel economy forsure.i still have my set of 4 vacum gauges i used when i was wrenching on the 4 stroke motorcycles so they worked great to use on the outboards aswell.
Honda guy here. Unreliable honda was the 90 carb 4 stroke. Getting that thing to stop lean sneezing was awful. My buddy has the 225hpdi and man he beats the hell out of it and drives it through vegitation and its still kickin with a couple of thousand hours. I know you guys are merc guys but i used to be on a international team that did training in other countries and the only engine i seen running is the yammy. Couldnt get cheap parts for the hondas and the mercs just wouldnt stay running without maintenance.
I bought a new year 2000 Mercury 50Hp four cylinder four stroke with four carbs 24 years ago. it has a Yamaha powerhead. the only things I've done to it over the years are change the oil, gear lube, plugs, thermostat, and fog the cylinders every winter. that's it. still running the original impeller. it starts right up every spring and runs great. so not sure if you are including my model in the unreliable category. then again the engine has low hours given the short season up north and I only run it in fresh water.
The Yama and Suzuki deal. The one thing with Yamaha That’s bad is there warranties. Suzuki probably has the best Warranty and Durability close to number one.
You guys stress me out with the worst engine list! I had an etec 115 and now I’m running a 250hp hpdi . I’ve had zero issues with either engine. They’ve been super reliable . Now every time I turn the key . I’m worried that it will blow up.. thanks guys!! Lol.
The HPDi will be fine, just let it warm up properly (idling at the dock doesn't count as cylinder 2 & 3 don't fire until in gear) its cylinder 2 that usually pops surprise surprise. Make sure you replace the filters annually and use good fuel and oil. Also do some research on the HPDi tech bulletins a 300HPDI had a tech bulletin on the oil pump which I would say is a must to replace.
I had a carberated four stroke mercury 90 hp that had the exact problems he is describing. Royal pain in the ass. Never felt comfortable taking it out too far.
had a 2001 90 hp carb honda - the outboard was slower than a 2stroke 60hp merc on the same boat hull, heavy and not so fuel efficient) so honda takes the first place here. The second place would be probably suzi...
My 2025 Force 300 twin turbo v6 is amazing. It weighs 350lbs and gets double the fuel economy as the latest mercury, Yamaha and Suzuki of the same hp rating. I’m part of their beta program so you should see the production models hit their dealer network in July.
My family was in the boat biz for many years.we sold merc an Yamaha,i will never forget the first 25 merc 4 stroke i sold as the customer had traded in a pretty decent yammie 25 2 stroke.About a month or so aftrr the sale he came back and asked if he could get his 25 yamaha back as he was not very happy with the performance of the new 4 stroke,major problem,we sold that used 25 yammie soon as we got it ready for resale.True story.I went to Merc service school for the new 4 strokes when they first came out so i never really had much trouble keeping them running good,just a few customers that were kinda dis-apointed with the 25 and 50 h.p. performance when compared to their old 2 strokes,but they did like the better fuel economy forsure.i still have my set of 4 vacum gauges i used when i was wrenching on the 4 stroke motorcycles so they worked great to use on the outboards aswell.
Honda guy here. Unreliable honda was the 90 carb 4 stroke. Getting that thing to stop lean sneezing was awful. My buddy has the 225hpdi and man he beats the hell out of it and drives it through vegitation and its still kickin with a couple of thousand hours. I know you guys are merc guys but i used to be on a international team that did training in other countries and the only engine i seen running is the yammy. Couldnt get cheap parts for the hondas and the mercs just wouldnt stay running without maintenance.
I bought a new year 2000 Mercury 50Hp four cylinder four stroke with four carbs 24 years ago. it has a Yamaha powerhead. the only things I've done to it over the years are change the oil, gear lube, plugs, thermostat, and fog the cylinders every winter. that's it. still running the original impeller. it starts right up every spring and runs great. so not sure if you are including my model in the unreliable category. then again the engine has low hours given the short season up north and I only run it in fresh water.
You must not use it that much
The Yama and Suzuki deal. The one thing with Yamaha That’s bad is there warranties. Suzuki probably has the best Warranty and Durability close to number one.
Some people say that the problem with yam 350 was crank bearings making the fly wheel go out of balance
The firing order is the problem with the F350 . It creates harmonic imbalance and fails the rotor and then causes crankshaft failure in worst case
You guys stress me out with the worst engine list! I had an etec 115 and now I’m running a 250hp hpdi . I’ve had zero issues with either engine. They’ve been super reliable . Now every time I turn the key . I’m worried that it will blow up.. thanks guys!! Lol.
The HPDi will be fine, just let it warm up properly (idling at the dock doesn't count as cylinder 2 & 3 don't fire until in gear) its cylinder 2 that usually pops surprise surprise. Make sure you replace the filters annually and use good fuel and oil. Also do some research on the HPDi tech bulletins a 300HPDI had a tech bulletin on the oil pump which I would say is a must to replace.
Thanks for keep Foul language out of all of your videos. It's refreshing and appreciated.
I had a carberated four stroke mercury 90 hp that had the exact problems he is describing. Royal pain in the ass. Never felt comfortable taking it out too far.
had a 2001 90 hp carb honda - the outboard was slower than a 2stroke 60hp merc on the same boat hull, heavy and not so fuel efficient) so honda takes the first place here. The second place would be probably suzi...
My 2025 Force 300 twin turbo v6 is amazing. It weighs 350lbs and gets double the fuel economy as the latest mercury, Yamaha and Suzuki of the same hp rating. I’m part of their beta program so you should see the production models hit their dealer network in July.
Lol :)