2-Stroke Yamaha Engines

[Snowman12523]

I am new to the forum and looking for some engine advice.  I picked up a 1996 Aquasport 215 Osprey with a siezed 200 Johnson.  In a perfect world, I would go buy a brand new 200-250 4 Stroke and be off to the races, however, resources are not endless.  I have noticed that many of you on this forum have run Yamaha OX66 2-strokes.  I have found a clean 2002 Yamaha OX66 with 200 hours for $3,400 and a very clean 2001 Yamaha Saltwater Series OX66 with 210 hours for $4,500.  The 250 is a freshwater engine and both come with a 1-year warranty.

My #1 priority is reliability.  I know I will burn more fuel with a 2-stroke, + cost of oil, + some smoke to deal with....  I have been boating all of my life, and have either run 2-stroke outboards, I/O's or IB.  Never owned a 4-stroke OB, but hear they are wonderful. 

Am I wasting my money on a 20 year old 2-stroke? Should just wait a little longer and buy new Yamaha or Suzuki?

Love thoughts.

Snowman

[SaltWaterKid]

Snowman,

I am in a similar situation. 99 215 explorer with a 93 200 Envinrude. My engine runs great but no one will work on anything under a 2002 in my area. So either I learn to do the maintenance or buy a new engine. I found this site with 4 strokes that are not crazy expensive but still a lot of money to put out. I as well have found used 2002-2006 engines that seem worth it but feel the same you do.

https://www.marineoutboardmotor.com/Suzuki/Suzuki-200-Hp?sort=p.price&order=ASC

Sorry I do not have an answer for you and may have just made things worse but I feel the same. Is it a waste of money or a stop gap until prices come down on new OB's ?

[dbiscayne]

I've been wondering about that Marine Outboard Motor.com website for a long time now, prices seem to good to be true but never could find much info on them. Their prices have always been incredibly cheap and haven't increased much even in the last 6 months.
The little I did find is linked below, sounds like at least one person claims to have been scammed. Need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page for the reviews.
Shipping prices are also way too low.

https://www.scam-detector.com/validator/marineoutboardmotor-com-review/

[Snowman12523]

Thank you both for the reply.  I saw that website as well - agree - pricing looked too good to be true... There are also a few sites online that advertise new motors are extremely low prices - again, seem too good to be true.  https://www.marineoutboardmotor.com/Suzuki/Suzuki-200-Hp - Shows a NEW 2021 Suzuki 200 SS for $7k

Has anyone bought a motor from this site?

Love thoughts.

Snowman

[Snowman12523]

Sorry guys - did not mean to post the exact same website as you did - there was another one that I came across that had really low prices - will try to find and post it as well.

Thx!

[boatnamesue]

Am I wasting my money on a 20 year old 2-stroke? Should just wait a little longer and buy new Yamaha or Suzuki?

The old salt consensus is there ain't no better reliability than a well maintained 2 stroke.  Having myself a '98 Yam 2 stroke, I can confirm this.  The question you'll have that can't be answered when considering purchase of older 2 stroke is its maintenance...since its likely not to have a consistent maintenance record passed down from owner to owner.  But...since 2 strokes are so easy to maintain and to assess performance, shouldn't be too difficult to know if the one you're considering is worth it or not.  Water test is a must, obviously.

[Snowman12523]

Ok - Love some insight from the group.  Have 2 used outboards that I am looking at - very similar prices:

1) 2001 Yamaha 225 4-stroke.  Extremely clean engine with a little over 700 hours
2) 2004 Suzuki 200 4-stroke.  Also very clean with a little over 500 hours

Both motors were well taken care of - regular maintenance, original cowling paint and decals still shine, but both did spend most of their lives in Saltwater environments.  No visible corrosion issues.

Love thoughts!

[Fishhead]

I believe that generation Yamaha has the exhaust corrosion issues but they do make a kit to repair $$. Google it

[Snowman12523]

Ok - I bought an engine - 2006 Yamaha F225 - 568 hours - 2006 supposed to be beyond the corrosion issue and hooks up to command link accessories - exhaust was scoped and looked good. 

Anyone have experience with adding a manual Jack-Plate to set-back the engine - benefits/drawbacks?  Not necessarily interested in adding top-end - more interested in efficiency.  I know I am putting a heavy engine on a boat that was originally designed for 2-stroke weight - I make that worse by pushing the engine aft 8-10" - just curious if anyone has experience on this or other models.

Also - Anyone have experience with Hydro-Shield?  I will use the boat on a river and bay - there are some shallow spots and hazards - intrigued by the prop protection and handling improvements that are claimed.

Thank you!