My 250 XF repowered and why I chose a Suzuki Df

[resyak]

Hi

Here some fotos of my repowered XF, I changed the 23 year old thirsty Evinrude 155 for a Suzuki DF 225.
Ultimatly i had too much trouble with the Evinrude.

The Zuke i far more quiet and much less thirsty.

Before changing the motor I looked at 3 options:

Yamaha 225
Evinrude Etec 225
Suzuki Df 225

Here the reasons why I chose the DF 225 ( this is only my personal opinion ):

The Etec doesn´t have any anodes in the powerhead, this leads to oxidation ( Had issues with this problem with the old Evinrude ), and it´s a 2 stroke with roller bearings. This type of bearings have a shorter lifetime than the type used in 4 stroke-engines. Too there is more pistonwear in 2 stroke engines.
Evinrude advertises the extremely low manitenanca cost, but the comparison made by them is not real.
On the Etec you don´t have change the motor oil that's less cost during the maintenance, but you burn the oil while using the motor, if you calculate this figures change.

The Yamaha has a timingbelt which has to be adjusted and changed periodically. If it breaks the motor goes shot.

So I chose the Zuke which has a timing chain, this system is indistructable doesn't need maintenance.

The boat before



The boat now





Regards

[RickK]

Very Nice Stephen  
May be an optical illusion but the boat seemed to list to the port with the old motor plus kicker.  Now it seems to list to starboard a little bit  
Probably an optical illusion.

Weight should be about the same as the combined weight of both of the old motors?

[resyak]

Hi RickK

The photo is listed to starbord, but the boat seems too.
Here a photo and you can see that there were light waves which possibly listed the boat, the wateline is not straight.

I will have a closer look the next time I go to the boat.
The weight is almost the same ( 2 motors, oiltank, fueltank for kicker ).

Regards

[seabob4]

Steve,
I see your still using cable steering, most likely a NFB 4.2.  How is your steering effort?

BTW, many times hull striping or bottom paint lines won't be the same distance down from the hull-to-deck joint side to side.  This can give the illusion of a list...

Did you do your own rigging, or did a shop/dealer do it?

Bob C

[fitz73222]

Hi Stephen,
Are you really in Spain? Very cool... How come you didn`t give a Honda a sniff, just curious.
Thanks,
Fitz73222

[resyak]

Hi

The steering effort isn't too much it's no problem for me to handle it.
I bought the motor via internet ( 40 % cheaper, here in Europe the motors are awfully expensive ) but the dealer sent me a mecanician.
I rigged it together with the mecanician, one person alone would have had problems, the motor is damned heavy and it's not easy to pass the cables to the cockpit. The Suzuki connectors are relatively big for passing them through the tube.

Yes I really live in spain near the mediterranian, it's a good place for boating.
I was told that Honda had some oxidation issues with the blocks of the bigger motors, I don't know if it's right, but I preferred to be careful. Too it has a timingbelt like the Yamaha.


Regards

[Capt. Bob]

Resyak,

A beautiful boat and a to die for locale

Timing chains do need maintenance. They stretch just like belts do. They however have a mechanical tension device that is adjusted either automatically (replaced on a service schedule) or manually from the outside. I'm not familiar with the Zuke's type.
Please continue to post on how you like this motor cause one of those (a tad smaller maybe)would look good on the back of my WAC.

Welcome aboard.

[resyak]

Hi

The boat looks better on the fotos as it is, in has some spidercracks on the deck and I will have to repaint soon.

The timing chain has an automatic tension device, but it runs in an oilbath.
I don't think that there is a regular maintenance.
As I like to know everything about the motor and I don't trust in the mechanicians y will buy a service-manual.
There I will find the whole maintenance schedule.

Regards

[resyak]

Hi

I just received the service manual.

The timing chain doesn't need any maintenance.
The things that really differ from the 2 strokes are:
Oil-Change with filter every 100 h
Check valve clearance every 200 h

The cost of burnt 2stroke oil is higher than the maintenance cost of the 4 stroke.

Until now I am very satisfied with the motor ( 20 hours of use ), it's quiet, fast ( max 43 mph ) and it in achieves 3.8 mpg at 28 mph, 2,9 at top speed and 5,4 at fast trolling ( 1000 rpm ).

Regards

[Capt. Bob]

[terry tessarzik]

Appreciate your comparison of the different manufacturers. Until now I have only considered Yamaha 4-stroke or E-tec. Currently on my 1989 CCP 250 osprey I have twin 140 hp Seadrives. Although they still run I would like to repower for basically the same reasons you stated. I will have to mount an outboard b racket on my full transom and am still undecided on whether stay with twins of 1 large single.

[resyak]

Hi

There's one more argument in favor of one big single.  The Cost.

A friend of mine has a 40 Etec, it's 4 years old with few hours on it.
He had cracks in oil tank because the plastic didn´t resist the oil. He only uses original Evinrude XD 100.
Too the housing is made of cheap plastic, its cracking near the screws.
I don't have more experience with E-tec, but what I saw doesn't convince me.
Evinrude says that the fuel consumption is 22.4 gal/h, I am unable to burn that amount of fuel even at top speed.
http://www.evinrude.com/en-US/Campaigns ... conomy.htm Why did they compare only with the Mercury ??
If my Navman doesn't lie i am around 15 gph at top speed and about 7 at cruising.

Another interesting article about Yamaha/Suzuki: http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoor ... 77241.html

Regards

[Asport-Rog]

Not to get into motor wars but I have an E-Tec and I couldn't be happier. I don't find anything on the motor that is cheaply built whatsoever. I think most of the outboard motors manufactured today are quality built. When re-powering it usually comes down to either brand preference or cost.

[resyak]

Hi Asport-Rog

It's no motor war, it's only a discussion thought for helping to choose a motor.

If you have good experiences with your mashine you may share them and explain some things about the motor.

Regards