Swapping from Evinrude ETEC to Suzuki

[TackDriver284]

Today I have dumped Evinrude, and opted for Suzuki for saltwater fishing. I have been using Evinrude and Johnsons since 1994, and Mercruiser inboard on a Cobia before that. I am a die hard Evinrude fan until today. I have had a 175 ETEC on my bay boat since 2015 and had issues after issues. Many times its quit on me after driving over 4k rpms and engine quits due to overheating, I even had a new water pump installed and thermostat as well and I got tired of thinking " Am I gonna make it back to the dock with my family? " I do have a membership with BoatUS which will help you on the water or on the road for trailer assist. They will tow you back to the dock safely, just a call and they will be there in 30-45 minutes, even offshore assist. My boat bogged down on us half a mile from the dock with my family on board, and Towboats was called and we got towed back in in under an hour.
Been at several dealers looking for a price on a new 175 Suzuki 4 stroke, and no one wants to trade in that ETEC that I have right now, because they call it junk. There was lots of issues with Evinrude that the company no longer makes ETEC or Evinrude motors, went out of business and no longer in production and resale value on Evinrude engines are very very low. Lots of dealers quit servicing on Evinrude engines, and my old dealer advised me to look for a new service dealer to work on my Evinrude a couple years after I bought that boat because they no longer work on Evinrude and they parted ways with Evinrude. My old dealer who built my boat and I had a chat after 8 years, they did offer to trade in, to use my ETEC for parts, ordered me a new Suzuki 175 4 stroke and to install my new engine, control box, cables, gauges, install a new jack plate assembly and new seat covers. Should be ready in about 2 weeks, engine is on order and I caught that Suzuki promotion in time that offered a 7 year warranty on the engine, it expires on March 31, 2025. Has anyone had any reliability issues with Evinrude and Suzuki these days? Almost everywhere I see people with Suzuki and Yamaha engines.
I feel I'm on the right track picking Suzuki due to excellent reliability, performance, low fuel consumption and the 7 year warranty promotion offer.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Has anyone had any reliability issues with Evinrude and Suzuki these days? Almost everywhere I see people with Suzuki and Yamaha engines.
I feel I'm on the right track picking Suzuki due to excellent reliability, performance, low fuel consumption and the 7 year warranty promotion offer.

Seeing as Evinrude stopped making engines in 2020, I doubt that anyone is really buying them any more. I have one of the Johnson outboards (9.9) from when Bombardier made them for a short time in the early 2000s. Other than the fact that the carburetor has rotten out twice despite using only non-ethanol fuel, it has been a fine engine for me.

All I see is Mercury engines around here.
One of my friends is a boat manufacturer, and he is Mercury's largest client (by $). He has nothing but good to say about them.

 

[FNWhelen]

I have one or more of all the major brands and feel like they all make good stuff today. So the dealer is what makes if I buy brand X or brand Y. Around here I feel the Suzuki dealer is the best so that is what is on the boat I use most. My 200hp is about six years old and has been flawless. I use a 9.9 on the same boat to troll with and it is around 15 years old with a ton of hours that has also been great. I think you will be pleased with your new engine.

 

[espanish]

Today I have dumped Evinrude, and opted for Suzuki for saltwater fishing. I have been using Evinrude and Johnsons since 1994, and Mercruiser inboard on a Cobia before that. I am a die hard Evinrude fan until today. I have had a 175 ETEC on my bay boat since 2015 and had issues after issues. Many times its quit on me after driving over 4k rpms and engine quits due to overheating, I even had a new water pump installed and thermostat as well and I got tired of thinking " Am I gonna make it back to the dock with my family? " I do have a membership with BoatUS which will help you on the water or on the road for trailer assist. They will tow you back to the dock safely, just a call and they will be there in 30-45 minutes, even offshore assist. My boat bogged down on us half a mile from the dock with my family on board, and Towboats was called and we got towed back in in under an hour.
Been at several dealers looking for a price on a new 175 Suzuki 4 stroke, and no one wants to trade in that ETEC that I have right now, because they call it junk. There was lots of issues with Evinrude that the company no longer makes ETEC or Evinrude motors, went out of business and no longer in production and resale value on Evinrude engines are very very low. Lots of dealers quit servicing on Evinrude engines, and my old dealer advised me to look for a new service dealer to work on my Evinrude a couple years after I bought that boat because they no longer work on Evinrude and they parted ways with Evinrude. My old dealer who built my boat and I had a chat after 8 years, they did offer to trade in, to use my escape road for parts, ordered me a new Suzuki 175 4 stroke and to install my new engine, control box, cables, gauges, install a new jack plate assembly and new seat covers. Should be ready in about 2 weeks, engine is on order and I caught that Suzuki promotion in time that offered a 7 year warranty on the engine, it expires on March 31, 2025. Has anyone had any reliability issues with Evinrude and Suzuki these days? Almost everywhere I see people with Suzuki and Yamaha engines.
I feel I'm on the right track picking Suzuki due to excellent reliability, performance, low fuel consumption and the 7 year warranty promotion offer.

Wow, I feel your frustration — sounds like you’ve been through a lot with that ETEC. I’m also a longtime Evinrude user, but once they discontinued support, it became a nightmare trying to find someone who’d even look at the engine, let alone work on it.

You made a smart move going Suzuki.

 

[TackDriver284]

Wow, I feel your frustration — sounds like you’ve been through a lot with that ETEC. I’m also a longtime Evinrude user, but once they discontinued support, it became a nightmare trying to find someone who’d even look at the engine, let alone work on it.

You made a smart move going Suzuki.

I have been a long time Evinrude fan as well, it felt better switching. It was one turn of the key and drive all day and fish with that Suzuki. ETEC had overheating issues since Day 1. On my last fishing trip, we had a long boat ride, about 65-75 miles round trip we went south and north to fish and we did catch speckled trout and a couple of redfish. It was 11 am, and I remembered an old spot I fished even further north. Asked my family if they wanted a few more reds because the bite stopped, and they agreed, so we headed further north about 20 miles and we came to this spot and fished about an hour and came across 3 large redfish. That made our day and we headed back to the dock which was quite the drive. It felt nice running the 20 foot flats boat at 46 mph in 10 inches of water along the east shoreline up the coast instead of deeper water with all that chop. It runs a little slower than a 3 blade prop, my boat is a 4 blade for getting up in very shallow water. Not made for high speed, its a prop from Power Tech made for both purposes, getting up in shallow water and cruising speed. The bays run from ankle deep to 3 feet average, with some places running 4-5 feet. Normally we fish in 1-3 feet in our areas. We ran 14 gallons of gas all day, very economical on gas with that 175 Suzuki. The ETEC could not beat that and I had the old carbureted 175 Johnson which was a monster on power and speed but was a gas guzzler.

 

[Darkhorse]

I've been looking at boats again and wondered why I saw no Evinrudes. I didn't realize they were out of buisness. They used to make a good motor. Growing up all Grand dad and Dad would run were Johnson's and Evinrude.
In '03 I bought a 20 footer with a 150 Evinrude for offshore fishing. We fished Kingfish tournaments with that boat over 10 years time. In that time we had no major engine problems. I do most of my own engine repairs and they were all simple.
Fast forward another 10 years or so and my brother bought a 23' Wellcraft CC with a 225 Mercury. I was really impressed with the boat running the big seas in the Gulf stream off the Fla. keys. And that Mercury really made that boat fly....but it was unreliable. Things just kept breaking. We used to spend a couple of weeks every year down in Marathon fishing mostly all day. One year I spent a week and had to return home for work. The day after I left something in the foot broke about 20 miles out. Luckily he had Sea Tow and they got the family back to the condo and the boat to a dealer.
The motor needed a new foot and it took almost a week to get one. That ate up all his remaining fishing time. But they can all break, not just mercury. I wouldn't hesitate to own one today. The outboards I look at now are Mercury, Yamaha, Honda and Tohatsu. I don't yet have a favorite.

 

[TackDriver284]

Don't overlook Suzuki, they say its the most reliable engine. I yet need to see it to believe it. My ETEC kept breaking down once I get it fixed and its always another thing.

 

[Bruce Mc]

One of my friends etec went down because of the ignition computer or what ever it's called. He can get a used one for around 1500 and add labor with no guarantee. He's looking for a new or newer outboard.