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Etec 250 HO - 3rd Powerhead
Hello everyone! I am new here....please be gentle. 
I know this will be long, but I am also sure much, much more info will be needed.
I purchased a 2008 Ranger Bay one year ago that has an ETEC 250HO on it (my first Evinrude!). For those that may notice...yes I live in Missouri, but I wanted a boat to take on trips to the south to fish the backwater and could still be used on our home waters for family trips and b*** fishing.
Due to the circumstances, I had to go with a "gut" feel and lots of trust with the private seller. I did not go with him to a shop to hook it up or run any reports before buying (maybe a BIG lesson learned here). We simply did a test run and everything seemed to be running great!
The seller was the original owner who purchased it new in 2008 and had a fully dressed powerhead replacement late in 2009 with a little less than 300 hours on it at the time. I DO have a copy of the Warranty claim from that work. He was a guide and tournament guy, so I figured he ran it hard but would be a sharp guy compared to me and would be a good resource if any issues came up..... I am just a weekend warrior and know less than the average guy about the outboards (but Im learning fast).
The Etec had just about 200 hours on the new powerhead when I bought it and I have added less than 20 in the past year. My first outing this year (one week before I was taking it in for a full service check up) was a few weeks ago and the engine shut down on me. The short story is that the "low Oil" alarm sounded , it overheated and it shut down all at about the same time. I did not even have time to shut it down if I wanted....and it never went into the SAFE mode as Im told it should. After it sat for a while and I put it back on the trailer, I was able to turn the flywheel and then noticed a small amount of oil draining out at the bottom of the engine. (Im sure more info is needed here)
SO... the diagnosis from the service tech is that cylinder #2 has very low compression and cylinder #4 has a rod knock and it is recommended to me that I need a new powerhead... again. The history does show some heat spikes over the 200 hours that were on it...but I do not yet know any additional details. I am meeting with the service tech in the next day or two to find out more. My BIGGEST QUESTION is, if I put a new powerhead on it, could the root of the problem still exist? Could the genesis of the problem be a computer EMM or an oil distribution problem? Does the new "fully dressed" powerhead include the oil system?
I REALLY hate that I am having to put this kind of money into this motor that I have put less than 20 hours on myself...but that is the risk I took. I just want to feel comfortable that I am doing the right thing moving forward and if I spend that kind of money that the real problem has been resolved.
I have bought many used boats and motors over the years and have never been taken advantage of......this may or may not have been know when I bought it but that is water under the bridge now.
Any thoughts...feedback, advice, criticism etc. is WELCOME!!!! Ask me any pertinent questions that may help determine what has happened or where I should go from here. I want to make good decisions moving forward and know that my money spent will be removing the problem. This motor will get lots of TLC moving forward.
Thanks everyone!
Dan
I know this will be long, but I am also sure much, much more info will be needed.
I purchased a 2008 Ranger Bay one year ago that has an ETEC 250HO on it (my first Evinrude!). For those that may notice...yes I live in Missouri, but I wanted a boat to take on trips to the south to fish the backwater and could still be used on our home waters for family trips and b*** fishing.
Due to the circumstances, I had to go with a "gut" feel and lots of trust with the private seller. I did not go with him to a shop to hook it up or run any reports before buying (maybe a BIG lesson learned here). We simply did a test run and everything seemed to be running great!
The seller was the original owner who purchased it new in 2008 and had a fully dressed powerhead replacement late in 2009 with a little less than 300 hours on it at the time. I DO have a copy of the Warranty claim from that work. He was a guide and tournament guy, so I figured he ran it hard but would be a sharp guy compared to me and would be a good resource if any issues came up..... I am just a weekend warrior and know less than the average guy about the outboards (but Im learning fast).
The Etec had just about 200 hours on the new powerhead when I bought it and I have added less than 20 in the past year. My first outing this year (one week before I was taking it in for a full service check up) was a few weeks ago and the engine shut down on me. The short story is that the "low Oil" alarm sounded , it overheated and it shut down all at about the same time. I did not even have time to shut it down if I wanted....and it never went into the SAFE mode as Im told it should. After it sat for a while and I put it back on the trailer, I was able to turn the flywheel and then noticed a small amount of oil draining out at the bottom of the engine. (Im sure more info is needed here)
SO... the diagnosis from the service tech is that cylinder #2 has very low compression and cylinder #4 has a rod knock and it is recommended to me that I need a new powerhead... again. The history does show some heat spikes over the 200 hours that were on it...but I do not yet know any additional details. I am meeting with the service tech in the next day or two to find out more. My BIGGEST QUESTION is, if I put a new powerhead on it, could the root of the problem still exist? Could the genesis of the problem be a computer EMM or an oil distribution problem? Does the new "fully dressed" powerhead include the oil system?
I REALLY hate that I am having to put this kind of money into this motor that I have put less than 20 hours on myself...but that is the risk I took. I just want to feel comfortable that I am doing the right thing moving forward and if I spend that kind of money that the real problem has been resolved.
I have bought many used boats and motors over the years and have never been taken advantage of......this may or may not have been know when I bought it but that is water under the bridge now.
Any thoughts...feedback, advice, criticism etc. is WELCOME!!!! Ask me any pertinent questions that may help determine what has happened or where I should go from here. I want to make good decisions moving forward and know that my money spent will be removing the problem. This motor will get lots of TLC moving forward.
Thanks everyone!
Dan
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