75 hp etec. Good motor?

I'm looking at buying a used boat with a 2005 Evinrude Etec. Is this a good motor, and is there anything I should be concerned about? I've heard stories about heads blowing, etc. Other boats I've owned have had Yamaha 4-strokes, and I know nothing about Etec's. Are they difficult to winterize?

[BW]

They are great motors. The stories you hear are about the big motors. Quiet, fuel efficient, troll down decent. They winterized themselves, which is very cool!! And you don't sacrifice performance....

[eagle19eye]

Great motors! On my second Etec. My 50hp I had for 5 years without any issues. Traded up to a 60hp and still think its one of the best out there. If you have a Lowrance I would hook up the nema connection from your motor to it.

[hommer23]

I have a 2008 75 hp e-tec and love it so far, I fished most of the winter with the boat and winterized it after every trip out right at the launch. After it self winterized I could drain the water and had no problems at all. It has good top end and a good hole shot and is as quite as a 4 stroke. The bad part is the oil has to be set by a dealer for xd 100 (syn) or xd50 (standard) and you can not use one for the other. I would set up for the xd100 and pay the extra up front for the oil since it will use less per gal it works out to the same cost. As far as maint you may need to but 4 or 5 plugs to get them to index proper and if you don't index them you will lose performance.

[eagle19eye]

In cold weather below 32F you need to use the XD100. Mine is left on the TC-W3 setting which allows perfect protection for the motor, but Im using the XD100 oil which many Etec owners do. Also I have the program to change any settings and diagnose my engine from my laptop. Basically your leaning the engine out buy changing to the XD100 setting. You cannot run the XD50 and XD30 in cold weather. My 60hp uses very little oil and runs extremely clean.

[JOE WALLEYE]

More of what everyone else is saying. I have a 2011 75Etec. I love this motor, instant starts no matter the temperature or weather, runs smooth and quiet, it’s pretty easy on gas and oil also. The self winterize function is sweet. I run XD100 oil but my motor is set up so I could run standard tcw3.

Originally Posted by eagle19eye

In cold weather below 32F you need to use the XD100. Mine is left on the TC-W3 setting which allows perfect protection for the motor, but Im using the XD100 oil which many Etec owners do. Also I have the program to change any settings and diagnose my engine from my laptop. Basically your leaning the engine out buy changing to the XD100 setting. You cannot run the XD50 and XD30 in cold weather. My 60hp uses very little oil and runs extremely clean.

Where can you get the program that you have?

[eagle19eye]

Ask your local dealer. Some will sell it some will not. On one hand if they sell you the program it takes there business away. On the other hand if they sell it to some schmuck that dosen't have any clue to what he is doing then he could destroy the engine by playing with numbers. If the engine is under warranty I wouldn't worry about having the progaram. I purchased it because I fish too much in order to leave my boat at the dealer for him to get me up and going again if I do have a issue. What is really cool about the software is you can really prop your engine correctly by looking at the live data as your running. The historical trend is sweet to, it lets you know how long and what rpms you run most of the time.

Is it really quieter? I had a 75hp Merc 4stroke on my Pro Guide 1725, I really liked that motor, I really liked how quiet it was. However it is a physicaly "large" motor, I am thinking next go around considering the Yamaha 4 stroke or the E-Tec or maybe another Merc 4 stroke.

Thanks for the reply's

G44

http://www.brpdiagnostics.com/evinrudediagnostics/
here is a link for the diagnostic software kit