[wh500special]

Originally Posted by Mac10

I've been out of the boat buying game for several years and I'm in the market for a newer used model Tiller boat, most likely 50 or 60hp. Wondering how the etec compares with the new 4 strokes.

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There is something deeply emotional about E-tec discussions. No idea why. Maybe because they are a different technology. Maybe because Evinrude’s marketing is so aggressive against others. Whatever it is, the fan boys and detractors come out to butt heads on this topic with depressing regularity.

E-tecs are equal, competitive alternatives to 4-strokes. Maybe better in some instances, maybe worse in others. On average, they’re just like any other clean tech outboard motor when it comes to real world usability. Since the outboard world doesn’t publish reliability ratings, evidence of reliability of all brands is only anecdotal.

If we could remove the emotions, blindfold people, and stick them at the tiller of a boat most of us couldn’t tell from the running quality whether there is a 4-stroke or E-Tec hanging on the transom.

I have an E-tec 40 which is very similar to the 50 and 60. I also have Honda 90 and Yamaha 8 hp 4-strokes. I wouldn’t rate any of them higher than the other in overall satisfaction and usability.

For the E-tec, the 40/50 versions only differ in the programming of their Engine Management Module (EMM) computer. The 60 also gets an additional piece of hardware that injects water into the exhaust housing to create a type of waterleg vacuum to help scavenge exhaust and produce the extra 10 hp. This valve doesn't open until some elevated RPM, so down low the 40/50/60 all behave similarly and they have lots of grunt.

Evinrude has offered this 2-cylinder platform in 40, 50, 60, and 65 hp versions in North America. Originally they qualified (with EPA) a 70 hp version as well, but never sold it for some reason. So the engine has a lot of power potential and reserve.

I should mention that there is also a 3-cylinder, 60-hp E-Tec High Output. It’s tuned to generate 66 hp and is a re-flashed 75/90. They are pretty new models and I’d be surprised if you found one on a used boat…although it would be a monster if you did. For this discussion, I’ll concentrate only on the 2-cylinder 50/60 E-tec…

From discussions elsewhere, the E-Tec 40 is a powerhouse, the 50 is kind of an underperformer compared to other 50’s, and the 60 is a strong 60 when compared to the competition. I’ve seen many on the E-tec forums suggest bypassing the 50 in favor of saving money and buying the 40 or going full boat and choosing the 60. There is about a 20% torque bump for each 10 horsepower increment on these.

E-Tec’s are quiet. I'm sure you can find a particular 4-stroke that is quieter, but in general you're splitting hairs with the sound level any of the "clean" outboards generate. Because it is a 2-stroke, it does sound DIFFERENT than a 4 stroke and you might interpret that sound as either pretty awesome or completely unpleasant. You may find your mother-in-law's voice irritating, but your father-in-law apparently didn't. Same thing.

At idle, you'll mostly hear the telltale stream hitting the water and the injectors ticking. Speed it up a bit and it gets louder and turns into a hum. Empirically, my 40 E-tec is as quiet as my Honda 90 4-stroke.

Except when starting up for the first time in the season after the engine has been laid up after winterization, I have NEVER seen ANY smoke from my E-tec. The rental on the pontoon boat mentioned must have been malfunctioning badly if the operators were seeing any smoke or was smelling bad. I do frequently see water vapor coming out of the above water exhaust idle pressure relief ports and I’m sure many might confuse it with smoke. I don’t know, since pontoons don’t plane maybe it was way overpopped and had been lugged to death. Maybe it was run with mixed gas.

E-tec exhaust does have a smell. So do my 4-stroke Yamaha and Honda. On the Evinrude, you're buring a little bit (very little) oil all the time. So you pick up a whiff of smell once in a while, but it is in no way - not even close - to what an old 50:1 or even 100:1 motor makes. And I truly think they blend some kind of fragrance into the XD-100 oil to make it a pleasant smell.

4-strokes also smell. It's that same sour, damp-morning smell a 1980's car makes when first started up before the catalytic converter has warmed up enough to start doing anything. But it’s not usually unpleasant or strong and certainly nowhere like the old 2-strokes.

So, ALL engines smell. You may be more bothered by one of these smell varieties than the other. You'll want to do some test drives and backtrolling to see what you can tolerate. Even with the slightest of breeze, either the Evinrude or 4 stroke smell will dissipate quickly.

How E-tecs mechanically differ from an old 2-stroke seems to mystify a lot of people, including a lot of dealers. The dealer that hung my 40 on my boat took it for a test drive and pre-mixed oil into the gas tank! I've had people question me at the boat ramp if I have to pre-mix or if the motor is oil injected. Really, it’s neither.

Old 2-strokes mix the oil with the fuel, suck it through the carburetor, blow it around the crankcase, then push it into the cylinder for burning. Lubrication happens during the time the fuel/oil/air charge swirls around the crankcase. With premix the oil was obviously mixed into the gas in the tank while oil injected models mixed the gas with oil just upstream of the carburetor.

E-Tec’s don’t do either of those things. Instead the fuel and oil are never mixed except for a tiny amount used to keep the injectors from sticking. Instead, oil is delivered directly to the moving parts of the engine for lubrication. Eventually it finds its way into the combustion chamber where the fuel is injected directly just before the sparkplug fires and combustion mayhem ensues. So, the moving parts are always lubricated directly by new, clean oil.

Evinrude oil is expensive, but you won’t use much. I have about 160 hours on my 40 and I’m still on my first gallon or two. It’s been years since I bought oil so I don’t recall how much I’ve used. Oil use is proportional to fuel use and it sounds like it’s working out to about 100:1 for most users. So, obviously, higher horsepower motors are going to use more oil since they use proportionally more fuel.

Your oil operating cost will probably be a wash between an E-tec and a 4-stroke if you’re a DIY’er. You either change oil once a season with your 4-stroke, or fill the tank every once in a while on an E-tec. Evinrude likes to pretend it’s a major undertaking to change the oil in a 4-stroke, but it’s not. Even if you’re not a DIY type, you can easily change the oil on your outboard when your boat is on the trailer. It takes me an hour start to finish on my Honda to get out the oil pan, drain the oil, remove the filter, button it back up and refill it, then clean up. So it’s not a big deal, and I drop off the used oil for recycling at Autozone when convenient. But it is certainly easier and cleaner just to pour clean oil into the E-Tec once in a while. Takes a couple minutes total over the course of the season.

Either engine style still requires regular gearlube, fuel filter, and waterpump changes. The 60 E-tec will also require periodic (I don’t know how often, but it’s every 3-5 years) cleaning of that mentioned water valve.

The lack of having an oil sump also means that E-Tec’s aren’t subject to oil dilution due to blowby. So if you’re doing a lot of trolling or it’s cold, you won’t be “making oil” like you might with a 4 stroke. Neither my Honda nor my Yamaha seem to “make oil” so I don’t know how prevalent this really is. Any blowby in a 2-stroke is going to eventually find its way back the the combustion chamber.

Being a 2-cylinder compared to a 3 or 4 cylinder you might expect the E-tec to have a lumpy idle and not run very smoothly. Because they are a 2-stroke and fire on every revolution, they have a power pulse frequency that is the same as a 4-cylinder 4-stroke at the same RPM. But they do have more unbalanced reciprocating mass, so there are some low RPM operating ranges where you might find they can match the excitation frequency of a light boat and make it shake.

My 40 is on a lightweight 500 pound aluminum boat (Lund 16 Rebel). At just above the lowest idle speed, it shakes the boat enough that if any rod tip is close to touching anything it will sit there and tap away. At absolute low idle or above that range it's smooth. And smooth all the way up to a flat out scream. You're looking at 50/60 hp boats which will be heavier than my tin can, so you may not have this issue. I would almost guarantee that all of the 3-4 cylinder 4-strokes will be smoother in the lowest RPM ranges, but it won’t be as big of a difference as the cylinder count discrepancy would suggest.

A tiny benefit to the 2-cylinder design is that the E-Tec 60 is lower profile than a 4-cylinder 60 and doesn’t look so huge on the transom. Not a big deal, and some of the 4-strokes are getting more compact as time goes by and designs change.

Adding weight to the E-Tec 40-60 is the gigantic lower unit and prop. Evinrude elected to equip these engines with a huge lower unit that is just like the “Bigfoot” or “Command Thrust” offered by others. Must have been a durability or parts-sharing thing. This might be a benefit to a specific boat, but on a lightweight boat it’s not. You might find that the E-Tec would need to be mounted higher off the transom than a comparable 4-stroke with a smaller gearcase. That big gearcase – while improving holeshot and load carrying – also increases drag which might also compromise top end speed compared to a standard 4-stroke with a more svelte gearbox.

Expect overall fuel economy of any of the 4-strokes to be the same as that of the E-tec. There will be trading back and forth on the top spot for any given hull/engine/prop/setup/speed combination, but they should all be about on par. If you've only ever run old 2-strokes, you'll be blown away by how much further a tank of gas will take you with a new tech engine.

Evinrude’s tiller is long and has the gearshift in a convenient spot. The trim switch is in the very tip of the twist grip so is easy to use with your thumb when running. There is a key switch in the base and there are start and stop buttons out by the grip. Steering friction is set at the swivel bracket with a set screw. Throttle friction is adjustable with a knob.

The vertical position of the tiller is adjustable without tools. Horizontal position (angle to the left, center, or right) is adjustable in increments by unbolting and rebolting two bolts. I don’t know what year it became available, but the tiller can be equipped with an RPM adjust button…my 2007 motor is too old for this feature. 2009 (I think) and newer have NEMA2000 compatibility and probably allow the RPM buttons. A gauge harness is available for plug and play attachment of Tachometers, trim gauges, remote key switch, etc back to 1996 from OMC or BRP or the aftermarket.

The tiller is pretty nice. I’m not sure what else the Merc Big Tiller or Yamaha handles really bring to the table, but they are both well regarded so there must be something.

E-Tec or fuel injected 4-stroke, you’ll find that the engines start almost instantly. I’d swear my 40 doesn’t even make a single revolution before it’s running (as long as I remember to turn on the key switch). You’ll also find that all of the fuel injected motors are very intolerant of contaminated fuel. Make sure to equip your new boat with a good water-separating fuel filter.

The Evinrude pumps out 25 amps of battery charging power in addition to what is consumed by the engine. I didn’t look up specs for the 4-strokes but they are probably similar. This high output means it’s feasible to add onboard charging capability to your TM batteries if you like and you make long boatrides.



While you should keep a battery connected, E-tec’s require no battery at all to start and run and can power up their onboard 55V system completely on their own. What this means is that even with completely dead or missing battery, you can still rope start your engine if needed…there’s a video somewhere of a guy rope starting a 200+ hp Etec with no battery.

Either 4-stroke or E-tec, if you get a package with a well matched setup I would imagine you’d be happy. And if you’re like the rest of us, your success with a particular brand will forge loyalty with the choice. Most owners of both types of engines have great success with their choice and just turn the key and go fishing. There are always those unfortunate souls that have an E-Tec or 4-stroke explode and tell the tale repeatedly. You can get a lemon, but you probably can’t buy a poorly designed modern outboard motor anymore.

Good luck.

Steve