Outboard for CD26

[BCSailor]

I currently have a Yamaha 9.9 4-stroke, long shaft, high thrust. It has been very unreliable for the past two seasons--some type of fuel/autochoke/carburetion issue--engine stalls unpredictably and will only restart if manually (thumb over the intake) choked. Have had serviced, carburetor cleaned, etc. twice--problem persists. And for the "bad gas" theorists, it stalls with very fresh and stabilized gas. So: I've basically had it with the Yamaha. Please advise "equivalent" alternative models from other manufacturers and what is most reliable (salt water). Thank you.

[Sea Hunt Video]

I do not know your Yamaha. However, from the problems you describe, it is possible the cause is "ethanol gas". All the chemicals in the world will not eliminate the ethanol gas problems in a small O/B.

If you are using regular gas from an auto/truck gas station, you are putting ethanol gas into your O/B. It may be very "fresh" gas but it is 15% ethanol gas that is eating away at any rubber products it comes in contact with (gas lines, etc.) and it is breaking apart any substances that have, over time, adhered to the carburetor. All of this is being pushed into the injectors nozzles and clogging your O/B.

Just a thought.

I had this problem with a Suzuki 6 hp O/B. Nothing I tried worked until I stopped using ethanol gas and found a marina that sold non-ethanol gas. I replaced all the fuel lines and cleaned out/rebuilt carburetor, etc. and with non-ethanol gas I never had another issue. I continued to use StaBil or a similar product but that was mostly for moisture issues.

Good luck

P.S. There are rumors that they want to increase the ethanol levels in gas to 20% or higher

[Bibster]

We had a thread about this a few weeks ago. I had a Tohatsu 9.8 extra-long shaft installed in my CD 26 last month and it fit, just barely. Prior to that, I also had a 2001 Yamaha 9.9 High Thrust that usually ran well but always seemed to stall at the worst possible time.

Anyway, so far I am very pleased with the Tohatsu. It has a flat, four-bladed prop that moves the boat very effectively and I got the remote-controlled version, which I much prefer to the tiller-handle version. The old Yamaha did take up a little bit less room in the lazarette and I could turn it slightly, but that never really seemed to provide better control (least of all in reverse!) so I don't feel as though I have lost anything by having the Tohatsu fixed in place.

By the way, I would recommend that you try Sea Hunt's suggestion before totally giving up on the Yamaha. I have also heard that people have had good luck using aviation gas (available at any small airport) in their outboards and one of our local chandleries here in Annapolis, Fawcett Boat Supply, has begun selling unleaded, ethanol-free gas in one gallon and five gallon containers and people are reporting very good results with this stuff. If my Yamaha had been a few years newer, I would have tried this before I replaced it.

[Shinok]

Isn't 9.9 a bit of overkill for a 26?

We use a 6 HP Tohatsu SailPro (25in shaft) on our 27 and it works really well. I actually bought it online from http://www.onlineoutboards.com/ for about $1500 new. We went new for the warranty and alternator (which we don't even use :/), that and almost all the outboards I looked at buying locally weren't functioning properly.

[BCSailor]

Thanks to all responders. I will look into the Tohatsus, and there is a dealer in my area.

Re: 9.9 being overkill--The 9.9 came with the boat when I bought it 4 years ago. It moves the boat nicely, but I have never felt it was overpowered.

Re: Ethanol gas--Yes, all the problems of ethanol gas are well known, but I am discounting this somewhat as a stalling incident occurred the first time I used the motor after service (including carburetor cleaning and engine tuning), and with clean, fresh gas. The motor started out purring like a kitten and then konked out about 20 min later. If it's that "touchy" with ethanol I think a lot of folks are in trouble.

Again, your repllies are much appreciated.

[Astronomertoo]

I just had our 1999 Yamaha 9.9 4-stroke, long shaft, high thrust that came with our CD25 into a local dealer with the same issue. Dirty gas, dirty carb. If you Google "poor low idle" on same motor you get lots of hits and some experts explaining that there is a hidden passage in the low speed jet gas path that can hide a little bit of crud that will drive you nuts trying to get it out. I had the Yamaha dealer do the carb kit and clean it out, with good success. I will bet none of those motors had a really good (better) inline particulate filter like I use on my normal outboard motor boats. I shall be adding one to my CD25 to filter any fuel coming out of the portable tanks, so this will not happen to us again. The filter, even a simple small glass tube type after the pump bulb , will also let you see when crud and debris is in the line. It is also a good idea to dump the old gas and clean out the tank on occasion. One more suggestion--we have a single gas station in town who sells real gas with 0% alcohol for the local boaters, and I now use that for all my small engines, and lawn equipment. You can bet it goes in the boats too. AND, I will use a filter funnel to fill the tanks.
Best wishes,
BobC

[drysuit2]

Two other things you may want to try, before buying a new four stroke.
1. I use STA-BIL® Ethanol Fuel Treatment and Stabilizer.
2. I always disconnect my fuel hose, and let the engine run at idle till it burns whatever remaining fuel is left in the system.

I don't really understand why this works. But it does. Still running a Mercury 9.9 hp, two stroke from 2000, the original outboard was a Johnson 9.9 Sailmaster [1985 to 1999. When it is time to replace it I'll probably go with a 6hp four stroke. Not just because 9.9 is overkill; but because for strokes are heavier, and bigger.

Like many...I am intimidated by engines, and really only use mine in the winter when I am at a slip, up a creek. I am lucky that I can sail to and from a mooring most of the year. So just in case; I keep a small Danforth in the lazarette, in case I have to kedge my way out of trouble, or into a slip.

Hope this helps

[Uffda]

I had the same problem with a new Yamaha 2.5 outboard. The dealer put an inline fuel filter in and the problem was solved.

[drb9]

I have a Yamaha 8hp with similar problems of the fuel line gumming up. At the risk of thread-jacking, I think my problem would not be so bad if I ran my engine more regularly. But, I don't make it down to the boat every week , or even every month for that matter . I would be interested in paying someone to periodically go by my boat, run the engine for 10 minutes or so, and then shut it off. I would imagine that in a large, 500+ boat marina like mine, there might be enough interest to make this arrangement economical. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

Darin