E-TEC Experience

[tpbrady]

Just finished the first voyage after yesterday's shakedown. In 5 hours covering about 80 statute miles, I burned 16.5 gals cruising between 21 and 25 mph except for about 40 minutes dodging ice in Harriman Fjord. Seas were generally calm, light wind, and the boat was maybe half loaded. Top speed was 32 mph at 4900 RPMwith the motor trimmed up a few degrees. When the motor was fully down top speed was 30 mph at 4650 RPM. I plan to go from a 14x17 to 14/16 prop to see if the WOT can get up into the 5200 RPM range.

[Pat Anderson]

So I guess that computes to 3.3 gallons per hour and 4.8 statute miles per gallon, not bad...Just as a point of comparison, we were lucky to get 4.0 statute miles per gallon with our twin Honda 40s, and we NEVER in two years of ownership attained a speed of 30 mph, not even before we started gooping it up and weighting it down...top end of about 26-28 mph light, and 23-25 heavy. But that was sure fast enough...

[Sawdust]

I've been running some fuel flow/mpg tests with the E-Tec, but have a lot of fine tuning to do.

With the 15" prop -- top is 33 statute mph... easy cruise of 20 knots at 4.6 NMPG. Light boat - full fuel and fat driver. This is in quiet water, with legs of at least 10 NM each way.

I'm making a plot of rpm/spd/mpg, but the wind and current sure mess up the progress. Over-all impression so far is VERY good. Almost as smooth as Honda at low rpm, but over 1600 rpm you would have to go back and check to make sure it was a 2-stroke.

NO dealer maintenance for 300 hours is a huge plus for me. Les doesn't go hide now when I come in to EQ

Dusty

[tpbrady]

Pat,

Thanks for the comparison to the Honda 40's. My first thought was to go with twin Honda forties, and then the dealer suggested the E-Tec. 32 mph was way fast. You don't want to do any sharp turns at that speed unless you want to rearrange everything on the boat. I tried cruise settings at 3800 RPM at 22 mph, 4200 RPM at 25 mph and 4500 rpm at 28 mph. The engine just sounded right between 4200 and 4500. Not very scientific, but it was only piece of test equipment available.

What are you putting on your new 25?

[gljjr]

On the E-Tec motors I think they govern the engine to 4900 rpm until you reach a certain number of hours(50?) on the motor. I wouldn't go changing the prop until you have reached that point. There is a gentleman on Gamefishin.com who put a 150hp Jet on his sled. He has been VERY impressed with the motor. He says it is more fuel efficient than any other motor he has ever run. Plus he says he has hardly gone through any 2 stroke oil either. I would be very hard pressed no to seriously look at this motor as a main power source.

[Sea Wolf]

I read an article about one of the really big new E-Techs, a V-6, perhaps still in the factory test stages, where they got some really amazing gas consumption figures at trolling speeds. Turns out that part of the gas savings were accomplished because the big V-6 shut down some of the cylinders at lower rpm (like some of the older Cadillac engines from the 80's, I believe). Does the 90 hp E-Tech do this, or aren't there enough cylinders to permit selective use and keep a balanced motor? Joe.

[Chuck B]

Sawdust, I will be putting an Etec 90 on my new CD22, and am curious about your prop selection, since the Etec has a slightly higher gear ratio than the often discussed Honda. You mentioned the pitch was 15". Is that an Evinrude 3 x 13 3/4 x 15, or something else? And what RPM's are you getting at WOT? Thanks.

[Sawdust]

Joe,

The 90 doesn't shut down any cylinders AFIK. Runs VERY lean. I don't have fuel consumptionl data yet for troll speed, but that's next on the list. The little under-cowl oil tank holds enough oil for about 100 hours!! Think the oil mix is about 350:1 at troll. NO oil in the water.

Chuckb,

I THINK (gotta ask Les) I'm running the 3x15x16 -- I'm getting 5,200 light boat WOT. We tried the 3x13x16 but didn't gain a thing. Not sure which prop if heavily loaded -- the 13 inch prop gave a better hole shot, a knot less top speed, and burned more fuel at cruise. I'll have a lot more info after I finish testing. Because of the lower unit they use on the 90 (ex 135), there are many after-market props available -- I'll probably go through a few.

Dusty

[tpbrady]

One thing to add. Yesterday coming out at Whittier, Beer:Thirty came out behind me and there is dramatic size difference between the Yamaha on the back of their boat and the E-Tec. The E-Tec looks like a 2/3 scale model. The Evinrude 9.9 kicker next to it looks relatively big sitting next to it.

[Luna C]

[tpbrady]

The oil pump priming procedure is the same as winterization and takes about 3 minutes for the engine. Greasing the prop spline, changing oil in the lower unit and checking for corrosion takes as lot longer. We went through the procedure just to see what you would have to do if you ran out of oil.

[Sea Wolf]

Tom-

The apparent size difference between the Yamaha and the E-Tech is because the Yami is an in-line 4, and the E-Tech is a V-4, which is only about 2 cylinders high plus the additional height for dual rods on two throws.

Dusty-

Thanks for the info. Didn't see how they could shut down any of the 4. Sure is lean on the oil---great improvement over conventional 2 strokes!

The BIG lower end from the 135 should be an advantage in durability. I believe it was OMC also who used larger lower units on their built for abuse Commercial Series Outboards.

Thanks, Guys! Joe.

[Mr. Fisherman]

I found this footage... See what you think...

http://sportfishermen.com/media_movies/movies/2070.wmv

[Mr. Fisherman]

http://sportfishermen.com/media_movies/movies/etc.avi

E-Tech... remember mom's advice... always wear clean underwear...

[Captains Cat]

Urch Either one of those is enough to make me buy more Honda's!!

Charlie