# best 40 hp 4 stroke?.....



## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

The Etec 60 with 40Hp decals


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

I have a yamaha 40 4 stroke and a Tohatsu 40 2 stroke. The yamaha is a amazing motor. Very, very quiet motor, has good power and the hole shot isnt bad for a 4 stroke. Iam sure the price is going to be a little higher than others but the reliability has been worth it. Comparing the 2 motors I have the Tohatsu has a better hole shot but top end speed is the same. So far the yamaha has been a worry free motor, cant say the same for the tohatsu, she likes to use the warranty. My opinion is based on what I have and been using for several years now. The Yamaha is on a suv 17 and the tohatsu is on my gen 1 copperhead. hope this helps


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

Yamaha Dry Weight F40LA = 97kg (214 lbs) F40LEHA 101kg (223 lbs)

ETEC 60 245lbs

I love my ETEC 40 245lbs and it sips fuel and is as quiet or quieter than a lot of 4strokers. Cannot beat the whole shot and it tops out my boat Mitzi 15 at 38 with stock prop and 33 4 blade powertech. No service till 300hrs is a huge plus. No 4 stroke has that..


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## benpace8475 (Feb 5, 2013)

i have read and talked with people who have mixed feelings about the e tec motors....it seems they either love them or hate them.....the last thing i would want is a brand new motor that was in the shop keeping me off the water......what about the idea that the mercury and yamaha are essentially the same motor?.....i have also heard reallly good things about the 4 stroke suzuki.....thanks for all the feedback.......


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## topnative2 (Feb 22, 2009)

E-tec 40--- best engine I have ever had or seen


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## Flyline (Mar 3, 2008)

Suzuki 4 strokes!


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## makin moves (Mar 20, 2010)

A service writer a shop I was dealing with swore by the suzuki's. They did warranty work for several big names and said the Suzuki's had the least warranty work done to them. I wasnt in the market for a motor at the time and he knew that so I know he wasnt trying to sell me it was just conversation. I dont have any personal experience just passing along info.


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## RonBari (Jun 30, 2012)

Three ETEC's in the family.. love 'em.


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## mirrocraft (Apr 29, 2009)

I have a 2013 ETEC 50 hp tiller on my Boggy Creek. Best motor I have ever had. When you twist the throttle there is no hesitation. Smooth running, quite. People say they weigh too much?? Still hauls azz.


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## Seebs (Dec 21, 2011)

ETEC!!


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## cmiranda (Jan 12, 2011)

Yamaha all the way. 

ex owner of Johnson, Merc and Yes E-trash by far the worse engine I have ever owned (great if you are going thru manatee and no wake zones ) too many alarms for my liking that would bring me down to idle and the dealer could not find anything wrong with it.


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## Dillusion (May 21, 2012)

I would not go for an etec in 40hp...the 60 is the same weight, makes no sense unless you have a hull which has an HP rating of 40 or lower.

in that case I would get a suzuki 40hp 4 stroke- quiet and efficient EFI motor.

I would not get an etec 40 for a hull rated at 40 max, but that's me.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

I have had multiple "black" ones for 30 years. Had one "grey" one that was sold due to too many issues before warranty was up.

Never tried any of the others because they aren't "black"


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Just replaced a 40 Yamaha 4 stroke on a Waterman. Had multiple problems with it and ethanol. All three carbs were replaced once or more. The 40 Yami 4 stroke was a major letdown from a reliability standpoint. It was replaced with a 60 Suzuki EFI 4 stroke. More power/less weight. This is the second Suzuki repower. Put a 90 on an Egret and looking at a 20 for a Gheenoe. 

Capt Jan


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

damn. my 50TLR weighs 187 lbs.


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

Take it with a grain of salt I guess and research it to the end! reason being is everyone on this forum runs probably every make and either love or hate the motors. I love my ETEC and I had a Suzuki 140 Four stroke that was a big piece of crap Vapor lock fuel injector issues.... Just hope and pray whatever you buy that you get a good one with no issues. Seems like every mkae has had an issue of some sort by somebody.. :


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## devrep (Feb 22, 2009)

it's a crime that the 2 strokes got shoved aside except for the etec, which gained a bunch of weight. same thing happend with dirt bikes (my other wife). went from inexpensive, light and reliable to big dollar fat pigs that need oil changes, valve adjustments and expensive top end rebuilds.


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## colin76regan (Oct 25, 2011)

Suzuki 40,50,60 all weigh the same as well! Just like the etec. same block. To say that the etec 60 is too heavy and reccomend a suzuki 40 is silly, they're the same weight! Ok, 15lbs different but that's not going to sink a boat!
I've had both of 'em. Both with tillers, loved 'em both. I also own the zuke 140, bulletproof. Can't go wrong with either, But, I'm now an etec lover. I'm really digging the low maintenance and no oil changes. I also love the growl of the etec. The zuke is so quiet, it almost has an electric sound, which is cool too.


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## benpace8475 (Feb 5, 2013)

thanks for all the input.....the reason for the 40 hp is that is the max rating for an ankona suv 17......so any larger motors being compared would not really be applicable....also...I too am a big fan of the bullet proof nature of the 2 stroke....but i am looking for fuel efficiency as well.....so as many have said here there is some give and take......


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## oysterbreath (Jan 13, 2009)

I've been keeping an eye on this thread too. I MIGHT be in the market for a 40 if I play my cards right. All I can offer is that you should make sure you ask Mel which 40 HE recommends for the SUV. I'm sure he's run them all on it.


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

I have owned the following: merc 25 two stroke, it was bulletproof
50 yami two stroke, hard to start but ran well
40 yami 4 stroke, ran well when the carbs weren't all clogged
current merc 25 sea pro, back to bulletproof.

I will stay away from Yamaha for the rest of my boating life after owning the 40 4 stroke. Their customer service at the local level was great but when local dealer couldn't fix a major issue their corporate and regoinal tec did everything possible to blame me before owning up and fixing things. They finally fixed things once they realized I wasnt giving up, but it was the worst consumer experience I have ever had. 

Im intrigued with the etecs but they need to go on a diet for the microskiff market.


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## jslimick89 (Feb 10, 2011)

I have a yamaha f40 on my maverick HPX and im not going to lie I have been a little frustrated with the motor. Especially the carbs and ethanol issues. you HAVE to run the motor on marine ethanol free gas or a carb rebuild will be a yearly maintenance issue. Other then that the motor runs good and starts every time however the motor is just not as responsive as a good old 2 stroke motor. My buddy has a ETEC and i love it! I wish maverick would power with ETEC!


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Hey jslim I wonder if you have my old 15 hpx. I finally got that motor running well but it absolutely must be run with ethanol free gas. sometimes I miss my old hpx. pm me if you picked it up from cfl marine in the past few months.


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

> thanks for all the input.....the reason for the 40 hp is that is the max rating for an ankona suv 17......so any larger motors being compared would not really be applicable....also...I too am a big fan of the bullet proof nature of the 2 stroke....but i am looking for fuel efficiency as well.....so as many have said here there is some give and take......


I can tell you that my ETEC 40 has been an awesome motor! And I can run huge distances with 6 gal of gas. I tell you that this motor well my motor is the best! Lol. Also have a 92 Johnson 48 spl on my river brim boat. It has over 500 hrs to this day with only a rebuilt water pump. They don't make them like they use to but I can say this ETEC that I have now reminds me of that motor.


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## benpace8475 (Feb 5, 2013)

thanks to all who gave feedback.....it has come down to the suzuki or the etec....just trying to decide if the suzuki is worth $800 more.......i am doubting it......leaning towards the etec just based on price.......hope i don't regret it.


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## RonBari (Jun 30, 2012)

.. I would be leaning toward the E-Tec for more reasons than just the price.


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## mirrocraft (Apr 29, 2009)

I had a 25 yamaha 2006 I bought with 10 hours on it. It never ran right throttle issue. Several Yamaha techs later and too many dollars. Get an Etec take it out of the box and don't look back. Do not worry about the weight i bought the 50hp but am sure the 40 would have bee adequate. They run great.


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## cutrunner (Jun 8, 2010)

All three are good motors, your determining factors are going to be cost and weight and local service.I am considering a repower in the forward future and I really like the suzuki for the cost and weight ratio. But in also looking in the 60-70 hp range. The yanaha is great but I cant justify 8000 bucks for a 70 hp


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## Marshfly (Nov 4, 2012)

I noticed a lot of you blaming ethanol fuel problems on the engine. You're putting the cart before the horse. Ethanol will make anything run like crap. Some engines just do a better job of masking it. Notice on new cars that they list one mileage range for regular fuel and another, much lower one, for E85? That's because ethanol has a lot less energy in it and the engine has to detune itself to run it without predetonation. Your outboard has to do the same thing. 

Find a gas station that only sells ethanol free fuel and religiously buy from them. Let them know that that's why you shop there. Every engine will run better, especially these small engines that we don't use everyday. The incremental increase in fuel cost is more than made up by not having the aggravation of having to take the boat in to have the gunk taken out of the fuel system. 

IMHO blaming the engine because it doesn't like the crap you feed it is like wondering why you can't run a marathon when you eat donuts everyday.


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