the Tohatsu 3.5 and Mercury 3.5 are identical except for the badge decals. I've owned Yamaha O/B motors of various sizes over the years. They are my first choice. This said, I bought a Tohatsu 3.5 for my inflatable dink because of the light weight to HP ratio and low price. It works, but there are times when I'm pretty sure Tohatsu means something foul in Japanese.
Merc / Yamaha / Evinrude
- Thread starter Canonshooternb
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- dingy mercury small engine yamaha
I have older 2cycle Evinrude 2, 3, and 6 hp. All have been virtually trouble free.
2 hp is a 1972 bought new when I was a kid
3 hp is a 1958 came with my yard sale dinghy. Carb rebuild and lower unit lube and she runs like a top
6 hp is a 1974 Was a $25 yard sale find about 10 years ago replaced the missing tiller with a part off E-bay, and she runs great.
2 hp is a 1972 bought new when I was a kid
3 hp is a 1958 came with my yard sale dinghy. Carb rebuild and lower unit lube and she runs like a top
6 hp is a 1974 Was a $25 yard sale find about 10 years ago replaced the missing tiller with a part off E-bay, and she runs great.
Interesting, in our area Honda is most common by a large margin. Mostly 2 or 2.3 then they jump up to 9.9, 20, 40 and so on. The little engines for us mortals. Don't overlook Suzuki. My buddy loves his and it's cheaper.
Ken
My Yamaha 8 Hp has been running like new ever since I switched to Ethanol free gas and add Seafoam in every tank.
A few years back my outboard would always give me problems when most needed but than I took carb off and cleaned and soaked with carb cleaner and than started using Ethanol free gas and seafoam in every tank and just came back from over 3 week cruise to the Keys and my outboard ran great and for the last few years been running great.
My 8HP Yamaha is a 2002.
Nick
A few years back my outboard would always give me problems when most needed but than I took carb off and cleaned and soaked with carb cleaner and than started using Ethanol free gas and seafoam in every tank and just came back from over 3 week cruise to the Keys and my outboard ran great and for the last few years been running great.
My 8HP Yamaha is a 2002.
Nick
I don't know about California but out here in the mid-west the only way to get alcohol free gas is to buy the premium grade fuel, regardless of whether the engine needs the additional octane. I haven't tried Seafoam but I doubt it will work any better than Sta-bil for alcohol related issues. After 4 seasons using regular unleaded and additives and still fighting carb issues I finally switched to Premium; straight if out on a trip and motoring a lot and with Sta-bil when storing or low use. I just put my boat in this week and used last years fuel dregs of Premium and Sta-bil and she fired up on the 2nd pull. Your mileage may vary........
Dennis
Dennis: That's interesting about premium having no alcohol in it. You might want to double check that as that is NOT true out west! Non alcohol gas is hard to find in Calif.. Seafoam is the best. Chief
Dennis: According to Google, premium gas in Missouri must have alcohol added by law. I say again: your wasting your money by buying premium. Once you use octane above the motors recommendation it is of no benefit.
There are currently 262 Pure Gas stations in Missouri if you want non alcohol gas. (In Bolivar go to Broadway ave.) Chief
There are currently 262 Pure Gas stations in Missouri if you want non alcohol gas. (In Bolivar go to Broadway ave.) Chief
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In NY it is possible to buy ethanol free gas at many gas stations, but it is premium. The extra cost is worth getting ethanol free gas. Besides, how much gas can a little outboard burn in a season?
I believe what Dennis was referring to is that if you want non-alcohol fuel, you must buy premium fuel to (not) get it. Very few gas stations have enough fuel tanks underground to supply every combination, so they only supply non-alcohol as a premium option. premium is also available with alcohol added of course.
Maybe in some states, but just got back from Arizona in April and regular ethanol was the same price and octane as the non alcohol was I was buying. I don't think they are selling premium non the same price as regular 10%! ($2.38 gal)
Sailm8: See if you can find a nice 2 stroke in 10 to 15 hp range and then use either one you want for the trip your making. I do this with a Tohatsu 3.5 & 15hp Evinrude. Chief
Sailm8: See if you can find a nice 2 stroke in 10 to 15 hp range and then use either one you want for the trip your making. I do this with a Tohatsu 3.5 & 15hp Evinrude. Chief
Yes we have several gas stations in the area that advertise NO ALCOHOL PREMIUM. BTW I was just at a small engine shop and saw that StarBrite has an additive that it says "helps prevent phase separation in alcohol fuels". I imagine SeaFoam is similiar. If it delays it 1 day I guess you can legally say it "helps".
Dennis
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Sailm8: I am not surprised that the 2's are getting hard to find. My 1989, 15hp Evinrude w/ electric start weighs 75lbs. Will outrun any 4 stroke its size and runs well on ethanol gas/seafoam/50 to 1 oil. By comparison; my sailboat engine is an electric start 9.9, 4 stroke Tohatsu and it is a fine motor but weighs 100 lbs! I will put my 250 Catalina in Lake Oroville this year and intend to use the Evinrude 15 because of the potential long dinghy runs involved. Chief
Most gas stations have 2 or 3 tanks. One for high octane and one for regular and any mid grade fuels are blended onsite by the pumps. If they sell diesel then that's in the 3rd tank.
Correct. and if they want to sell non alcohol, they need a 4th tank which leaves them with a choice of what grade fuel they want to have as non-alcohol. I've never seen a station that had a 5th tank which would allow them to sell both regular and high test without alcohol, but maybe a few are out there.
The octane doesn't matter if there is ethanol in the fuel. The reason to run the carbs dry is to keep the ethanol from gumming up the idle jet. If you are using ethanol fuel, run the carb dry any time you will not start the engine for a week. Seafoam will definitely help keep the carb clean, so use it, but it still wont hurt to disconnect the fuel line and let the motor run dry. Once it stops, pull the choke, and start it again. Push the choke in and let the motor run til it dies.
I have a mercury 9.9 4 stroke, a yamaha 9.9 4 stroke, a suzuki 2.5 4 stroke, a johnson 70 2 stroke, and I had a Mariner 6 2 stroke. My favorite engine is the Yamaha. It just feels better engineered.
I have a mercury 9.9 4 stroke, a yamaha 9.9 4 stroke, a suzuki 2.5 4 stroke, a johnson 70 2 stroke, and I had a Mariner 6 2 stroke. My favorite engine is the Yamaha. It just feels better engineered.
I'm not going to disagree with AG (and not just because I covet his nicely worked O'day 272) but I am going to put forth an alternative theory to running gas out of the carb. I've heard it go both ways, and from mechanics too. One viewpoint against running the fuel out is that you can't get all of the fuel out of the carb bowl, so therefore that little bit of gas is more likely to vaporize leaving behind gum. So, that makes sense, too.
Because I can get 87 ethanol free, and because I average running the motor twice a week through the summer, the past few years I have not been running the carb dry. Have not had any problems.
But Granddad always ran the gas out of the carb on the '63 2 stroke 90 hp Johnson, and we didn't have ethanol back then.
The only problem he had was with vapor lock, which was inconvenient running up the bay to go fishing, then not being able to start the motor to come home. That got fixed by a recall with a redesigned carb. Ah, but I see I'm spinning yarns again, so I'll stop! 