Well, I got a good week of fishing under the E-TEC. The results are mixed. Trolling speeds varied from 1.4 to 1.9 MPH which is more than OK for my kind of fishing. I spent about 8 hours at trolling speeds most outings. This had caused the motor to load up, and foul a plug when taking off to achieve higher speeds on a few occassions. I guess trolling at 475 RPM may be a lot to ask out of a 3 cylinder for that period of time? Or is it? I used to troll at that speed with a 175 OptiMax with smart gagues. I never fouled a plug. I did however use a straight synthetic oil. So, I am going to have the motor verified that it is in fact set to the synthetic setting, and try a straight synthetic. FYI, I have used Pennzoil synthetic oil in the past, and loved it! It is sold at WalMarts, and meets all warranty criteria. And it does not break the bank! All in all, the motor ran very well. One thing I noticed was that the motor will turn over in gear, but will not start. So if you pulled it up on your trailer in gear, and shut it off, you may be left scratching your head wondering why it is turning over, but not starting on your next outing. I will check to see if this is normal. Otherwise, it is super quiet, and smooth as butter! I had a lot of people comment that it sounded like a four stroke. I will be posting much more as the year progresses.
Tuck
November 1, 2004 at 9:17 pm
#1232981