Re: OMC vs MERCURY MERC MORE RELIABLE?
These discussions always seem to fall along brand lines in acordance with what users have owned over a long period of time. I was never much of a Merc guy, and have always viewed them as being marginal in terms of reliability. Since my outboard experience has always been with OMCs, with an occassional Chrysler thrown in, however, maybe I'm wrong about the Merc relaibility.
These days, my feeling about outboards has more to do with when they were made, rather than specific brand. I also think that there is a parallel to the automotive industry. To me, the old motors are the ones that are rock solid, if they have been refurbished properly. With the advent of new technologies to increase fuel economy and improve environmental friendliness, what I see is a pronounced drop in relaibility. This also seems to be a function of rated horsepower. It just seems to me that the never ending quest for more power, along with extreme complication, has produced a few generations of motors that are lucky to last a few years, and aren't particularly reliable during those years. But, like the autos, that reliability may come back as the technology get more settled. Heck, my 2000 Chevy van has close to 160,000 miles on it and I have done essentially no engine work to it.
One of my best boating memories is of a day in a very unusual boat/motor setup that I once had - it was a 15 foot Glassmaster trihull with two John 6hp motors, fully rigged with remote controls and steering. While launching at the ramp, a guy next to me, who had just put a new motor on his go-fast bass boat, was literally giving me a hard time about my boat. Yup, he was being rude as hell and prancing over the $20,000 motor he had just bought. He left the ramp first, blew out of the no wake zone, and disappeared around the first bend in the bayou. I followed at my "mach speed" of 8mph ... guess who I found, dead in the water, around that first bend ... you got, Mr. 'Tude. Guess who towed Mr. 'Tude's posterior in, with a pair of screaming 6hp motors .... um. yes, that would have beem me! Mr. 'Tude was very quiet on the way back. He also couldn't look his buddy, who had been quite embarrassed at his original behavior, in the eye. As it turned out, the problem was caused by having the wrong fuel connector for the new engine, but it was still lots of fun to tow such an expensive rig in with a pair of 30+ year old motors!
I guess the moral to the story is that any motor is the best thing since sliced bread, if you can keep it running all of the time. If it doesn't want to run, it doesn't matter what brand it is, or how much it costs, its junk.
I'll take my 30 -40 year old OMCs, TYVM! Who knows, maybe I'll see you on the end of my tow harness one day!
