Two Stroke Versus Four

[DJ]

Re: Two Stroke Versus Four

There have been some posts here regarding the "commercial" use of some engines. I agree that commercial folks can be hard on equipment, however, in most cases they also maintain it. They have to, it's their livelihood.<br /><br />Actually, a commercial application is a recipe for good service. The engines are worked hard and usually run very often, if not every day. That is the best serviice to put an engine in to get a lot of hours, very quickly.<br /><br />What kills mechanical equipment is: lack of maintenance, lack of use, poor fuel (old). Just "lack" in general.<br /><br />Manufacturers can easily test for durability. The most difficult malodies to test for are the ravages of time and what is stated above.<br /><br />Just like the human body, we can try to maintain it but, it still gets old.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Two Stroke Versus Four

The Honda outboards are directly linked to their automoive brethren, sharing quite a bit of the parts. Reciprocating assemblies are the same, the 4 cylinder engines are essentially the same throughout except for the cam grinds, intake/exhaust configuration, and ECM burn on the injected motors. It isn't a bad thing, as the Honda automotive engines are all aluminum with floating cylinders. They are a natural choice for marinization, and not a bad choice. Honda makes some of the best engines, period. I think the only way you are going to get a better 4 stroke engine in an outboard is if BMW starts making four stroke outboards. I have faith in the new Merc Verado, but it will need to have a few years under its belt. The Yamahas and Suzukis are fine products as well, but Honda does have the best track record with its engines.<br /><br />I trust a used product that was used commercially more than I do a private party product that was used very little. Sitting is what kills mechanical devices, not products that are used consistently.

 

[swist]

Re: Two Stroke Versus Four

"The Honda outboards are directly linked to their automoive brethren, sharing quite a bit of the parts. Reciprocating assemblies are the same, the 4 cylinder engines are essentially the same throughout except for the cam grinds, intake/exhaust configuration, and ECM burn on the injected motors. It isn't a bad thing, as the Honda automotive engines are all aluminum with floating cylinders."<br /><br />I agree, and thus I reiterate my earlier point. In most cases, cars run at much lower RPM and do not experience anywhere near the load of a full boat going up on plane, so even if the engines are identical, and salt water wasn't an issue etc, etc, the applications are still very different.<br /><br />But if someone says they are running these things in marine environments for 1000s of hours are they are still reliable, then this is good news - it can only mean that the engines were overdesigned for auto use. And that is easy to believe - my car guy tells me it is very very unusual for a Honda car engine to just plain quit because of a fault of its own....