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I am thinking about trading an 86 Johnson 225 that I have for a 1996 evinrude 88 special. Has anyone had any experience with this motor. It looks good and seems to run good but I was just wondering about performance on a 16. Any insight would be appreciated.

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The SPL or Speciel motors are stripped down versions of the 90. Lacking T&T standard etc. They were the commercial motor. They are true work horses.

Nothing is different as far as power etc.

I say go for it if it checks out!

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I have a 1990 88 SPL on my nauset, and love it. 37-38 propped right- no frills and it burns fuel faster than I'd like, but a great dependable motor overall. I have a 1999 90 'rude that needs work that I've been waiting for the SPL to die before putting it on, still waiting after two years.

If the lower end shows no leaks and the compression is good I would say go for it.

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I owned a 1996 88 SPL on my 16ft Glastron, the motor was reliable, and fast enough to carry the boat at least 38 mph. It was one of the best outboards I have ever owned. I did not "baby" the motor, I ran regular gas, and TC-w3 oil from wal mart for 10 years. Never lost compression, power tilt worked great. Solid Motor.

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An 88 spl is more power than you need. I think you will be happy with it.

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I think the 88 SPL is a NON VRO model of the 90 I have that does sport VRO but will be defeated.

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Mine did not have VRO but it did have TnT

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I had a '94 (I believe) and it was nothing but trouble. That said, I didn't run it constantly and it would sit for weeks at a time in between outings. Even using Stabil, I think my motor had trouble w/ ethynol gasoline. It would run fine for an hour and then I'd have to limp home and over to my mechanic. Seems everytime I took my boat out it cost me $$$ in carb cleanings. etc.

I sold it b/f I had a chance to run the non-ethynol gas that my marina now sells. I would've liked to know if that was the true issue or whether there was something else going on. I had installed a Racor water filter and that didn't seem to help either.

Again, this could just very well have been an isolated incidient w/ my motor and not indicitive of the SP 88 motor in general. If possible, try to schedule an in-water test with the owner and take it through it's paces. When I bought mine, I didn't do that. Big regret. Sitting on the trailer in the guy's driveway, we ran it for 10 minutes or so and it ran beautifully. Only when I'd get it out on the water did I have issues.

Good luck!

Bruce

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Mine ran great, even with a cracked block. On the rebuilt block I need to adjust the timing but other than that, it runs really strong. A ton of holeshot.