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I have a 1997 Montauk 17'. Currently have a 2006 ETEC 90. 2nd Owner with motor.
It has been in the shop twice, since i had the boat back in 2009.
EMM had to be replaced, $1900 bill.
And just got it serviced, $1000 bill. 2nd Injector went out, and some other parts got replaced.
But other than that, just minor maintenance i do. Pretty happy with its performance.

My neighbor, have a boat like mines. Installed a new Yamaha 70, with controls/gauges. $8200 out the door.

Only one Evinrude mechanic of where i'm from. The popular motors here is. Yamaha. 2nd would be Suzuki and 3rd would be Honda. A lot of mechanics here service Yamaha. I guess it the Yamaha Year! 10 years ago, was Honda. Anyways....

Since my motor is up and running now, sell it or stick with it or ask my wife for a brand new Yamaha 70?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Aloha

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I repowered my 1999 Alert 17, same hull as the Montauk 17 this past spring with a Yamaha F70 and I love it. My motor is mounted 3 holes up and runs a Yamaha Performance Series 13.25 x 14 stainless steel prop and gets a top speed of 38 mph, the hole shot is good and the light weight of 260 lbs has made a huge difference in the overall handling of the boat , all for the good. This motor is so smooth and quiet when idling the only way you know it's running into look for the cooling water stream, not much noise even at full throttle. To top it off this motor just sips gas, the fuel economy is unbelievable and it starts instantly. The Yamaha F70 has more than exceeded all my expectations.

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Thank you for that reply! I think my motor is 320lbs.
So the difference of weight would be awesome.
I only top 32-35MPH, i have trim tabs. I also have a Kicker, Yamaha 6HP with bracket. So i notice the weight in the back, after i installed it.
It saved me one day, just having that kicker. I live in middle of the Pacific ocean.
Not sure what i wanna do yet, maybe fish till ending of spring. Maybe make some phone calls on prices.
Usually people here buy a brand with a back up service/warranty, locally.
It was all Hondas 10years ago of where i'm from, than went Suzuki, now its Yamaha. Interesting what will be next...

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I also run a kicker because I do al lot of offshore fishing on Lake Erie. My kicker is a 6 hp Tohatsu 4 stroke so my total weight is 318 lbs , with main motor and kicker. Before I repose red I had a 2005 Mercury 75 hp 2 stroke and a Mercury 9.9 hp 2 stroke for a combined weight of 386 lbs plus an extra 6 gallon gas tank for the kicker, my main gas tank is a 24 gallon Moeller. Repowering I was able to shed 68 lbs on my motors and the weight of the extra gas. What a difference the boat comes up on plane faster, it handles much better at all speeds, no waves over the transom,it's like a whole new boat with the new lighter motors, all good. If you run a kicker I think the Yamaha F70 is a great fit on a Montauk 17.

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If you only have one Evinrude mechanic and he is charging you 4 figures for repairs, your motor is either high hours and trashed or he is ripping you off.

All annual maintenance tasks can be done as a DIY with little expertise. A good service manual is all that is needed.

Yamaha's have a great reputation, so does Evinrude, Mercury, Suzuki, Tohasu, Nissan and Honda too.

Changing brands means possibly changing controls and gauges.

One of the factors recommended when considering an engine is service. If there is only 1 Yamaha mechanic nearby, I would NOT repower.

Are there decent dealers selling motors? I get the sense you are in a remote location. If there aren't several competitive dealers, I wouldn't do it.

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Deff808,
I have a 25' Revenge with a Whaler Drive. I bought it new with two 200HP Yamahas. I had approximately 1800 hours on each engine. I was going to take a rather long trip and felt I should trade the motors. A Yamaha certified mechanic checked them out and said they were in fine shape. The only thing that really needed replacing were "shifter rods". I don't know the correct name. They were made of mild steel and being only about 1/4" diameter were almost completely rusted through. I am sure they have changed that. I opted to replace them with Mercs which was a mistake. I blew a power head after only 500 hours on one them. I used to do a lot of trolling in freshwater and a fair amount of salt water boating. I now have two 225 HP Mercs on the boat with about 1200 hours on them. I have had no problems and very little expense to maintain them. In my area there are no local Yamaha dealers so that is why I went to Mercury. They are both fine motors but if I had a choice I would go with the Yamaha. I think you are always better to go with a motor that is locally sold and serviced. They are all good!

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Phil T -

You're correct. I live in Hawaii (Kauai). Remote location. Well not really, just a slow island.
Only 1 Evinrude mechanic, 1 mercury mechanic, 1 honda mechanic, 2 or 3 Suzuki mechanics and 3 or 4 Yamaha Mechanics.
Which is why everyone switching to Yamahas, over here.

No competition here, so mechanics charge high. If i lived in on the main island which is Honolulu. Every town has or street have mechanics. Their is one person, he flys on every island to service Yamaha.

Yes i can DIY on little experience, only thing is i don't have the software to plug it in on my EMM (evinrude). Mechanic had to reset the new fuel injector into the EMM, from his labtop.

But i know what you mean, if theres only 1 person. No sense. Hit you with a fat bill.


Fred s - thank you for your feedback! mahalo!