I am looking at a 208 grady with a 2012 200 HO evinrude Etec motor. Price is set high but would fit my needs perfect. But am i investing in a sinking ship with that motor.
Any inputs please.
Any inputs please.
Buy a Grady with a 2012 Etec are pass? Any input please
- Thread starter Roadworker
- Start date
wahoo33417
GreatGrady Captain
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2005
- Messages
- 1,328
- Reaction score
- 291
- Points
- 83
- Location
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Model
- Sailfish
FWIW: A friend of mine worked at the Evinrude test facility here in Stuart, FL for many years, overlapping your 2012 engines. They would run engines at or near max rpm for days (maybe weeks?) at a time, leaving them running on a bracket in the water when they went home at night, to rack up hundreds, if not a thousand, hours of high rpm use. They would sometimes even have another brand running side-by-side. Then they tore them down to see the wear points.
His opinion was that the Etecs they tested would hold up as well as anything else under normal recreational use, although Yamaha's four-strokes often outlasted them in stress tests. But, he emphasized, they put the engines through more than any recreational boater would and he had high confidence in the engines. So much so that he was quite unhappy with me when I repowered with a Yamaha through my Grady dealer - who only carried Yamahas.
We occassionally got to take Sea-Doo's out on a weekend when they needed to put hours on them. There was always one two-stroke BRP Sea-Doo and somebody else's four-stroke version like a jet-ski. And the two-stroke would run circles around the four stroke in that application, proving his point about two-stroke superiority.
He even designed and built a setup where they could leave an engine (maybe a new 250?) running inside for the duration of the Miami Boat Show. I was impressed with how quiet it was.
It was only towards the end of Evinrude's life when Covid hit in 2020 that he began complaining of the quality control of the internal parts coming out of Mexico. He was frustrated that they were occassionally documenting premature failure and headquaters in Illinois didn't seem to want to act to improve the quality control.
Hopefully we'll hear from a number of owners with first hand experience. If they say the engines are great, I'll be sure to tell my friend.
Just curious, how many hours on the engines?
Tx, Rob
His opinion was that the Etecs they tested would hold up as well as anything else under normal recreational use, although Yamaha's four-strokes often outlasted them in stress tests. But, he emphasized, they put the engines through more than any recreational boater would and he had high confidence in the engines. So much so that he was quite unhappy with me when I repowered with a Yamaha through my Grady dealer - who only carried Yamahas.
We occassionally got to take Sea-Doo's out on a weekend when they needed to put hours on them. There was always one two-stroke BRP Sea-Doo and somebody else's four-stroke version like a jet-ski. And the two-stroke would run circles around the four stroke in that application, proving his point about two-stroke superiority.
He even designed and built a setup where they could leave an engine (maybe a new 250?) running inside for the duration of the Miami Boat Show. I was impressed with how quiet it was.
It was only towards the end of Evinrude's life when Covid hit in 2020 that he began complaining of the quality control of the internal parts coming out of Mexico. He was frustrated that they were occassionally documenting premature failure and headquaters in Illinois didn't seem to want to act to improve the quality control.
Hopefully we'll hear from a number of owners with first hand experience. If they say the engines are great, I'll be sure to tell my friend.
Just curious, how many hours on the engines?
Tx, Rob
Only partially relevant, but the 2014 Etec I had on my non-Grady 21 cc was a great motor. The boat it’s on is now for sale (a Padebco 21) and the fact that Evenrude is no longer will knock down the price a bit, but I (and my yard) still think it’s a good motor.
Replaced by a 2024 Freedom 255, just delivered (with twin Yamaha 200s).
Replaced by a 2024 Freedom 255, just delivered (with twin Yamaha 200s).