Maybe rhetorical; the article explains it, but good golly!


I currently have a 4 cyl 90 hp E-TEC on my Whaler; this is shocking news.

BRP (TSX: DOO; NASDAQ: DOOO) announced today it has re-oriented its marine business by focusing on the growth of its boat brands with new technology and innovative marine products. We will discontinue production of Evinrude E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboard engines. Our Sturtevant, WI, facility, will be repurposed for new projects to pursue our plan to provide consumers with an unparalleled experience on the water.

We remain committed to our Buy, Build, Transform Marine strategy which has been underway since 2018 with the acquisition of Alumacraft and Manitou boat companies in the U.S., followed by the acquisition of Australian boat manufacturer Telwater in 2019.

"Our outboard engines business has been greatly impacted by COVID-19, obliging us to discontinue production of our outboard motors immediately. This business segment had already been facing some challenges and the impact from the current context has forced our hand," said José Boisjoli, President and CEO of BRP. "We will concentrate our efforts on new and innovative technologies and on the development of our boat companies, where we continue to see a lot of potential to transform the on-water experience for consumers," he added.

Discontinuing outboard engine business and signing an agreement with Mercury Marine
Following our decision to discontinue E-TEC and E-TEC G2 outboard engines, we have signed an agreement with market leader Mercury Marine to support boat packages and continue to supply outboard engines to our boat brands.

We will continue to supply customers and our dealer network service parts and will honour our manufacturer limited warranties, plus offer select programs to manage inventory. These decisions will impact 650 employees globally.

Pursuing new opportunities within Build and Transform phases of strategy
With this announcement, BRP will be positioned to expand its presence in the pontoon and aluminum fishing markets through technologically advanced solutions. We will leverage our track record of ingenuity through our R&D resources to enhance the boating experience with unique new marine products, such as the next generation of engine technology with Project Ghost and the next generation of pontoons with Project M, code names for new products we expect to transform the industry.

Maximizing operational and functional efficiencies
Lastly, we will consolidate Alumacraft operations from two sites to one. All Alumacraft operations will be transferred to St Peter, MN and our site in Arkadelphia, AR will be permanently closed. In addition, we want to upgrade the boat production facilities to reorganize manufacturing sites and apply the modularity model used elsewhere. This move is designed to enhance productivity and efficiency and to allow us to respond with even more agility to demand.

i too have one on one of my boats. Great motors and this is terrible news. I am a bit shocked over it myself. Damn

They're problem childs by design. Their high pressure injection runs at 850-900 psi, versus the other brands that run much lower. Fuel injectors can never be balanced. So when changing an injector, you have to program that injector to the cylinder it's going to. Also running such high pressure, I've seen fuel lines blow on them and they blow up literally. This was exactly what put OMC out of business, the FICHT which is what the current Bombadier is. The 4 strokes have far surpassed them and they
stood around watching. You don't see any boat builders installing Bombadier outboards anymore.

Ok, should of known you would join in and tell us all. Ten's of thousands of us satisfied E-tec outboard owners how terrible of a design the E-tec is. Shocking I say. Truly shocking. Thanks for enlightening us all with your superior intellect on this subject and so many others Jimney.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
Ok, should of known you would join in and tell us all. Ten's of thousands of us satisfied E-tec outboard owners how terrible of a design the E-tec is. Shocking I say. Truly shocking. Thanks for enlightening us all with your superior intellect on this subject and so many others Jimney.

I own a yacht management business and have run more outboards than you have seen. Several thousand of them over the years. I've been in the marine industry since ohhhhhh around 1997, in the yachting capital of the world (Ft. Lauderdale), have had boats since 1981, and most outboard boats here have 3-5 outboards hanging on the transom.

How many hours do you have on your Bombadier??? 300 hours or less?

The Ficht design IS what put OMC into bankruptcy with all of the warranty claims and cost of warranty repairs AND exactly the reason why Bombadier can't make any money producing them either.

The ficht/bombadiers, some are good provided you use them a lot, stick to the bombadier oil, etc. etc. But the moment they sit and the fuel gets iffy, or use ethanol fuel that sits, or get a tank of iffy fuel, they go down hill quickly from there.

The other inherent major design flaw on the Bombadier/Ficht which I didn't previously mention is they did away with a small oil resevoir on the engine and rely only on the pump in the oil resevoir remote mounted tank. If the tank runs out of oil, hose blows/breaks, or oil pump quits and you're at cruise rpm, the motor will fry/blow up due to lack of oil by the time the alarm sounds and you back the motor down to idle speed and shut it off. All other 2 strokes (including OMC's) had the remote tank pump to the 1 quart motor mounted resevoir that then had a pump to inject it into the engine so if the motor mounted tank alarm sounded you still had a quart of oil in the engine resevoir before running out. I saw a 200hp Bombadier grenade with 16 hours on it because the oil line going to the engine got kinked.

The reason Bombadier decided to stop producing outboards, is because with the warranty costs and lack of demand, they can't seem to turn a profit with them either.

Bottom line is it was one of the early designs of direct injection and a flawed design and no way to ensure long term durability in a motor that is only run every couple of weeks to months with most owners running fuel that's been sitting for even longer. Add ethanol into the mix and even worse. The injectors run at 850-900 psi, and no way to ensure accurate fuel delivery/metering IF there is compromised fuel quality and octane due to age. Every other manufacturer has gotten away from trying to make direct injection with a 2 stroke work.

Mercury Optimax also had it's share of issues, runs at a much lower fuel PSI and has an inherent design flaw also, the air pumps that help inject the fuel into the cylinder only go about 500 hours and need to be replaced, but when they go bad the motor simply runs very crappy and doesn't grenade. Mercury has stepped away from those as well, Yamaha ditched HPDI many years ago and went strictly 4 stroke, as well as every other outboard manufacturer.

Here's just one article:
https://btb.fishing/e-tec-10-year-summary-part-2/

^I'm not going to question your knowledge of marine outboards, but if you are going to link an article, you should read it first to be sure it supports your argument.

Separately, I don't believe the OP started the thread only for those who are fans of the now discontinued motors and this is a discussion forum. There's nothing wrong with Jimmy's first post in this context. Bottom line is BRP wasn't making enough money to keep producing them. I've never seen one outside of youtube. All of the boat dealers I've driven past between Sarasota and Key West and not one Evinrude. Not one on the water either. Not in Charlotte Harbor, Gasperilla Pass, Stump Pass, the Keys. The majority are Yamaha, then equal numbers of Honda, Suzuki and maybe Mercury, and a smattering of Tohatsu on small boats.

If we still had the 29' Pursuit, I'd have given the Evinrudes a shot once the 250hp Yamaha needed replacing, but I'm kinda stupid that way in going with something no one else has.

Mercury and Yamaha are by far the market share leaders. I think they combine for over 50 percent of outboard sales. Sounds like BRP was fighting an uphill battle with their 2-stroke technology. Signing a deal with Mercury is a nice boost in business for them.

the Ficht fiasco is why Yamaha was able to buy the market share in the US and become very prominent and "preferred" brand because of almost instantaneous dealer network. IMO

I personally prefer my Zuke because its easier to work on for a layman not having any specialized tools. (the oil actually drains completely out, unlike needing a pump for the Yamaha)

I know many very satisfied etec owners, only issue any have had was the flywheel magnets loosing spec when coming loose which BRP took care of, even out of warranty.

Im sad to see an iconic outboard brand going away... Johnson, now evinrude (yes understand same company)

I'm interested to see what "project ghost" is, I thought the G2 was very progressive and broke away from the outboard preconceived mold. I hope it is over the top revolutionary

Thanks for the insights, everyone. I’m on my second E-TEC; the first one the lower unit was replaced under warranty; the second one has been pretty much rock-solid. I keep an eye on the oil, and run only 91 non ox fuel. Maybe 100-150 hrs a season, and all freshwater.

No plans to get rid of it, but the choice was between the E-TEC and Honda; chose the E-TEC based on weight considerations, mostly, as all else seemed comparable.

I guess we’ll see how this summer plays out.

I second Jimmy's comments. The first time I tried to bring an Evinrude back to life, I remember thinking the fuel system and cooling system were poorly designed and prone to failure in a marine environment. That Evinrude shortly came off the back of that transom and was replaced with a Japanese competitor.

That being said, when my hydra-sports needed repowering I seriously considered the new G2, based on the cost, fuel efficiency, warranty, and maintenance schedule. I ended up going with a suzuki.

Suzuki leads the market in the re-power sector due to cost, low maintenance costs and just an easy motor to repower with and good warranty support and they're pretty good motors......but a step below Mercury, Yamaha.....their castings/bolts have poorer metallurgy compared to Yamaha/Mercury so in Saltwater they tend to be a @#@#@@ to work on once they get 5 years old or older...... but the price is very good on them.

Yamaha and Mercury are tied for new OEM marketshare, probably with a slight edge going to Verado (Mercury). Yamaha has had some serious issues on certain engines......the 350 HP with losing flywheel weights and them just replacing the flywheels under warranty at 500 hrs for free, and issues with water migrating inside the engine on some. The 225/250's have had issues with the coolant sea water passages in the mid section rotting out/clogging and causing the motor to run hot/overheat on a lot of them in the mid-2000's model years on. Mercury has gotten really good with reliability and the overall package with the verado's.

Sadly Bombadier just didn't fit in anymore and never wanted to move on to a new design (ie 4 stroke) to fix all of the DI issues, which is strange because they have the 4 stroke engines already in their waverunners in a lightweight package and the HP range and could probably fit them to the current mid sections/lower units pretty easily. The article re-affirms what I said, read the part of the constant erroneous oil alarm issues and other electrical issues the motor had.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I own a yacht management business and have run more outboards than you have seen. Several thousand of them over the years. I've been in the marine industry since ohhhhhh around 1997, in the yachting capital of the world (Ft. Lauderdale), have had boats since 1981, and most outboard boats here have 3-5 outboards hanging on the transom.

How many hours do you have on your Bombadier??? 300 hours or less?

Jimmy. It's Bombardier.
As in, this fellow's last name.


Heck, I don't even own a boat and I know this much....

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I own a yacht management business and have run more outboards than you have seen. Several thousand of them over the years. I've been in the marine industry since ohhhhhh around 1997, in the yachting capital of the world (Ft. Lauderdale), have had boats since 1981, and most outboard boats here have 3-5 outboards hanging on the transom.
How many hours do you have on your Bombadier??? 300 hours or less?

Jimmy. It's Bombardier.
As in, this fellow's last name.
Heck, I don't even own a boat and I know this much....

BFD. He left out the r. Jimmy gets on my nerves sometimes but that’s just lint picky.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
BFD. He left out the r. Jimmy gets on my nerves sometimes but that’s just lint picky.

Yeah. Tonight's my night to lint pick the experts. I'll mind my manners better tomorrow.

Trucking autocorrect...

Nobody who actually uses an outboard for work will care. these have been terrible at least in my neck of the woods. hopefully parts and support continue for awhile, because outboards can last a long time.

Hate to see the folks in Arkadelphia lose their jobs with Alumacraft closing.

I have War Eagle 2072 with the 115hp four stroke Mercury and the combination as been reliable and trouble free. The War Eagle is made in Monticello, AR.

quote:

Originally posted by bushpilot:
Hate to see the folks in Arkadelphia lose their jobs with Alumacraft closing.

I have War Eagle 2072 with the 115hp four stroke Mercury and the combination as been reliable and trouble free. The War Eagle is made in Monticello, AR.

It's sad to see any factory close down and people to lose jobs. But, when you only have 4% of the marketshare and are using antiquated technology, what options do you have.........

Came across this article on the demise of the Etech (OMC then BRP)

"To provide perspective far more credible and better-informed than my own, I reached out to Fred Kiekhaefer, the former president of Mercury Racing. If anyone knows the history of marine propulsion on the technical and economic sides, it is Kiekhaefer.

“I’m am sorry to hear Evinrude’s gone,” he said. “Back in the 1980s, my company machined gearcases for OMC (Outboard Marine Corporation) and their big Evinrudes—that work kept my company alive during earlier, difficult times before we were acquired by Brunswick. Today, the dealers and employees are the ones who will suffer the Evinrude brand’s demise. Sadly, it is not of their doing. Rather, it is the ultimate result of choices made by OMC and BRP leadership, and our government regulators, going back a long way.

“When outboards became regulated for emissions, all brands in the marine propulsion world were challenged,” he continued. “Mercury, Johnson and Evinrude— in particular—struggled with the engineering and economics of compliance. Mercury moved to first OptiMax direct-injection two-strokes, then briefly Yamaha-sourced four-strokes. Next came Verado and finally the current generation of four-strokes. OMC committed to Ficht direct-injection, then to E-Tec—and both were two-strokes. OptiMax had issues. Ficht was a disaster.”

Kiekhaefer and his fellow decision-makers saw the future, and the future was four-stroke outboards.

“Internally at Mercury, I argued that only four-stroke technology could win with long-term emissions compliance,” he said. “Fortunately, Mercury pursued four-strokes and executed brilliantly. BRP stuck with two-strokes. That difference in choices is—in my opinion—what killed the Johnson brand a while back and hurt Evinrude irreparably today. COVID-19 is just the final nail.”

https://www.speedonthewater.co...lly-killed-evinrude/