TOPIC: Are Evinrude 9.9 & 15hp junk?

I found that my '75/6hp Rude will need a long shaft so its either that or looking for a 9.9 or 15hp w/LS. Been over on the AOMCI forum, Came to find '74,75,76 are downers with problems, fix um today and refix um tomorrow. I read '77 was the first year with CDI and through the 90's seem ok without issues so will be looking for late 70's with CDI. Question is was the first year 1977 with CDI a lemon? I'm going to use this on my Seafair as a Kicker/backup, not so much for trolling but incase the main '79/85hp Rude dies and probably going in and out of the harbor. Those 9.9&15hp motors weigh about 72lbs and my bracket is rated for 82lbs except the HP rating is 12hp, doubt 3hp over will hurt but would like to hear from someone that knows more than I on this. Thanks in advance:)

g3bill,

I wouldn't have either one if they were giving them away (& I had to work on them).
IF it was me, I would look for an "old school" Evinrude/Gale/Johnson/SeaKing 7.5/10/12/15HP, as they are GROSSLY over-engineered, CHEAP to buy & SIMPLE to fix.
(NAPA Stores sells all the "likely to wear-out" parts under the SIERRA brand.)
JUST MY OPINION.

yours, satx

I do not know how you came with the conclusion that we at the AOMCI think the 9.9 and 15 are junk. I own a 79 15 hp and a 81 9.9 hp and have very little problems with either. The 15 is stored in the lower part of my RV and is bounced around all year long, and I can pull it out and it will start 3rd to 4th pull. I have rebuilt many that have been mistreated and given/sold them and have not yet had one come back (if they are used as I tell them ..40 to 1 mix…. change or clean the plugs every 30 hrs {Some came with tags stating 100 to 1 mix....never})

Give me all that you do not want ..I will clean them up, tune them up, and flip them

I had a 1975 9.9 hp motor that was given to me (in a box)...I did have a problem finding out why it would not run after putting it back together and tuning it up, and cleaning the carb..then after putting it away a few weeks I went to pull the flywheel (again ) ...while pulling it I notice that it had CD stamped in the flywheel....got a wheel off an 74 motor that Ike destroyed and put it on the motor. 2nd pull it fired up. I tuned the carb and it is still running the specks and reds in Matagorda Bay and chases ducks in the river. the guy I sold it to (lives across the street)loves it

They are great little motors

From what I hear on the forum at aomci (not here) lots of the guys think the early 9.9 & 15 are problem motors. but i'm just talking '74,'75,'76 without CDI. Saying Junk was a tease:) here's a link to the thread? www.aomci.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1371110375

Some of these guys on Aomci said there were kits to try and resolve some of the problems but didn't really help?

In my experience, most 'problems' stem from abuse and/or ignorance. A lot of 'problems' are fuel related. A case in point, years ago I was on a job, a couple guys had gone 'halves' on a boat for fishing trips...Well every Monday they were scratching their butts and winding their watches' perplexed about the weekend's 'adventure', with that no-good 100hp. Chrysler outboard. They had gone through everything, and eventually even tore down and re-ringed the motor... They finally had enough and got another motor... selling the Chrysler to another guy on the job, who never had a problem with it. Guess what, the guys had the same problems with the 'new' motor... Yep, they never changed the priming bulb in the fuel hose, it seemed to function just fine, but it didn't really... ever since then, (20 some years ago) I always carry a spare fuel hose or at least a spare priming bulb. The best part is those 2 guys were the mechanics on the job... The moral is, always start with the simple stuff first...

Theres alot to what you say.

This might relate a bit to what you said:
I was driving down the street a few years ago in Burbank ca. and Jay Leno was stuck in the street in his Stanely steamer, ha , so me and some other guys helped push it into a driveway. Jay got out and was looking for the problem all over that pile of tubing top to bottom for at least 15 minutes. I and another guy said after admiring the car, "how much gas you have in the tank", well you know the rest of the story,LOL

If the '74-76 9.9 & 15's weren't having issues why did omc make a kit to help correct the so called problems with those motors, or maybe that was about the time gas got bad and they weren't thinking of checking the fuel system? Just a thought?

If I recall, the early models of the 9.9/15hp had a problem with the cylinder head design, and OMC came out with an improved head to be retrofitted to those motors.

I'd say anything in an 80's-and-up vintage is a pretty decent motor. When they're run a lot in salt, they have issues with the rubber upper water tube grommet squeezing shut, then you lose cooling. The 6, 7.5, and 8hp models (starting in the 80's) have the same problem.

To fix you have to pull the powerhead, remove the exhaust tuner plate bolted to the bottom of the powerhead, and replace the grommet. After scraping out all the salt build-up which caused the trouble in the first place!

My solution to that problem is to assemble the grommet and water tube back into the tuner, with a good coating of Permatex No. 3 Aviation-type gasket dressing. This prevents future salt buildup. Use Permatex on all the tuner bolts, too, when they seize in the powerhead it's a real pain to get them out!

I never did like the 9.9/15's funky idle speed adjuster, that and all the plastic gears etc can be a pain to work on. And the recoil starter assy can be real a bugger if you don't put it back together the right way!

But, you get one that's in decent shape, all the systems working as they should, and they're a great running motor.

I had the pleasure of working on a very low-time '83 9.9 over at Doc Frankenmercs last month, it couldn't have had more than a tank or so of gas ran thru it. Everything under the powerhead looked absolutely brand new. The only thing wrong was it wasn't getting fuel into the carb.

Pulled the carb apart and the pivot pin for the float had expanded (probably from some exposure to ethanol) slightly and the float was stuck on the pin and wouldn't pivot to let fuel in.

And it's possible the metal pivot piece on the float was crimped too tight from the factory. All I had to do was adjust the crimp on the float so it had plenty of clearance on the pin, and back together she went.

Ran like a new motor, now I know how a new one of these is supposed to sound like, cause that one was quieter than any I've ever worked on! It idled down so slow you could count the firing pulses.

The guy got a fantastic deal on a boat & trailer package with this motor, I told the Doc that the motor was worth far more than what he paid for everything!

Lots of these out there, in various states of repair/disrepair. Find one that hasn't been thrased/abused, do the maintenance on it and it'll give you good service.

Cheers...........ed