• The engine died once, and would not restart. Apparently we had trashed the fuel pump with dirty fuel.
  
  
• The "Low Oil" alarm would trigger occasionally when going off large swells. Apparently, the oil level sensor was not set up to handle the zero-G "float" conditions that we saw while running in big swells.
  
  
• The "Check Engine" light would come on for no apparent reason. According to the dealer, this was due to a faulty Engine Management Module (EMM). The EMM recorded low voltage being output from the stator when idling (the system requires 55V in order for the fuel pump and injectors to function properly), but diagnostics indicated the stator was OK..

Where are we now? On 8/31/2005 we took the boat in to have the dealer (Sunset Marine in Oceanside) work on the last two problems. As of 11/01/05, we're still waiting to get the boat back. 

Sunset Marine indicated that Bombardier decided to replace the stator and associated wiring harness in addition to the EMM, "just in case", and that they were waiting for the parts to arrive. We were assured that the new EMM included the software patch for the Low Oil alarm problems as well.

Target date for returning the boat was no later than 10/21/2005. Then it was 10/27/2005. Then a problem was discovered with one of the parts, and replacement parts were being over-nighted from Wisconsin. And so, here we are...9 weeks later, with no boat. However, if everything arrives as planned, we should have the boat back this week.

We have to admit that we're a little disappointed. Not in Sunset Marine, who appears to be working the problem as well as can be expected. And not in Evinrude's warranty repair policy - Evinrude has been great about stepping up and replacing parts proactively. 

We're disappointed because given the fact that the E-TEC 90 has been out for at least a couple of years, it's hard to believe that relatively low-tech items like a wiring harness and a stator are so hard to obtain. We hope that this is not a bad sign for parts availability.

After reviewing a bunch of posts on the Internet, we've come to the conclusion that demand is so high for the E-TECs that Evinrude is having trouble getting enough parts. If true, that's a mixed blessing - good news for Evinrude financially, but potentially bad news for parts availability for a while.

Once we get the boat back, we'll get the boat out on the water ASAP, and let you know how the engine is working.