After almost three years, it is clear that E-TECs have not been 100% perfect out of the box.

But, after reviewing months of posts and discussion threads from Internet forums, allowing for the "Internet factor" (where everything seems to get blown out of proportion), and stewing in our own experience, we'd have to say they have been pretty darned close.

A number of people have reported on the Internet that they have run their motors 300, 600, even 1000 hours per season, and have not reported any unusual problems.

Here's a list of the system-level problems that we could find:

• Oil usage and performance in very cold water (40 degree or colder): E-TECs in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska seem to be having problems with excessive oil consumption and low power when used in water below 40 degrees F.
  
  We first read about this problem on the C-Dory website (http://www.c-brats.com ). Several people reported similar problems from different areas. It's not clear what the underlying issue is, and a definitiive solution has not been determined. The E-TEC owner that started the thread was putting the boat up for the winter, with BRP scheduled to review the problem again sometime this month, once the boat was brought out of mothballs.
  
  
• Spark plugs were wearing out around 100 hours, especially on boats that did a lot of trolling: This turned out to be a problem with the EMM software, and according to one of our local E-TEC dealers, in the larger motors, a fuel jet deflector of some sort had to be replaced with an improved design. The software was fixed, and all engines with premature spark plug wear were fixed under warranty. If you are an E-TEC owner and experience this problem, you should return to the dealer and have the problem corrected.
  
  
• Our software gitch with the Low Oil sensor, which appears to be fixed with a software upgrade.

Other than that, there have not been not a lot of system- or design-related problems that can be substantiated. We did hear of a reported multiple-engine failure (a person heard that someone in his marina had three engines go out within a few minutes of each other...) but no other information was forthcoming.

We also decided to check the USCG Recall Database to see if any recalls had been issued on E-TECs. We found one recall, for the tiller arm kit that's available for the 90 HP and smaller E-TECs (Recall number 050079T, issued in December 2005).

As a reality check, we also looked for recalls of Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda and Mercury engines built in 2003 or later (the year the E-TECs began production). Surprisingly, all of these brands also had recalls:

• Yamaha / Mercury 4-strokes (2 for Yamaha, 2 for the equivalent Mercury motors): Problems with throttle linkages in their 200 and 225 HP engines (Yamaha recall numbers: 030149T and 050003T)
  
  
• Honda (1): Throttle linkage binding on the BF225 (Recall number 030056T)
  
  
• Suzuki / Johnson 4 strokes (2 for Suzuki, 2 for the equivalent Johnson motors): Possibility of a flywheel breaking on their 200, 225 and 250 HP engines; possibility of engine backfire on 4-stroke V6s (Recall numbers: 050052T and 050074T)

Considering how new the E-TEC technologies are, BRP seems like they've done pretty well in this area.

As far as out-of-the-box problems go, there have been some reports of isolated quality control issues:

• Our corroded coil ground
  
  
• A motor with corrosion problems in the lower unit.
  
  
• Some scattered reports of rough running, which eventually were resolved.

But as one dealer (who sells all major brands) told us, "We seem to have fewer problems getting these motors to run correctly out-of-the-box than other brands." It does seem like having a good mechanic is important. Several issues reported on the Internet turned out to be installation problems, such as not properly bleeding the oil system.

That's about it!

In summary, there must be several thousand E-TECs out there (based on BRP's reported E-TEC sales numbers), so all things considered, they seem to be pretty reliable motors, with a minimum of out-of-the-box problems.

What about engine life? The bottom line is that E-TECs just haven't been out long enough to draw any definitive conclusions. Sorry!

There have been a lot of threads on this topic, arguing both for and against the longevity of 2-stroke engines, but we think that most of the arguments against 2-strokes are based on experiences with older technology engines and construction techniques. Therefore, the concerns may not be justified.

Unfortunately, only time will tell.