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Motor Scorecard

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Date Problem Solution
Evinrude E-TEC

Evinrude E-TEC 90 HP Saltwater Edition


In service: 12 DECEMBER 2004
May 25, 2006 The false "Low Oil" alarm continues to occur in rough water. We can't seem to find a set of conditions that consistently reproduce the problem. Still working on it. The entire oil tank assembly has been replaced by BRP under warranty, with no luck.Our dealer has indicated that he thinks it is some sort of grounding problem or intermittent short circuit caused by the electronics on the boat.
January 26, 2006 After having the fuel pump replaced, the fuel tank vent shielded, the fuel tank cleaned and the fuel polished, the motor ran perfectly on 01-Jan-2006.

We took the boat out again on 26-Jan-2006, and the motor ran fine all day, until we were on our way in, and got about 3 miles from the launch ramp. The motor started missing, and would not run over 3,000 RPM, even at WOT. The motor would occasionally surge faster, sputter, then drop back. The fule filter and lines appeared to be OK, and there was no water in the fuel.

The boat went back to Sunset Marine on 27-Jan-2006. Sunset Marine initally suspected that the salt water from the previous incident also damaged one or more of the fuel injectors.

In the end, it turned out to be a corroded coil ground on the #1 cylinder. This was repaired under warranty. So far, this is the only thing that was truly a QA problem, the earlier things were problems we passed on...
December 19, 2005

The motor ran fine on 06-Nov-2005, after getting the boat back from Sunset Marine. The "Low Oil" alarm seemed to be fixed, and no "Check Engine" alarms appeared on a trip around the Coronados (around 53 miles).

However, when we tried to take the boat out on 19-Dec-2005 (the very next trip), the "Check Engine" alarm came on again while idling at the dock. The motor ran rough, then died and could not be restarted.

Examination of the motor's flash memory indicated that the "Check Engine" alarm was caused by an internal low voltage situation.

The problem was diagosed initially as a defective fuel pump. However, after additional investigation, the problem appears to have been caused by corrosion of the gears and bearings inside the pump.

Examination of the water separator filter revealed a large amount of water, along with salt sediment. The conclusion is that there was enough water and crud in the fuel  to fill the water separator filter, then get to the pump. The pump would be fine until allowed to sit idle for a period of time. Once the fuel drained out of the pump, it would quickly corrode and become very sticky or stuck.

Once in that state, the pump would be drawing a lot of current, which would result in an internal low-voltage situation, and trigger the "Check Engine" alarm. If it were severe enough, the pump would not run, and of course, the motor would not start.

Where did the water come from? We always keep the tank full after every trip. Sunset Marine's conclusion - the water entered the tank through the vent, which is up on the outside port bow, with the vent holes facing down. In this position, spray from the hull could work it's way in. The solution - mount a large clamshell cover over the vent horizontally, to prevent spray from hitting the vent.

We also need to clean up the fuel tank, so Sunset Marine had the fuel polished. This cost $575, but removed over a gallon of water and sediment from the tank. They also moved the fuel/water seperator filter out to the transom, where it can be more easily checked.

August 31, 2005 The "Check Engine" alarm would sound intermittently right after starting the engine. Restarting the motor would usually clear the problem. Sunset Marine diagnosed it as a bad Engine Management Module, which triggered a false alarm indicating low voltage from the stator. The EMM was replaced under warranty. Evinrude also replaced the stator and associated wiring harness just in case.

While done under warranty, it took almost 9 weeks to get all of the parts (boat was returned on November 5). Evinrude extended our warranty period one month because of the length of time it took to get the parts.