Interesting historical take on what happened to OMC... https://youtu.be/rBdLitpi2sU
https://youtu.be/rBdLitpi2sU
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Interesting historical take on what happened to OMC... https://youtu.be/rBdLitpi2sU
https://youtu.be/rBdLitpi2sU
OMC's Budget Was Monstrous... This Is The Johnson Side Of Things... https://youtu.be/tXSpYvV17Qg
...and OMC Waukegan, Il. a couple years back... https://youtu.be/7oPZnqC0BRM
Yeah the FICHT is what happened to OMC:D
The old 800 stern drive was another POS .Quote:
Originally Posted by vnemous
Dave
Omc more than held their own with the sub 150hp market. I had and loved the 70's and 115's and 140's. Once they tried to go big they had to deal with merc. Merc had the 60 deg vee and was lighter, faster and was very cost comparative. The v-8 was a monster and impressive. The ficht motors just killed them finally.
W.T.F. >>> "What the Ficht" ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by XstreamVking
Cool video of the Johnson story my dad and good friend are in it in his sport E tunnel.
I love my 2000 Johnson 90 Ocean pro last one made by OMC. Was my first NEW out board eng.
Still have it to this day. Never had one problem with it.
Heck had the original lower unit oil in it till last year.......LOL
Who here has read "Iron Fist"? It's an interesting read. Karl Kiekhafer spent his entire career chasing OMC. Merc didn't really take over the outboard market until right around the time he sold out, maybe afterwards.
:iagree:Quote:
Originally Posted by engineermike
Two words: Black Max.
this helped omc - not really - https://internal.bdoutdoors.com/2016...7dab3ee800.JPG
this helped omc - not really. http://hhscott.com/evinrude/images/480_production.jpg
this different design helped omc - not really. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/n-EJvp_Faig/maxresdefault.jpg
this very first omc sterndrive design helped - not really. http://hhscott.com/evinrude/images/480_prototype.jpg
this new improved omc sterndrive model 800 design helped - not really.https://cdn.crowleymarine.com/docs/5...68f4631-lg.jpg
another omc design game changer - not really.http://lh4.ggpht.com/_00aTMZpfio4/TA...0/IMG_4990.JPG
finally another omc redesign helped, the cobra - not really. https://www.bing.com/th?id=OIP.XJ2Oj...3&pid=Api&rs=1
finally, after the above cobra drives gearsets failed & replaced with yet another completely new designed cone-clutch omc sterndrive, this helped. not really. omc comepletely gave up in that market & sold all their sterndrive rights to Volvo Penta in 1993. genius. is was last design.http://www.hastings.org/~stuart/cobra/kcobra.jpg
Those were the biggest POS ever.Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Dave
I really like that light weight clamp / swivel ... :nonod:Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Chaz = thinkin, it could easily be shortened to accept a 22 or 23-inch can ...:leaving:
Looks like an outboard mounted to a sterndrive.:confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaz
Dave
loved them, ahead of their time, full of clever stuff but too much engineering in them to be cost effective and the biggest blunder ever.....Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
you couldnt adjust the height DOH!! That wouldnt of happened if I was in charge.
Early days of bracketed boats which needed new prop designs etc and hence height critical
Should have moved to a simpler version where same engine comes down the line and you order on or off transom and get a new set back swivel housing
It's so cool to see the history on this stuff. They didn't have fancy CAD programing and 3d modelling, they just built things and tried them. So many of their ideas worked and stuck, while others were complete flops and eventually killed them. Even after the buyout Evinrude never recovered, I wonder what their market share is today? 5%? 10?
On a side note, around here there is a shockingly large amount of this OLD OMC stuff out here, especially the stern drive stuff.
Aside from their engineering blunders I think their biggest screw up was buying all those boat company's.
I wish they just stuck with outboards. They had some winners for sure.
they are just trying to capture more market share by buying boat companies. not saying its right or wrong
does Yam own any US boat companies?Quote:
Originally Posted by wicheckmate
all of them were. rats at marina's ate through the rubber boots and the boats sank. just couldn't win with one(or two) of these things on your transom...Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Strong
No rats here but could never keep them together, quit working on them years ago. Can't get parts and if you can what you didn't replace will soon fail.Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
Dave
You could buy an accessory "rodent guard" to cover the rubber boot.Quote:
Originally Posted by FUJIMO
OMC always had quality issues. I was 19 years old when I went to work for a local Johnson dealer. Even at that age I could see the failure rate of everything was too high. Power heads, gear sets, ignition systems and that great thing called VRO. I saw first hand what happened. When customers were given another choice with Yamaha their brand loyalty ended. People got tired of their weekend recreation getting ruined by an inferior product on the back of their boat.
Oh, that Johnson dealer that I first worked for became a Yamaha dealer in 1984. All of a sudden all there was to do was rig boats. No failures. The owner realized he no longer needed four service techs so he let three of them go, one of which was me. So, I went to work for another and bigger OMC dealer so I would have, once again, a job fixing all of OMC's common problems that never ended. They lost market share because of their refusal to fix the problems. Today I own a Yamaha. Six years old and zero issues. I have no interest in the new Evinrudes either. An incredibly complicated two stroke 'pressure cooker' so it burns clean......no thanks.
Yamaha has G3 aluminum boats as well as their jet boat line. I'm not sure if they have any more than that though.Quote:
Originally Posted by powerabout
Right or wrong, it didn't work and it's still not working. Alumacraft was the #1 selling aluminum fishing boat in our area before the buyout. Customers are jumping ship to other brands left right and center. Fact is 95% of the population wants 4 stroke power. It might not be true for the go-fast guys but the average consumers demand it.Quote:
Originally Posted by wicheckmate
I started late 70's to end of 80's very few issues, and all were fixed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Poole ModVP
It seemed to go crap in the 90's re quality and Yam were there waiting thanks to Merc help and both Merc and OMC with heads up their ar7es ignoring asian markets and cheap manufacturing.
I guess Lee Iococca had the same issue when he told the Fords we should be selling cheap little sh1tboxes sourced from Japan to ensure we stay relevant....
Merc and OMC assembled engines in Australia and OMC did some commercials in HK back in those days
I loved their outboards but have to admit the newest one owned was an 89.
I still have that 89 70HP today. Flawless.
Neighbor bought a 60 hp Evinrude around that time. Same 3-cyl design. Not too long after the introduction of VRO, I remember. Lots of problems.
Quality must have gone south already then (if it ever was good).
He had the engine for a few years, then got a Yamaha, which was flawless.
My original VRO is still operating. The problem with the early VRO failures was the pulse limiter. When the engine case fired it would take out the pump diaphragm. With the updated (Blue) limiter the problem was solved.
My brother's 89 200 GT is still going strong. Less trouble than my 1990 Merc XR4. We had a 115 HO for 6 perfect years and are two years into a 150 HO. Small sample size but OK for us.
check out all the old outboards as in 40+ years old in saltwater 99% OMC
A Merc couldnt survive till 84 and on
Japs learning fast
This thread is kinda like the orig Honda ads targeting the old Smokey 2 strokes.
Look at their early ads though snd theyre targeting 30 yr old, neglected, sitting in a field w/3 yr old gas in them and many w/orig plugs.
Lets try that w/a 4 stroke ��
In the 9 yrs I lived in Fla, I worked for a Honda dealer and he took us out on his lift stored cat w/twin 225 Honda’s. He warned us they had been neglected recently.
One wouldn’t run well enough to get us off the lift, the 2nd barely did!
Said they got better once warm.
He was wrong. The one never would run bellow 3k and this was a Honda dealer!
I went home feeling way better about the $2500 I had in my mid ‘90’s junk V-6 loopers on my Sonic project ��
As to the VRO’s, I bought every blown up 90* V-6 looper in the state of Fla for the 9 yrs I was there.
A VRO takes out the entire p.head and turns all shiny internals blue.
Zero of my donor motors died of failed VROs!
As to Yammi, remember they got sued by OMC for patent infringement?
Rumor was you could bolt a Yammi I-3 or V-6 head on an OMC.
All they Did was bring Jap electronics/ignition to the game.
Look on s.fla/Craig’s in boat parts at all the blown up 4 strokes��
Buying boat companies?? That’s how they ALL buy market share.
Always have.
Powerabout commented about all the olds in the salt, helll, in general!
Same age Mercs are “classics”, the OMCs are still pushing boats.
You can still shop Craig’s in the Keys and find all orig, never apart, “water test available”, 1500 hr OMCs down there.
In Fla, when we lived by the water we had one neighbor w/a 5 yr old 250 Yammi (lift stored, fresh water flushed) that corroded a hole through the block, right under the flywheel, that sprayed salt water all over p.head when running!
Still remember owners face when I showed why water was running out of cowling!
Neighbor #2 had a 5 or 6 yr old 4 banger (I think) Yammi that I sold for his widow when he passed.
Bought new, log book maint files, lift stored, fresh water flushed.
It started and ran on 3. Wouldn’t come off the lift under power.
Buyer had identical motor on his charter boat, wanted a 2nd (loved the motors) one and agreed w/me that it was likely a clogged injector.
Thought if we could get in the water/under load, and build some heat maybe it would clear.
Wrong.
It blew up!
W/a cover on the p.head it still formed enough condensation (Fla sun) that it drained to oil pan then pumped through motor when started.
The EPA killed OMC and almost Merc. Remember all the failed new Optis?
I do.
The tree huggers bougt What Honda was spewing, prompted their politicians to ban/fine/target 2 strokes.
Then you got the shade tree mechanics that tuned their neighbors V-6 loopers (w/20 - 30 yr old ign components) by setting idle speed by adjusting throttle cables which opened mid range jets so then they wouldn’t even start.
Instead of lynk and sync ����
So if they did run, they smoked like freight trains and tree huggers pointed and took pictures.
I can still take a grand, go to Fla, buy a complete 200/225/250 looper, w/functioning VRO (ever tell you about my box stock, ‘94 225, 7400 RPM looper on my STV that I ran the VRO on, Sonic work bench motors w/VRO’s, 300 HP 3.3 Ficht converted to the horrible big bore plastic carbs on VRO??), bring it home and clean the carbs (almost always reusing orig gaskets), replace the 30 yr old stator (seller bitching about dying at idle when warm ��) and go boating for yrs.
Hell bought two last yr for $2500 for my Checkmate project and that counted gas down/back to get them.
Yeah, OMC sucked.