2012 ETEC 225 H.O. Good? Bad ? looking for first hand knowledge.

**specboatops** · 05-15-2020, 11:07 AM

Looking for some advise, looking at a boat that has a 2012 ETEC 225 H.O.

Thank you all in advance.

**dgscroggs** · 05-15-2020, 11:15 AM

I have an 08 and have had it for 3 yrs and haven’t had to touch it just the usual things like fuel filter and I changed the plugs, how many hours on it ? Got some water in the fuel once but obviously not the motors fault , lower units seem to be the weak link if surfacing , change oil a lot or get a sporty

**Instigator** · 05-15-2020, 11:22 AM

I love them.

Dg hit it above.

All the people I trust say, good fuel, good oil, fresh plugs and have fun.

Bajamerc is the local e-tec wizard.

**David** · 05-15-2020, 11:40 AM

We had a 115 HO for 6 years and then replaced it with a 150 HO in 2018. 8 years of Etec. Easy on gas and oil, no repairs, good power, easy to winterized, what’s not to love? The gear case is not as good as a sport master for high engine heights. That’s the only negative so far. We have not tried surfacing the Etec cases.

**specboatops** · 05-15-2020, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by dgscroggs

I have an 08 and have had it for 3 yrs and haven’t had to touch it just the usual things like fuel filter and I changed the plugs, how many hours on it ? Got some water in the fuel once but obviously not the motors fault , lower units seem to be the weak link if surfacing , change oil a lot or get a sporty

About 40 hours on powerhead.

**specboatops** · 05-15-2020, 01:33 PM

Any other input? anyone??

**John S** · 05-15-2020, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by specboatops

Any other input? anyone??

Racerx loves em. Go ask him.

**Instigator** · 05-15-2020, 03:23 PM

They have pretty good computers on them too Chris.

Any decent dealer or really anyone w/the software can pull its history.

Error codes, hrs, amount of time at what RPM etc.

As I said in my PM, I had two deals on pairs for my project and I got history pulled for both deals.

**Capt.Insane-o** · 05-15-2020, 08:17 PM

Set them for xd 50, run them on xd 100. Do the vacuum test on the fuel system of your boat. Run the sh*t out of it.

**specboatops** · 05-16-2020, 04:32 AM

Originally Posted by John S

Racerx loves em. Go ask him.

HA yea right, its a boat I have sought after for some time, it just happens to have this motor on it, al my friends are having alot of fun at my expense about the posibility of me running an ETEC, but what the hell, expand my horizons, I've seen a few pretty hot ones, anything that gets the job done and is cool i guess ; )

**Instigator** · 05-16-2020, 08:42 AM

Insaneos tip on oil is a good one too.

The computer has two oil settings.
One for cheap oil which it pumps more of and one for the good oil which it uses way less of.

So you tell the computer your running Walmart oil but actually run the good/expensive xd100 oil so it over oils the motor.

Cheap insurance.

Theres tons of them in Fla w/a 1000+ hrs on them.
I have a buddy in Ky that’s buys/rebuilds all the dead ones down there and says they don’t make it past 200hrs.

But, those are coming off bass boats on the Ohio River.
So over prop the boat so it’s fast when light, then add 60 gls of fuel, 4 batteries, full live wells, a trolling motor, your 250 lb partner, 100 lbs of tackle, then put your foot on the floor for 60 miles and scream at it when detonated the top off a piston.

**baja200merk** · 05-16-2020, 08:59 AM

I had one 600hrs off a tournament bass boat. Diag showed a ton of run time at idle the rest over 5k. Lost a locator pin and I found 4 of 6 pistons I could push the pins in with my fingernail. We don’t run Brp pistons in fact neither do my friends at BRP in their personal motors.

Biggest killer for them up north is they sit and have 7 month old fuel losing 1.5 points of octane per month. Then they take it out and hold it down. We always see a few excessive knock codes then it finally burns down and they wonder why. You were warned that’s what the beep is!

i do have a few off houseboats from out west with 3600hrs still have perfect compression.

**specboatops** · 05-16-2020, 10:10 AM

What brand of oil is the XD100 ?

I always ran Pennzoil synthetic blend in my Mercurys...

**baja200merk** · 05-16-2020, 12:17 PM

Evinrude very similar to mercurys DFI oil. No smoke and great decarbonization keeps everything clean.

my brothers 12 250 is the same motor. It had 1500 hours on it ran it stock for years then we put the race map on it and turned it 7k+ literally every weekend. Well until one one of the 1500hr reeds decided it was gonna go through the motor. One cyl lost 30psi still ran 100+ but idled like crap. So ofcourse we couldn’t put it back stock. Ported it good forged pistons pins were all loose rubbing on sleeves. Did tight heads good Chris Carson fiber reeds bush style port And it has been bullet proof. Even with 1.62 and a bigger prop it will pull on 2.5s on similar boats.

**specboatops** · 05-16-2020, 03:32 PM

Gary has spoken VERY highly of you, and your talents - I appreciate any and all education you care to share. Actually excited about running this ETEC strangely as i have ALWAYS had Mercs.

Originally Posted by baja200merk

Evinrude very similar to mercurys DFI oil. No smoke and great decarbonization keeps everything clean.

my brothers 12 250 is the same motor. It had 1500 hours on it ran it stock for years then we put the race map on it and turned it 7k+ literally every weekend. Well until one one of the 1500hr reeds decided it was gonna go through the motor. One cyl lost 30psi still ran 100+ but idled like crap. So ofcourse we couldn’t put it back stock. Ported it good forged pistons pins were all loose rubbing on sleeves. Did tight heads good Chris Carson fiber reeds bush style port And it has been bullet proof. Even with 1.62 and a bigger prop it will pull on 2.5s on similar boats.