Would You Buy Another Tohatsu??

[moseriw]

Going to kick out my 4 Stroke Mercury Mariner 3,5 2012. Did not do it a single time without problems. Every Year on service and no chance to get this beast running without any troubles at all.


Replacement is a thirty year old 4,8 Tomos 2 stroke. It is said that no one was and is able to ruin a Tomos.

[Captain Puget]

I had the Honda branded version ... gave up on it after 3 years. I just could not trust it to work reliably. Only burned ethanol free gas.

In the end, sold it and went electric - EP Carry. The light weight, quiet and safety (no gas) is wonderful! Maintenance consists of rinsing the lower unit with fresh water - no annual service, no oil. motor and battery about 21 lbsJust plug the battery in the inverter to recharge. Runs about 1-2 hours on a charge.

https://www.electricpaddle.com

[flippercarson]

We purchased one of the new 20hp EFI outboards from Tohatsu.

NEVER AGAIN!!!

The engine smokes an acrid smoke on startup, the paint peeled off the lower unit, and the engine mysteriously refuses to start sometimes.

I've brought it to our local Tohatsu dealer and even though the engine is under warranty, they have offered to do nothing for us. Nothing.

For me, it's not about having some issues...I expected that. It's the lack of warranty service when problems arose.

Never again.

If I could do it over again, I would have purchased the 20hp EFI Suzuki. Similiar weight and performance.

[AndyEss]

Bought a used Tohatsu 5hp 4stroke. I’ve run it pretty hard for two years as I mostly live on the hook. Seems to be a pretty good OB, but fuel has to be clean.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Chotu

. . I think the Lehr is great for situations where you don’t want to row, but you almost could have because it’s close.. . ..

LMAOROTF

[n5ama]

I have a 2015 9.8hp OB. I recently made a 280 mile trip on the ICW beating into a 15mph headwind the whole way. Couldn’t get to hull speed very often but didn’t expect to in that headwind and chop.

The Tohatsu did great on this 3 day trip (only daytime). The only thing done Prior to the trip was to change the pump impeller, oil, fuel filter and plug.

It never missed a beat and low speed operation after running wide open was flawless.

I’m a fan of at least my Tohatsu.

[PhilC]

What you have is a case of outboard "making oil" ie water or fuel getting into the engine oil.
My money is on the head gasket due to overheat and a waterway now connected to an oil way. But there is another possibility. Having removed the thermostat your outboard will now run over cool. With 4 stroke outboards that is a problem because outboards ingest a lot of damp air which gets mixed up with the crankcase oil. If the outboard never gets hot enough to vaporize this water away it builds up (surprisingly quickly) emulsifies the engine oil and hence creamy white frothy oil. First thing you need to do is do a compression test, if that is OK get that new thermostat, do an oil and filter change and give it a run. There may be some residual emulsified oil in the crankcase so you might get some white streaking but if it starts to make oil again rapidly or you get a lot of white oil you will need to strip it down and look for blown gaskets.
In the past I have had good experiences with the two stroke Tohatsu/Mercury engines.

[hlev00]

Tohatsu makes Nissan and Mercury. Honda and Yamaha make their own.


We have had a Tohatsu 6 for about 10 years with mixed results. We had problems on the tank and fuel hose side. We had a self inflicted wound by using old gas. After cleaning the carb, replacing tank and hose, it has been pretty reliable. However, when this one goes, or we need a different size, I think I would still go with a Yamaha based on experiences of others that I have talked to. Though probably surveying the state of things at that time since situations do change. Perhaps this will just be a greener grass situation.



Harry

[robert sailor]

In 2 strokes Yamaha is the best. That said I'm not crazy about single cylinder engines. I had a little Tohatsu and I really got good at cleaning the carb. Finally broke down and carefully filtered every tank full and that helped a lot as Mexican gas wasn't designed for those little wee jets. Can't put an inline filter in those little engines as they have their tank attached. 2 cylinder engines are less trouble right across the board in my opinion. I was always able to keep our little Tohatsu running but at times it was a pain. Mike's advice is good. Run the tank dry and the engine dry between storage times and use only the cleanest fuel.

[moseriw]

Again and again the damn outboard pain. If you compare it with your car...
What do I expect? Buy it, use it, have it serviced once a year or every 10.000 miles and just turn the key.

Now the never ending outboard story ..........

[Mahayana]

Bought a 9.8 Tohatsu in St Clair Shores in 2006. It ran flawlessly for 11 years. I traded it on a new 4 Tohatsu in Portland, ME in 2017. (It was getting to be too heavy. Or maybe I was getting too old.). It has been running flawlessly since then. I would buy another.

[Brewgyver]

A bad head gasket can leak cooling water into the lube oil passages, which would probably be the easiest cause to fix. Could also be a crack in the head, as you mentioned, or in a cylinder wall/liner.

[Madehn]

Having removed the thermostat your outboard will now run over cool. With 4 stroke outboards that is a problem because outboards ingest a lot of damp air which gets mixed up with the crankcase oil. If the outboard never gets hot enough to vaporize this water away it builds up (surprisingly quickly) emulsifies the engine oil and hence creamy white frothy oil. First thing you need to do is do a compression test, if that is OK get that new thermostat, do an oil and filter change and give it a run. There may be some residual emulsified oil in the crankcase so you might get some white streaking but if it starts to make oil again rapidly or you get a lot of white oil you will need to strip it down and look for blown gaskets.

agree with all of the above-- except I would go ahead and put a new head gasket in and then do the compression test- an engine can have a leak to the water liner from the head and still show up as ok on a compression test if you get low compression with a new gasket then junk the engine if it test out ok then put in a new thermostat and Bobs your uncle as the saying goes. I wholeheartedly agree with putting in a decent filter before the carb- you can fit one even on outboards with an attached tank- take a little doing but worth it-- prevents them from becoming a "wind up motor" from pulling that starting rope so many times

[thomm225]

It's rarely the engine make that is the problem.

Tohatsu makes great engines regardless what some say.

The problems are various but many times it's lack of knowledge by the user.

I've seen folks that couldn't start an engine with electric start while others of us can with pull start.

If your engine hasn't started in 10 pulls or so, there is a problem and it's time for you to fix it not continue pulling over and over.

How do I know this.......because I've used lawn mowers at "work" since I was 10 years old and outboards since I was 16. I did the pull drill back then because I didn't know any better.

It seems like some adults do the same thing I did at 10 -16 years old before I learned engines.

My worst engine I thought was a 1960's 4 stroke 55 hp Bearcat (Homelite) outboard but the problem was dirty fuel and carb not the engine per se

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccIDT7B3jHY&t=34s

I've owned maybe 10 different outboards mostly 2 stroke.....and lots of lawn mowers.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Madehn

Having removed the thermostat your outboard will now run over cool. With 4 stroke outboards that is a problem because outboards ingest a lot of damp air which gets mixed up with the crankcase oil. If the outboard never gets hot enough to vaporize this water away it builds up (surprisingly quickly) emulsifies the engine oil and hence creamy white frothy oil.

Possible, but since the OP has stated that there was "pressure" behind the dipstick, it seems that the engine is getting hot enough to boil off water, and that pressure also suggests that there's a greater ingress of water than what would just come from the air.

Aren't forum mechanical diagnoses FUN?!?