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Old 06-12-2006, 17:58   #1
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Tohatsu Outboards.

Got a quote from the "Tohatsu Factory" on a new 15 Hp 4 stroke electric start remote control outboard, great price, $2,215 no sales tax and free shipping, has anyone here had experience with these engines? i.e. reliability, service, fuel consumption ect.?

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Old 06-12-2006, 18:08   #2
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Like many others, I have a "Nissan" outboard ... also known as a Tohatsu with a different decal ... and it has been very, very good. I also understand that all of the 2007 smaller Mercurys will be Tohatsus as well.
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Old 06-12-2006, 21:32   #3
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Yes, I have a Tohatsu, except I have a tiny one, compared to the model you are looking at - 5hp. It has ran perfectly with a fair amount of neglect since 1999 or so, when it was new.

This year, I went to drain the carb (1st time in many years) for winter storage. Wouldn't you know? The brass carb drain screw had corroded and the head ripped right off with a slight pressure.

Still, this engine has fared much better than any OMC products I have owned. It starts up like a charm, runs quiet and just plain works - all the time.
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Old 07-12-2006, 00:22   #4
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Ib, a friend of mine has run a 25hp(?) Tohatsu on a large inflateable for years now. The only problem we had with it was the very first time around. Nothing would get it to start. So I stopped trying to help and chilled to think...and said something about trying the choke in the other position. Turns out the manual had a typo about the choke and warm weather, something really really trivial but a total stopper.

Meanwhile the engine has always been a champ. Tohatsu are the real makers of an incredible number of brands and engines, I've never heard a bad word about them. As long as there is dealer support in your area (for the warranty at least) it should be a good choice.

Dunno about "Tohatsu Factory". Unless you're buying it direct from Japan...it just rubs me the wrong way when someone uses a name like that.


Sean, don't tell me you were using a steel screwdriver on a brass screw? In a gasoline fuel system where sparking steel tools are totally verbotten in the first place?<G>
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Old 07-12-2006, 03:43   #5
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For years, the U.S. distributor for Tohatsu was Marubeni Engine and Power Corporation of Carrollton Texas. In May of 2002, Tohatsu purchased Marubeni and selected a new name for the distribution company - "Tohatsu America Corporation."

Tohatsu America Corp. (TAC), the US and Canadian distributor of Tohatsu and Nissan Marine outboard motors, is moving to new, larger headquarters at Farmers Branch, Texas. AC’s parent company in Japan recently opened a new manufacturing facility capable of producing 200,0000 outboards per year.
http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?ID=1156933
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Old 07-12-2006, 06:22   #6
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We bought a Tohatsu 9.8 for our aluminum-bottomed AB in St. Maarten last year. The thing that sold it beyond it's always being sold out down there is that the 9.8 uses the drive train and block of the smaller range; i.e.: it is the same size as the 4 horsepower. This makes it the smallest 10 hp on the market. All other lines we could find use the upper range for this size, making the 10 hp the same size and weight as the 15 hp or even the 18 hp.

The Tohatsu 10 is easier on the davits, but still gets me and the Admiral up on plane.
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Old 07-12-2006, 09:21   #7
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Gord-
"TAC’s parent company in Japan recently opened a new manufacturing facility capable of producing 200,0000 outboards per year, the distributor reported." From the article, it appears that the US facility is still just distribution and training, and that the manufacturing is happening elsewhere. Someplace on the PacRim that the article discretely omitted mention of.
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Old 07-12-2006, 09:39   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hellosailor

Sean, don't tell me you were using a steel screwdriver on a brass screw? In a gasoline fuel system where sparking steel tools are totally verbotten in the first place?<G>
Whoops! That was it. I used steel driver. Should I have used brass? Good info on the Tohatsu corp, etc... I need to get a new carb now.
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Old 07-12-2006, 09:56   #9
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Sean-
"Should I have used brass?" Yes but no, just kidding with you. I once knew a marine aviation mechanic who taught me some things about his "odd" tools. Like, if you drop a wrench in the bilge or in an oil pit under a rack, that's inconvenient. If you drop it while you are floating over some lagoon where you can see the bottom 200' below because your engine wanted some attention here and now...That's a *problem*.<G> So he had a number of brass (non-sparking) tools, and a way to secure a lanyard on every one of them, even though he and they were on land by then. Usually a hole in the handle, like you see cast in an adjustable wrench. "Holes, they're not just for hanging."<G>

In theory, yes, you should be using non-sparking tools around fuel. In theory, Tohatsu should know you'll be using whatever was in the tool drawer and the screw should have been made from better metal, instead of from the lowest bidder.

Speaking of tools, have you ever used Torx or other drivers made by Wiha? A German company, a bit pricey, but their Torx and Phillips minis are machined so nicely that you'd swear they were magnetic (they're not) because they fit and hold in good screws so nicely. I first met them with some B&D Torx bits I had wouldn't open something, wouldn't mate at all. "Same" sizes, but what a difference. They're on the list of tools I won't lend out at all, unless my wrist is attached to them.<G>
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Old 07-12-2006, 15:04   #10
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I have a Nissan 8 hp and it has been good for about 10 years and a lot of abuse. One problem is that there are NO parts for anything like this in Mexico or Central America, but US has been fine.
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Old 08-12-2006, 19:02   #11
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Tohatsu Outboards

I have had 2, a 5 or 6 HP with intergrated tanks; used it on a Southerly 23 and never had a problem with it.

I currently have a 2.5 for inflatable tender. Goes OK too.

Bought both as reconditioned engines from a Tohatsu dealer in Sydney (Aust), and both have been reliable and adequete for purpose.

Fair winds

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