2 stroke or 4 stroke

[MGH]

May be im just stupid but it seems there are numerous ways to name a engine. EFI STX,STR. etc the list goes on.
When trying to find a Out board engine how do you know which engines are 2stroke and which are 4 stroke.
Is there some trick to this or just fumble through till you remember what is what?
Some times feel lost talking to dealers as they assume you know what they are talking about.

MGH

 

[scott craven]

Honda- 4 stroke
Suzuki -4 stroke (after about '95)
Yamaha - could be either
Mercury - same as above
Evinrude/Johnson - 2 stroke (unless its a Suzuki)

Does that confuse you more ?

 

[trendsetter]

When the dealer talks about EFI or DFI they are talking about the type of fuel injection the motor uses. You can't tell if it's 2 or 4 stroke by those terms alone.

Are you looking for a brand new motor or a used one? Here a couple examples of the new 2 and 4 stroke outboards:

2-Stroke outboards: Evinrude ETEC, Mercury Optimax, Tohatsu TLDI.

4-Stroke outboards: All Yamaha motors, Mercury Verado, Tohatsu 4-stroke.

If you are looking at used motors then there are a whole bunch of different makes and models of 2-strokes.

 

[Island Fish Lifter]

MGH- Do you know what the difference between 2 and 4 strokes is? Important to understand this before making a purchace, not trying to be a smart butt.

 

[profisher]

I'll be a smart butt....2 strokes is all lippy needs, I need a minimum of 4 strokes.

 

[MGH]

Yes i know the difference. Have rebuilt car engines, lawn mowers, weed eaters, even a diesel engine. Looking for used 200 to 225 hp for 22 fiberglass boat. When ad's are put out to sell a motor should include 2 or 4 stroke , HP , also year and hours and as much as they can about the motor. So many ad's don't really tell you anything about the engine. Seem to assume everybody knows their motor.

This helped thanks trendsetter
trendsetter is offline
When the dealer talks about EFI or DFI they are talking about the type of fuel injection the motor uses. You can't tell if it's 2 or 4 stroke by those terms alone.

Are you looking for a brand new motor or a used one? Here a couple examples of the new 2 and 4 stroke outboards:

2-Stroke outboards: Evinrude ETEC, Mercury Optimax, Tohatsu TLDI.

4-Stroke outboards: All Yamaha motors, Mercury Verado, Tohatsu 4-stroke.

If you are looking at used motors then there are a whole bunch of different makes and models of 2-strokes.

Thanks for help guys
MGH

 

[profisher]

That post is not quite accurate if you are shopping used. Yamaha made both 2 and 4 stroke engines. They didn't change there larger engines to exclusively 4 strokes until the past few years. I still run a 200 Yamaha 2 stroke built in 1997.

 

[trendsetter]

That post is not quite accurate if you are shopping used. Yamaha made both 2 and 4 stroke engines. They didn't change there larger engines to exclusively 4 strokes until the past few years. I still run a 200 Yamaha 2 stroke built in 1997.

Yep, the motors I listed were for brand new. If you are looking at used motors then most all the manufacturers (except for Honda) made both two strokes and 4-strokes.

 

[Reel Time]

If buying new, buy the 2 stroke, superior power to weight ratio and fuel economy is on par with 4 strokes now.

 

[wildwest]

YES ... YES Go with an OPTIMAX ..the DFI OPTIMAX is really good on fuel.Less maintenance,light weight,lots of jam and they sound beefie to boot.I know some guys like 4 strokes but they are heavy and require costly upkeep.

 

[wildwest]

I believe MERCURY is offering a 5 year warranty rite now..no brainer

 

[MGH]

Any smells from 2 stroke engine these days. Wife is chemical sensitive to petrol products. she still would like to go out in boat my old 2 stroke boat would have killed her (much smaller boat and gone). Might not make a difference though, exhaust is exhaust. Hard to fish from sail boat. lol
MGH

 

[vetteman]

Any smells from 2 stroke engine these days. Wife is chemical sensitive to petrol products. she still would like to go out in boat my old 2 stroke boat would have killed her (much smaller boat and gone). Might not make a difference though, exhaust is exhaust. Hard to fish from sail boat. lol
MGH

My Optimax has a little bit of a smell at low speeds but it's not really that bad. My old 50-1 mix 2 strokes really used to get to me. The new DI 2 strokes are much better.
Dave

 

[Gunsmith]

My E-tecs give off no smell that I can detect but my four stroke yammy does.

 

[Doug]

All the 4 stroke Yamahas I've owned have never smelled or smoked.
My last Yamahas which I traded in after 4 years, both had 5 year warranty and are still running on other form members (Tains) boats and hopefully not smoking.
My new Yamahas both have 5 year warranties. But I paid a little extra for the addtional 2 years

 

[Gunsmith]

My four stroke yammy smells unburnt gas when ever I start it.

 

[TheSookesOfHazzard]

Can't say for all brands but with Yami it's pretty easy - all the four strokes have an F in front of the model name. F225, F150, F115, etc. Not always on the hood but definitely on the sticker on the mounting bracket. Honda is all four strokes, period. Suzi pretty much now too.

Keep in mind your gonna get a lot more hours out of a maintained 4-Strk than you will with a comparable 2-Strk.

 

[Halilogger]

Not sure about the mention of costly maintenance ?

I was told for the exception of the Mercury Verado all Mercury 4 strokes are either Yamaha or Suzuki.
I'm more of a 4 stroke guy but I have not ran a 2 stroke in the last 14 years.

 

[profisher]

I'm not sure about the longer hours out of 4 strokes verses 2 strokes if both are maintained properly. Firstly the maintenance costs of a 2 stroke are much less, the new purchase price is much less as is the eventual rebuild costs. In fact the dealers are saying that the newest 4 strokes won't be rebuilt because of the cost to do so...they will all be new power head replacements when a major engine component fails. I'm still running a 1997 Yami 2 stroke...new price was 12K and I've put a 3k rebuild into it. It still has enough meat on the liners to do a further 3k rebuild in a couple more years. I'm 20 thousand over now and they make over sized slugs up to 60 over. That will be a total of 20 years plus life at a cost under 20k. I burn less than 10 gallons an hour at 30 mph with my 22 Seasport and getting oil in bulk at $19 a gallon.

 

[demco99]

I live for the smell of my Suzuki 200hp 4-stroke at the crack of dawn..