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Unusual Outboard Brands


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I've seen the following brands for sale on TM recently.

 

Parsun, Sail and Hy Fong. The ads allude to similarities to better known brands like Yamaha for the sail and Tohatsu IIRC for the Hy Fong.

 

Can any of the outboard gurus out there comment on the parentage of these engines and how they go in comparison with more well known makes up to say 15 hp?

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As a FYI only as I don't really know motors.

 

We deal with one dude who brings in the Sail brand (I think it's that one or the Pusan if knot) and I was dropping some stuff off at his place and saw the motors, we started chatting. His was a direct knock-off of the Yammy down to the same coloured paint, which I understand he got changed to stop total confusion. We even went as far as pulling my 9.9 I had in the wagon out and comparing bits. You could easily swap all parts between motors and strangely enough more parts in the knock-off were metal than in the Yammy.

 

How they go seems to be fine. How they last..... that's the big question but saying that I haven't heard of mass failures.. any actually, but that doesn't mean there hasn't been.

 

2 years ago I brought one of my lads a SSingSong ute. A little nervous as it's a Korean made Merc but it's proved 99.9% fine and goes bloody well, far better than the Holden Rodeo it replaced by a good margin. So much so I'm getting one for myself in 2 weeks.

 

They, those making in the east, are catching up in the quality sakes quickly in some areas.

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I know this thread's a bit old but I would be interested in any recent opinions of Parsun outboards. We've been offered a dealership here and know I can shift them but I want to know the downside if any. Interestingly, the service manuals disc they left for me contains Yamaha and Tohatsu manuals for the comparable models but nothing published by Parsun.

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I bought a 9.8 2 stroke Parsun for my 930. It ran sweet for 4 months and died with the family out at Rangi. I took it back and it took a couple of weeks to sort out what was wrong (don't ask me I'm not a motor type of guy). Ran sweet for another 3-4 months and died again. I took it back to the dealer and said get rid of it I don't want it which he did and I have since bought a yammy and very happy. Just my isolated experience, but not a good one.

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That's not a good look. The 9.8 is based (from memory) on a Tohatsu rather than a Yamaha

I work as a marine engineer and often find recurrent problems are down to poor diagnosis of cause of failure. Example, I'm currently repairing a boat drive train that another engineering company here has replace the bolts in the coupling twice due to breaking. No attempt was made to find out why the bolts were breaking. Have subsequently discovered why they were breaking so hopefully they can sail back to NZ with no dramas.

Not saying this was the reason for the second failure on your engine but I suspect it is a strong possibility.

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I have been doing some online research on Parsun PW. I have not been able to find any negative comments about them. I have read the odd negative that stems from the Chinese debate, but no one seems to have had an actual failure as such. I did however find this, whcih I thought was most interesting.

Hi All

Regarding all the Parsun outboard questions, and replies. We at Hurricane Products have been the importer for Sail for 2 years and in August 2009 switched to Parsun. We had very little problems with Sail , but after a lot of thought and visit to the Parsun factory we made the decision the switch. The Factories are completely different and, yes Parsun is a lot better quality. Yes there is a New Zealand dealer net work , so all your servicing concerns are covered and yes they come with 2 years warranty and are copies of Yamaha, so our parts are way better buying and will fit either. All info is on our webb site www.hurricaneproducts.co.nz, or contact me re any questions 06 7591990

Regards Jeff Strampel : Sales and Marketing

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One other thing I found on Parsun, is that Parsun is actually a US based electric motor manufacturer and one of their products happens to be the Parsun electric Outboard. the article I read sounded like Parsun was getting China to build a Petrol version for them. But I see nothing on the Parsun website pertaining to such. I wonder if it is possible that the Chinese company are building the outboard housing and Parsun fit the electric motor and thus China is now fitting a petrol motor and marketing it. Might be wrong of course. But the article said that the Chinese company was the biggest manufacturer of Gensets in China. One thing we as CRA know though, some Chinese companies are good at saying many things, including providing paper work to back it up. But it is all worth less than the paper it's written on, while some other Chinese companies can produce very good quality product.

 

If you are actually looking for a dealership as against just having one offered, perhaps also contact Jeff at Moon engines. They have just started selling the Hidea. Silly name IMO, but....Hey, I haven't found any negatives on the net for them either. He may be able to offer stories from experience on these various brands even.

 

One engine I have had a bit if experience with, is the Chinese copy of the wee single banger Diesel Yanmar. They seem to be in every Chinese Diesel powered Genset. The first one I had ran flawlesly for 7 yrs and clocked ruffly 2000hrs with just oil changes. Everything seemed to be exactly the same as the Yanmar. However, two points I found, one being a major. Firstly, the minor issue were the Aluminium corroded easily. Still, that didn't stop it running. Anything painted seemed to be more a threat of paint rather than a coat. And their Cadmium plating tank must have been ice cold, because anything they plated must have taken a very quick dip in the tank that day. The bigger issue was the Starter. It actually packed up not ling after I got the Genset and I pulled the starter apart to take a look. It was very poorly made and simply not up for the job. I rebuilt it myself and it worked OK for many years till it finally gave up the ghost completely. the new Gen I have now has the same engine and it seems the same starter. It has not failed yet, but it is not powerful enough to turn the engine over against any compression if the engine failed to start the first time (fuel not turned on). It has to have a run up with the flywheel to get it to run over the next compression cycle, or it stalls and you run the risk of burning out the starter.

Of course, this may or may not relate to the quality of Chinese outboards.

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...just for fun, the most unusual outboard motors I have seen where on the Mekong river.

Hand crafted slab timber river boats.

They where ANY motor that could be made to run , with a long tube and shaft bolted straight to the output shaft. No gearbox, neutral; was lifting the prop out of the water.

The whole lot in a crude steel frame with a single balance point so it could be steered.

From little single cylinder stationary motors to old 4 cylinder morris engines....right through to V6s taken straight out of some wrecked modern car. Boy did those V6s fly !!

...and ....they where cooled by dropping an extended hose that used to go to the radiator into the river and a short hose that just pissed the hot water backwards.

If the water stopped, they stopped the motor and then blew backwards through the short hose until the bit of reed/plastic/turd blew out..

So much more user friendly and reliable than a "real outboard" and a fraction of the price.

Awesome !!

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IB, that direct drive to a prop on a long driveshaft is know as a longtail. Really common throughout SE Asia. Engines can be anything - I have seen a 5 litre V8! Some of the larger ones carry tourists in Phra Nang by in Thailand.

 

Chinese outboards. No experience directly. I have a mate who had a Sail outboard. Virtually all the paint fell off within 18 months. Serious corrosion problems in the lower leg. Dealer here said it was his fault, as it was not washed after every use, and kept in a warm dry area!! (It was kept in the weather on the rail of his cruiser). Within 2 years, it went to the tip. He now has a Yamaha. 

 

Personally, as the outboard is so important for a cruiser, I'd tread carefully. As a comparison, my 18 year old Merc 15 is still fine, and has lived on the rail most of that time. Had a magnet fall off the flywheel last year, but other than that, all issues have been to do with dirty fuel.

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I've just found this thread. 

Yes I had a Sail 15 hp outboard. Easily the worst purchase I've ever made. An excerpt from my disputes tribunal application, 2012:

 

"The Sail Outboard is not ‘fit for purpose’ in my opinion. It has continually broken down. There have been issues with the carburettor (There have been three carbs on this engine in the short life of the motor), choke jamming, fuel system failing, charging coils failing, starting system breaking, an oil leak, poor reverse performance due to poor reverse exhaust thrust design."

 

Unbelievably I lost the case, but there is another story. 

 

The excuse was because my fuel supply was higher than the motor then it was an unusual set up.  

 

I continually had to strip the carburettor at sea to get it to go. I sailed out of near impossible situations far to many times.

 

My advice to all is steer well clear of these knock off copied pieces of rubbish and stick to name brands, and a good local service provider .

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I was given a hyousung (or what ever it is) supposedly a Tohatsu knock-off.  I stripped it right down, cleaned and replaced bearings seals etc, eventually the pull start fell to pieces because I could only ever get it to start and run at medium revs - years of playing motorcycles and later chainsaws and mowers on a lifestyle block meant that I'm normally pretty capable of making any engine work, especially a 2-stroke.. not in this case.

 

What I observed: low grade aluminium; non-stainless metal parts in areas that will come into contact with water in a marine environment; paint flaking... everywhere; cheap, crappy pull start parts (your average B&S cheap lawnmower are better/more solid); cheap bearings; rubbish seals; bushes where bearings should have been used (gearbox); sloppy tolerances etc, etc, etc, the list goes on.  

 

I have two, rattly, 30 yo Johnsons' (8hp and 2.5)  not known or renowned for their build quality or longevity however they're a) going and B) made 100x better then the 2yo Chinese P.O.S. 

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Yep, 3 yrs on and my Yammy has been faultless.

Run dry after each outing (which is quite regular) and serviced annually. Never fresh water flushed. Had to poke a bit of wire up the water outlet as it had salted up a bit once a year ago. Would never go back. Actually feel a bit stupid for going there in the first place.

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3 years is a baby!

I have a 1997 Merc 15 2 stroke (the real one, with the gear shift on the tiller arm, not the tohatsu). Other than a few issues with dirty fuel, it been almost faultless.(Fuel is not the manufacturers issue!) It has done heaps of hours, almost never run dry nor flushed. Sits on the rail most of the time.

In the time I have had it, it has had the following maintenance:

New Plugs 2x. Carb rebuild kit 2x, 3 new props, and a new (from a wrecker) flywheel as an ignition magnet came off the old one last year. I think the carb kits would not have been needed if it was not for the crap fuel in SE Asia.

It now looks like crap though, mostly thru abuse, but runs fine, although it has (always had) a slight splutter at low revs. What a great motor! Still the lightest 15hp available, and yes they still produce this model!!

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