don't buy a yamaha 15 hp 4 stroke

[mrpike1973]

well i got about 12 hours now on my new motor. 1 time to the dealer and several phone calls. when its cold it starts right up but dies after a couple minutes start again let warm up dies at least 2-3 more times. then after that its better how ever seems to be getting better every time but for a new motor i think it should run flawless. on another post someone posted about there may be a problem with them not sure if its just yamaha or other motors. i bought this because my other 2 stroke yamaha is the cats meow. however a few years of paying this loan off for something like this does not make me happy. sorry to ramble but all i've ever heard is how great yamaha is. well sorry i'm not buying it. i know its cold out 45 degree water but shouldnt a motor run above freezing. dealer keeps saying when it warms up it will start better hmmpf.

[mrpike1973]

i called the dealer i'm bringing it in again. sad when they know your name.

[jmg]

I feel your pain, Mr. Pike. It really hurts when what you upgrade to is worse than what you had(have). Hope the dealer can figure it out before the 10th. Good Luck!

[Northlander]

Great motor! I have 2 friends with the 15's and 1 with a 25 and they love them. You just got a lemon wich happens every so often. Doesnt make you feel better but to tel people not to buy a Yamaha because you got a bad one isnt fair.

[Down Deep]

I had a 15 hp Yamaha 4s as a kicker on one of the boats I used to own. I agree that in colder weather it was harder to get it to start, but after two or three restarts it would run great. I think this is more of an issue with your specific motor and you may want to seek service elsewhere other than the dealer. Northlander knows of a good mechanic.

[mrpike1973]

i understand what your saying but i got 6 years to have a lemon no not happy. i want to go to the dealer and complain and get a different one but how do i go about that. i'll just hear well you bought it its yours now or worse get lost. regardless a boat motor should run and stay running. i'm tempted to try and sell it take a loss as usual and buy some other clunky boat.

[hockeybc69]

My dads Yammie 15 4 stroke.... just purrs......

that's a one in a million lemon for Yamaha....

[delcecchi]

i understand what your saying but i got 6 years to have a lemon no not happy. i want to go to the dealer and complain and get a different one but how do i go about that. i'll just hear well you bought it its yours now or worse get lost. regardless a boat motor should run and stay running. i'm tempted to try and sell it take a loss as usual and buy some other clunky boat.

Is there another dealer in the area that could try to fix it? Or maybe you should try to escalate your problem to Yamaha. I bet they have someone whose job it is working with service problems that the dealer can't figure out. If the factory guy doesn't solve it, he has power to get a replacement I bet.

Complaining directly to Yamaha would be more effective than venting here, although venting feels good too.

[h8go4s]

Pike, if this is a new motor under warranty, it's time to go directly to Yamaha. The customer service number is (866) 894-1626. Tell them you have not gotten a satisfactory solution from your dealer and ask them for the contact info for a local Yamaha rep. Keep calm and be polite, phone CS people want to help but it's a thankless job in many cases. Good luck.

[uffdapete]

X2

[SledNeck]

Guy I know has one on his duck boat an the thing barley starts and runs when its cold out. It was so bad he got rid of it.

[mrpike1973]

well i brought it in again they worked on the carb. took it out the next day same thing bring it in on mon. they said they will put a different carb in it. just for clarity are all 4 stroke motors hard starting?

[smduke]

I had a Honda 50 HP carb that was stubborn. I now own a fuel injected yami 90 that is a night and day difference if you want the quick starts go to a fuel injectec motor I will never own another carbed motor for the starting reason.

[hamms-scooter]

That is a bummer to deal with! We are Minnesotans and as for me I love fishing early spring and late into the fall. Cold starts are part of the game and have to go. Hope you get your issue resolved . I run a late 90's yammie 15 hp and it runs great. Just a pull start light weight. When it dies if ever or when I am ready to repower my boat (rated for 35hp) 14' deep and wide ssv Lund. I'll be looking for 25 hp yam for it. I am frustrated for u to work on something instead of fishing and paying payments is a bummer. Good luck

[mrpike1973]

well went out sat. started hard again got to the other end of the lake and fished for 3 hours went to start it and it wouldnt start didnt have this before!! any way after exhausting the starting battery i used the trolling motor made it half way across the lake then that battery died. used what was left in the starting battery. then used the minnow bucket lid. thankfully i called a buddy to get his boat out to get me took 3 hours also did i add my asthma was acting up what else? got it home let it sit charged the battery up started up. went out today now when i go full throttle it sounds like it is knocking!!! at full speed it sounds like it is missing bad bringing it in mon morning my wife is going to demand to talk to the manager this is getting nuts they have been descent to deal with however i have been very level headed but i'm gonna blow any advice (sorry yamaha owner) i do know if i dont have something to fish with sat. i'm gonna self implode i guess i should never try to improve myself on getting something better. sorry to rant

[jmg]

Again, Mr. Pike, I feel for you. Too bad there isn't a Lemon Law for outboards like there is for autos. Like I mentioned before, a lot of your problems sound like my brother's with his motor and yet, I know a lot of people who love their Yamaha motors and have had excellent luck with them. It is unfair to struggle to upgrade and then seem to end up going backwards instead. I think most of us reading your post have had it happen at one time or another or many times for some of us. I know my brother was just kind of pushed aside by the Yamaha reps he has talked with who blamed his problems on the last yr. of production for his motor. You would think the last year should be the finest year, but... Hope you get some good news this week so you can enjoy the opener.

[Whoaru99]

Pike, if this is a new motor under warranty, it's time to go directly to Yamaha. The customer service number is (866) 894-1626. Tell them you have not gotten a satisfactory solution from your dealer and ask them for the contact info for a local Yamaha rep. Keep calm and be polite, phone CS people want to help but it's a thankless job in many cases. Good luck.

Exactly.

They may not replace the engine, we don't know, we can't say for sure one way or the other. What we do know with 100% certainty is if you don't ask/don't try it's guaranteed you get nada.

[ChuckN]

My '03 Yamaha 25hp 4 stroke (carb, manual start) has never let me down. I've duck hunted many mornings near 0 degrees and this motor always starts up. It's always got me onto the water and home again.

I feel the carburetor has issues. It needs adjustment, cleaning or install a new carburetor kit. Let the dealer figure out what's wrong if under warranty.

[harvey lee]

I would either go to Yamamha or a different shop.

My Merc 4 stroke gavve me numerous issues for almost one year, 11 trips to the dealer and they still could not ficx it.

They even told me they had a Merc rep at thier shop and he said it was fixed.

Well, after leaving it there 2 weeks while on vacation, I picked it up, they said they took it to the lake and it ran perfect with the Merc rep.

Well, I took it to the lake and the same issue.

I then called LUND as Brunswick owns them all, both Merc and LUND and talked to a guy I knew in the office at LUND.

He made a few calls and to Merc also to the shop that had worked on it and they told him no rep had ever looked at my motor, they keep all that in the warranty records when work is done.

Long story short, Kurt at LUND asked if it mattered where I took the motor to get repaired and I said no, as long as it gets running.

Took it to the shop they suggested and picked it up 2 days later, 6 years down the road, never an issue since.

It was all the dealer that worked on it first as they could not figure out the issue, what bugged me was they lied to me so many times and I crapped away almost an entire summer of fishing.

Could easily be the shop cannot figure it out.

[mrpike1973]

thanks guys well i brought it in today. they say its a carb issue and going to put a new one on and run it in the lake. i also talked with the head manager and told him at this point if they cant fix it we want a new one or a different model. they called yamaha and so did i. ironically they said to take it to this dealer. this is before i had them call them. so i will see how it turns out i have been very level headed and told them. i havent said who they are but if they cant resolve it i will let it be known not out of spite but i wouldnt want any one else to go through this thanks i'll keep you posted.

[walt501]

Interesting topic. My cousin's husband has a 10 year old Yamaha 15 4-stroke. He brings it up to my place in Ontario every year and each year it seems to be harder to start than the year before, so I told him last year to bring it over to my place and I'd help him with some basic maintenance and in general check it out. The first thing we do is drain the oil and my garage is immediately filled with the smell of gasoline. I smell the drain pan and sure enough the oil is filled with gas. Perplexed I started to look things over and that eventually leads me to start squeezing the primer bulb on the gas line to see if the carburetor float bowl would fill causing the needle and seat to close off the fuel pressure from my pumping on the primer bulb and I find I'm unable to build pressure in the line. In fact, with the drain plug out, each squeeze of the primer bulb resulted in raw gasoline shooting out the oil drain hole! So he had a bad carburetor and who knows how long gasoline diluted oil has been running through the engine. If you have a hard to start 4 stroke Yamaha outboard, it wouldn't hurt to pull the dip stick and check it for the smell of gasoline. Oh and one more thing - anything made by the hands of man has the possibility of being defective, including highly overrated Asian products.

[mrpike1973]

walt 501 they just replaced my motor with a new one and yes that's exactly what was wrong with it defective carb. sadly the next motor they took out did the same thing the one i got they put on and started great. any way i have had it 2 days so far and it starts better. i just hope it keeps up. my confidence is starting to go up the dealer was very good about it thanks

[delcecchi]

A guy would think they would test these things at the factory but it probably is too costly and difficult.

[RebelSS]

Good deal!!! Glad they replaced it. Let us know how it's working....

[jmg]

Good news for you, finally, Mr. Pike. Now we can look forward to some good Darwin area fishing reports from you. Glad to hear the dealer was decent about it.