1998 Evinrude 15 hp still good or scrap ?

[pecheux]

To make a long story as short as possible this 1998 Evinrude 15 hp was offered to me for $ 800. The price seems right ... but this OB was running with muffs and they fell off while idling without the owner noticing so it ended up stopping by itself from overheating. The seller tells me a mecanic changed the impeller and somehow got the motor running. Normaly at WOT the motor would have cooked. question is: since it stopped from overheating while idling can it still be a good buy ? or something to stay away from. Tx

 

[jbjennings]

Re: 1998 Evinrude 15 hp still good or scrap ?

Here's my take on it:

1. An OMC outboard is super well built, as you know, and can usually withstand at least one overheat.
2. I wouldn't pay $800 for an outboard that I knew had been overheated.

3. I'd check compression. I'd also beg a mechanic to tell me what he usually finds on those 90's 15's in good shape as far as compression. If it wasn't up to snuff, I wouldn't buy it. My '99 30hp johnson has 125psi on each. I'd think your 15 should have at least 120 if it's in decent shape. I haven't checked a 15 that new so I don't know for sure.

4. I wonder if the heat would cause it to shut off a lot quicker on idle, possibly even before ANY damage could occur????

Seems like for $800 it would be pretty easy to find another one that hadn't overheated. Of course, that's in my area and not yours. A '90s 15hp johnson is one of the best ever made so I can see how they would go high.

I wouldn't totally discount it. If I were really wanting it I'd have to hear it run (and run Purrrrrfect), and see some good compression numbers, although I doubt compression numbers tell the whole story on an overheat.
Later,
JBJ

 

[jay mendoza]

Re: 1998 Evinrude 15 hp still good or scrap ?

Don't pay allot, as its been seized, but that said, I had a 15 Johnson engine that had horrible seizures on both cylinders and it continued to run for some 25 years after that. It was hard starting (3-5 pulls) when cold, but had plenty of power, it did use more fuel than normal, but not too much. I took off the head and smoothed out the rough spots on the bores and replaced the head gasket, ran for decades. Just retired that powerhead and replaced it last month with a fresh one.