9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

[zoli 16ga.]

I'm thinking of upgrading from my 1968 3hp Johnson, to a 9.5 evinrude (sportwin) or Johnson. There seems to be a few of them out there forsale, late 60's era.

Opinions please -

Worth a couple hundred bucks? ($200 to $400 price range).
Are they tough?
Parts availability?
Weight around 65lbs?

Thanks in advance,

Don.

 

[Willyclay]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Good info here: OMC outboard related articles

 

[HighTrim]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Ill probably get lashed on here for saying this, but I would stay away from them. Sure there are some good runners, but they definitely have their demons. There is a reason they go for so little compared to the 9.9s or 10s.

The are notorious for exhaust leaks, bad motor mounts, to name a couple, which can make tuning them difficult.

 

[kodibass]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Yep' for about the same $s you can find a 9.9 or 15 which is a far better motor in design and parts availability. not to mention repairing or maintaining the 9.5 is a much more difficult motor to work on. I own I think 4 or 5 of the 9.5s but I just like them for there odd ball status in the OMC history world, they are the ugliest outboard omc ever produced. Imho. turtle backs, pumpkinheads etc. but they do have issues often.

 

[steelespike]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

From my limited experience the 9.5 does have the issues mentioned plus it is slow.
Go on youtube and check the on water videos of 9.9 and 9.5. The 9.5 isn't in the same ball park as the 9.9.
I'm betting you get that improved performance on the same or less gallons per hour as well.

 

[F_R]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

The 9.5 was a very good motor when new. But this is now, and many much-needed parts are obsolete, and they are very intimidating for a novice to work on if you have to go beyond the normal service stuff. No way would I go $200 + for one. But I'm cheap.

I'd opt for a 9.9 or 15, but NOT the 1974-76 years. They had serious running problems. Ok, all you guys that got lucky and have a runner can come down on me now. But I was the guy in the dealership that had to satisfy the customers.

 

[crb478]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Man ya'll know how to hurt a guys feelings. I just picked up a 67 model 9.5 that looks like new inside for 220.00. It was a one owner motor that had been stored inside for several years, and according to the owners son had weak spark. After researching it I found out that the 65 and 66 models had vibration problems and that in 67 they changed mounts to help with this and even made a kit to upgrade the older models.

I cleaned the points and reset them, as one was closed and the other was gapped to small. The coils and points all looked new and were not the factory origionals. I hooked it up to a gas tank and submerged it and it fired off after a few pulls. Seemed to idle and run well. Oh I just did this after I read the above replies.

I was actually looking for a 5 to 8 hp motor to use as a kicker when I found this one. It was just so clean I decided to go with it. My prior kicker is a 18 hp Johnson and I wanted to take a little weight off the transom since I just put a 4 stroke on the boat. This one is only 18 lbs lighter, but to me it is noticeable. I would have liked to get 50lbs or less but 60 is not bad.

I can not tell you how well it works yet, and maybe I just got lucky with a barely used one. If I had seen F R's comments I would probably have passed on this motor, since he has forgotten more about these motors than I will probably ever learn. I hope it will let me troll down to about 1/2 mph, the four stroke main motor idles at about 2 1/2 mph.

 

[cajuncook1]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Yes, the 9.5hp Evinrude/Johnson motors have known exhaust leak issues and they are no powerhouse, but if in good shape and serviced well they run smooth. They idle and troll well. If they are neglected, yes they can be challenge to work on, but it sounds like you have nice motor.

I have an 1965, 1967 and 1971 Evinrude 9.5hps. I use the 1967 motor on fishing trips when I visit my mother. I bring it along and rent a 14ft Jon boat at the state park for $15/day. It runs smooth and idles well. It is easy to transport and weighs 56lbs. The tiller can be stowed in the down position for transport. It is a little odd looking but I like it.

I think you will like the way it trolls. On right of the tiller arm there is an idle adjustment knob. You can set a trolling speed with that knob and it will not decelerate if you let the tiller grip go.

 

[TN-25]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

I like them because they are compact, light, easy to carry, have a shallow drive and numerous positive stop positions on the tiller handle. Everything else that has been said above by others is true. They are reliable but a pain to work on. Notice the little hole on the starbord shroud; I think it was put on there around 1967 to help stop them from sucking inert, non combustible spent exhaust gas up the leg. I piloted a 1965 with the OMC motor mount fix on it for years and it was always a good motor after that. I picked up a decent 1967 model a couple of years back and it is fine. I also own a 15 from the mid-1970s. OMC learned from the 9? how to build a compact motor, but with the successor 9.9 / 15 they also made it so you didn't have to split the lower shroud to work on it, not did you need an elaborate kit just to fit it with remote controls.
Dad's old 9? seemed to go alright on a 14' cartopper. We never actually measured it but it might reach 20 mph on a good day.

 

[zoli 16ga.]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Thanks for all your advice guys! Yes, I think I'll pass on the 9.5's, as the one's I've been looking at seem to in rough shape to start with.

I'm looking at 9.9's now and have a used Suzuki 9.9hp for sale near me. Trying to track down age at the moment. Not the suzuki forum...but...oppinions? Once I get some info I'll post there. The motor will be used ten times a year, for trips of maybe a mile or two. But of course reliability is king, and counts the most when a mile away from home!! Have to keep the cost down somewhere around $600.

Thanks again, Don.

 

[F_R]

Re: 9.5 Evinrude and Johnson

Man ya'll know how to hurt a guys feelings. .

Re-read the first sentence in my reply. They were very good motors when new. We had a fleet of them out in rental service, and they were very reliable. But the people that rented them didn't care if they ran over oyster bars, etc. They'd grind the props down in nothing flat. But the motors kept on running, even over-revving like crazy. Having said that, I sure got good at changing out the front rubber motor mounts. I think I could still change one in the dark.

And yes, I neglected to mention the early ones had lousy vibration control and wouldn't idle worth a hoot because of it. But the later ones with vibration dampers on the sides would idle very well.