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Hello, I am a new etec 60 owner.  I sometimes notice when the engine has been running a while and I slow down off plane,  that a white smoke is sometimes noticeable from the exhaust. It wont do it every time, but when it happens, it goes away when I speed up.  I also notice the temp reading on my icommand gauge is higher when this happens but no loss of performance or alarms, no burning smell. The temp goes back down when on plane, smoke goes away. Smoke will go away when at idle speed after a little while.  Is this part of normal new engine "break in"?  :-/

Got a reply from the Evenrude board!  Hope this helps other new owners.

Hi, this has been discussed before and it is not smoke but steam from the hot water exiting the engine after a run and yes the thermos job is to keep the engine hotter and low speeds. Blue smoke is excees oil and you will see none of that comes out of the prop hub when flushing and IF you did want to see what it looks like do a winterise and you will see the difference between smoke and steam.

 

[lemaymiami]

Loki... not sure where to start... First things first - do you have a water pressure guage on that skiff (and it would be really handy to know exactly what boat that motor is on - particularly if you're operating with a jackplate or on a tunnel hull sf some kind..). If for some reason you're not getting enough cooling water at times a water pressure guage would show that immediately.... (by the way I won't rig a skiff or any motor boat without a separate water pressure guage - I think they're that important...).

In general E-Tecs don't smoke (unless something's wrong or you're actually seeing steam from a slightly overheated motor.... Break in on E-Tecs is an automatic proposition (the motor will double oil for the first ten hours - that's your break in...). I'm on my third E-Tec (a 90) and can't say enough good things about them. I'll wait to find out more about your situation before speaking up again. By the way any competent factory trained technician with the correct software for that motor can hook it up and tell you in an instant if your motor has been running hot at all....

 

[[email protected]]

Thanks for the reply lemaymiami!

I don't have a separate water pressure gauge, just icommand.  I am running a 2013 Copperhead, no jack plate, turning a 17 pitch Rouge prop. Rpm is 5700-5750 WOT.  I don't operate WOT all the time.  This only happens occasionally.  I do believe it is steam as there is no odor and no loss of performance or alarms on the engine.  The motor is "pissing" normally so I don't think it's a water pressure issue.  But I will add a gauge as it's hard to see the flow of water out of the etec's as it comes out of the back of the engine.  I had a Johnson 115, on my last boat.  Easy to see water flow as it exited to the side and was high pressure.  This is a great engine, just not sure why the steam?

 

[Creek Runner]

Glad it was just steam, that is a very common questions from new owners I get a lot.

Take out the tale tell fitting and replace it with a 45 angle and it will piss out the side. $3.99 fix instead a water pressure gauge.

I hate water pressure gauges and only rig them when the customer insist on it! I have rigged probably over 1000 boats and less than 10% have had water pressure gauges. Also out of the 4 current boats I own. Only my drag boat has one but I run over 100mph and use a hull pick up with a sealed lower unit. Just my .02

 

[disporks]

Most definitely is probably steam, mine showed some here and there when the temperature dropped...Creekrunner, what is this 45 degree fitting you speak of? Would love to have my motor piss out the side, I had a waterpump issue and now paranoid about whether or not my motor is pissing good all the time so I check it when I start my engine to get to a spot and check again before I cut it off..

 

[lemaymiami]

Creek... you really ought to get a close look at the "pisser" on any E-TEc (and let me know if you find one) .... They just don't have anything similar to what you're used to.... E-Tecs don't piss at all -they have a 1/2" drain straight out the back of the motor, period. Exhaust water just pours out an E-Tec. That 45 degree trick that works on every other motor won't work on an E-Tec at all....

The reason I want a water pressure guage on any skiiff I rig is that it's very nice to have an early indicator of trouble. I run both day and night trips - and at night the first indicator that you're wrapped a plastic bag (or something similar) around your lower unit is when your overheat alarm
goes off... With a water pressure guage you'll know the instant you're not getting water (and that's a lot better than finding out after you've over-heated.... and just might have some damage.)

Most skiffs don't come with a water pressure guage and that's a shame since they're usually less than $100 --pretty cheap insurance. Since I'm the one doing the rigging, it's only the cost of the guage (at wholesale, a lot less than $100).... One other small point.. since my skiff is nearing 25 years old I've replaced almost every item on it at one time or another. The only guage that's original is that water pressure guage, since it's mechanical -not electrical. I think it will still be going strong when the skiff, itself, is history.....

 

[Creek Runner]

Creek... you really ought to get a close look at the "pisser" on any E-TEc (and let me know if you find one) .... They just don't have anything similar to what you're used to....  E-Tecs don't piss at all -they have a 1/2" drain straight out the back of the motor, period.  Exhaust water just pours out an E-Tec.  That 45 degree trick that works on every other motor won't work on an E-Tec at all....

The reason I want a water pressure guage on any skiiff I rig is that it's very nice to have an early indicator of trouble.  I run both day and night trips - and at night the first indicator that you're wrapped a plastic bag (or something similar) around your lower unit is when your overheat alarm
goes off...  With a water pressure guage you'll know the instant you're not getting water (and that's a lot better than finding out after you've over-heated.... and just might have some damage.)

Most skiffs don't come with a water pressure guage and that's a shame since they're usually less than $100 --pretty cheap insurance.  Since I'm the one doing the rigging, it's only the cost of the guage (at wholesale, a lot less than $100)....  One other small point.. since my skiff is nearing 25 years old I've replaced almost every item on it at one time or another.  The only guage that's original is that water pressure guage, since it's mechanical -not electrical.  I think it will still be going strong when the skiff, itself, is history.....

Bud I rig ETechs for a living! Come on up here to Jacksonville and rig the next boat with me, all the parts used are found at the local Ace and the pisser pisses out the side. Next time your rigging one since you rig so many take some time and look at it not that hard to figure out what's needed. I have a boat to rig in about 2-3 weeks with a 75 ETech I will get a picture when it's running showing the water flow.

I know that 99.9% of all you guys like water pressure gauges but I don't and again I run boats all the time, I currently own 4 and not just micros my 25' Contender with twin 200HPDI's nor do I have one on my shearwater with a F350 Yamaha and it even has a Jackplate, and my 14 stumpknocker with a 25 merc doesn't have one. Only my drag boat does! That's why I said it's my .002

If you like them great, keep rigging them the way you feel comfortable, but they are no fix all and not that great at early warning of low water pressure. If they were so great every engine manufacture would ship all motors with a water pressure gauge and fittings. After all they would save $$$ on warranty work.

To the original poster the honest truth is your doing the best thing you can do by looking at the engine when cranking it up and then when shutting it down. That's a great habit to have, but if a water pressure gauge makes you feel more comfortable then install one as confidence in your rig to run and operate properly is the important thing.

 

[JBMitziSkiff]

Creekrunner BRP suggests never to put anything on the "drain" tell tale, pisser or what ever they call it now. lol Anyway I spoke to a Evinrude tech when I was purchasing a a water pressure gauge and they said that the fix that some people were doing was hurting the Etec motors. I asked him what fix and he said the 45 degree screw on adapter out of the drain hole to tell if it was peeing.

Go figure....... Anyway I am putting on a water pressure gauge so I can look at it instead of bending around to almost fall out the boat to see if we are draining or not.

 

[Creek Runner]

The one I use creates no back pressure and have been using it since day one the 1st one I installed on a crabber boat has just shy of 700 hrs. with 3.5 years of running time. I have been a certified BRP tech for nearly 14 years going back to my sea doo days I do this stuff for a living I don't make it up!

If water pressure gauges makes you feel comfortable by all means install one like I have said in the other 2 post.

 

[JBMitziSkiff]

The one I use  creates no back pressure and have been using it since day one the 1st one I installed on a crabber boat has just shy of 700 hrs. with 3.5 years of running time. I have been a certified BRP tech for nearly 14 years going back to my sea doo days I do this stuff for a living I don't make it up!

If water pressure gauges makes you feel comfortable by all means install one like I have said in the other 2 post.

I believe you creekrunner. I'm just stating what the evinrude tech told me. I just wish that the water pressure gauge made me feel all warm and fuzzy! LOL

 

[Megalops]

Hey Loki, the iCommand should be able to give the water pressure too.  Correct me if Im wrong someone, but that was my understanding. 

Creekrunner, I want to get ur opinion on the 3 year/300hr no sched maintenance - running in saltwater.  Is it marketing BS or reality?  I love this engine and want to take care of it the best I can. Thanks in advance.

(Off topic, just want to say I have 4 different chevy browsers going on my iPad because of that freakin' add).

 

[Yoel]

The steam that you see should only be present at idle and only when in the water, it should be nonexistent when flushing the motor at home. If that is the case then this is normal...why?, because while at idle the added pressure at the hub is more difficult to overcome so some exhaust is diverted to the relief port where it mixes with water and voila you got steam. This happens regularly with the smaller HP motors. As far a water pressure gauge I think they are a great tool you can actually see your impeller degragate over time and when you replace it you instantly see the results. But to be fair I didnt always have one and got by looking at the "pisser" and will continue to do so because you need to be an informed boater of all systems and functions.

 

[paint it black]

Mine does it as stated, on cooler days, randomly while at idle. I just figured it's steam.

 

[[email protected]]

That is exactly what is happening.  Steam not smoke.  My previous boat had a Johnson SPL 115hp never saw it steam, that's why I asked!  This is a great forum to ask questions.  Thanks guys!

 

[Creek Runner]

Hey Loki, the iCommand should be able to give the water pressure too.  Correct me if Im wrong someone, but that was my understanding. 

Creekrunner, I want to get ur opinion on the 3 year/300hr no sched maintenance - running in saltwater.  Is it marketing BS or reality?  I love this engine and want to take care of it the best I can.  Thanks in advance.

(Off topic, just want to say I have 4 different chevy browsers going on my iPad because of that freakin' add).

Your good, the 3year/300hr had a lot of testing done before it's release. To ensure the engine could with stand the time frame. All though the sparkplugs are a different story I have seen a lot of bad plugs latley. Even some new out of the box so the plugs may not last the 300hrs, but they are not made by Etech so can't really blame them.