etec 90 question

pirate · 03 April 2007, 00:36

about to put 90etec on my sr5.4 saw 2 different types one blue,one white,white one says {saltwater ] on the cowling,the dealer says there is no difference,if not why would they bother putting it on .Anyone any ideas.THANKS.

Jizm · 03 April 2007, 07:35

I don't think there is any difference, maybe they are different model years?

kwil · 03 April 2007, 08:13

No difference except on larger engines with XL legs they are only available in white. Although the blue shows up dried saltwater splashes more than white so blue encourages you to clean it more!

dctucker · 03 April 2007, 15:13

The difference is that the Saltwater (white) uses more stainless bits compared to the freshwater version. "Saltwater Editions use a stainless steel steering tube, steering arm, pivot shaft, drive shaft, prop shaft and fasteners." There was also some nonsense about the paint/finish, which I doubt is any different from the blue version. They only came out with the saltwater version of the 90 in the past couple of years, there used to be only one (blue) version. Is your dealer pushing a leftover? It might be worth it if the discount is substantial, otherwise, I'd opt for the saltwater, if that's what you run in.

You'll love the E-TEC on your Searider, I do! I have a saltwater on mine, though the blue would look nicer with the grey tubes and orange hull.

Seaharrier · 03 April 2007, 15:23

When i bought mine, I asked the same question. According to the Evinrude representative there is no difference between both. It's pure marketing, especially for the US.

Paul

dctucker · 05 April 2007, 22:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaharrier

When i bought mine, I asked the same question. According to the Evinrude representative there is no difference between both. It's pure marketing, especially for the US.

Paul

Is that from a dealer rep or a factory rep? Don't expect every (most?) dealers to know what the hell they're talking about. Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter... I can tell you from experience in automobile sales, coming in as an enthusiast of the brand, I knew more about the technical details of the cars than all of my associates, most of the service advisors, and more than the Factory sales rep! Wasn't long before I was the senior sales manager, but that's another story.

Not that I claim to be an E-TEC expert... but if BRP charged several hundred dollars more, claimed that there were specific product differences (as I quoted above) and there aren't, there will be a false advertising claim and class action lawsuit from some attorney so quickly it would make your head spin. And the government fines are substantial... The Federal Trade Commission takes deceptive trade practices fairly seriously.

If you want a definitive answer from an enthusiast Evinrude technician/dealer, as Rusty here. I suspect he could quote the difference in part numbers from the top of his head!

Seaharrier · 06 April 2007, 09:42

As far as I know, the price of a 250 saltwater or "regular" is the same. Saltwater just refers to the colour of the engine.

The only premium you will pay is if you want a HO version.

On the Belgian web-site of evinrude, they do no longer talk about "saltwater" editions. It's just blue or white.

dctucker · 07 April 2007, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seaharrier

As far as I know, the price of a 250 saltwater or "regular" is the same. Saltwater just refers to the colour of the engine.

The only premium you will pay is if you want a HO version.

On the Belgian web-site of evinrude, they do no longer talk about "saltwater" editions. It's just blue or white.

Wouldn't be unheard of to have minor model differences in different markets... Maybe for production efficiency they're moving to making them all the same, one way or the other, except for color? It's only in the past year or two that there has been a different Saltwater model offered in the US in the 90 hp size. In smaller models, they don't claim any difference, and only offer blue.