Tohatsu and Mercury

[youngknight]

So, from a previous kicker question I posted...thanks for all the responses, in poor judgement I made a dispariging comment about Tohatsu based...I admit it...on my ignorance of these motors...being kind of "no name" which I learn is also not fair, just not well known name in recreational boater industry in North America.

 

From numerous internet searches I arrived at the conclusion that the vast majority of Tohatsu owners love their motors, call them "bullet proof" and rave about how they run.  Great, if not surprising to me, to hear.

 

So have been looking at an 8 hp long shaft electric start Tohatsu as a kicker on my 19 foot Lund to sit on the transom beside my 115 4 stroke Yammy.  But I am a bit confused.

 

So Tohatsu builds Nissan - simply different stickers it seems but also builds Mercury's portable sized motors.  (I wonder how many mercury buyers realize this, and would they care). 

 

But 1. I have also read several posts, including from mercury owners, saying how mercs (portable size like 9.9 hp) are "junk" now.  Lots of people in various posts on different sites have agreed with this statement.  So if Tohatsu are making a great product, and customers are very happy with them, and if Tohatsu also makes mercs, then why are the mercs being complained about, including my merc owners?  The logic doesn't really follow unless they are made differently.  So if Tohatsu makes mercs, are they simply Tohatsu engines in a different shaped cowling (plus different gear shift), or are they made substantively different?

 

And 2. the one complaint I have read several times about Tohatsu is the difficulty in getting parts and service, especially since Tohatsu sells many through online distributors.  So, if Tohatsu makes Merc, are the parts not interchangeable, is a merc shop not equally equipped to service a Tohatsu as it is a Merc if they are essentially the same motor.  Leads me to believe that they are substantively different.

 

So, my main reason for posting goes to the second question, question 1 is more of a curiosity. Basically, if I buy a Tohatsu and need parts or service, can I not just go to one of the many mercury dealers and service shops?

[Skippers Trophy 01]

We have had our electric 8HP Tohatsu kicker on our 20' for about 3 years. We are 'Mercury guys', and found out that Tohatsu was virtually the same motor, so went with it. We like this motor very much so far, no problems.

To answer your questions, I believe that the differences are very slight, if any in the two motors (like the gear shift you mentioned), and for parts, I was thinking about replacing the fuel pump at one point, and my research found that the Merc part was the same, it just had a different part number. I ended up putting a new filter in it, which has worked out fine. I don't know this first hand yet, but assume any reputable shop can fix these motors without an issue.

I have not heard or read very many disparaging remarks about the Merc engines as you have. I think that since most the outboards you see are Mercs, one would hear the most complaints about them as well, that's just the numbers.

[Iceman]

Merc opened a plant in China in 2004 to produce small motors up to 25 HP from what I heard.

[FleetTracker]

Agree with skippers. Mercs are well known, popular, and there a lot of owners in NA. With that much product in the field you are going to find the positive and the negative reviews. Tohatsu just isn't as common in NA.

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[RSF]

Have a 2003 9.9 Merc made by Tohatsu, bought used from a dealer. Had a problem on cold-starting the first year in that I could not get the engine to fast idle on the start lever nor could I get the choke to fully deploy. During the winter I brought it into the workshop and began looking and the cold start mechanism.

 

It became quite obvious they Tohatsu, were using to many nylon bushings and rotators against metal causing rapid wear. (and poor maintenance lubricating also added to the wear), causing all choke/cold start specs to fall out of measurement and tab-wear so bad full cold start throttle dial didn't move the carb throttle lever at all. Though I fixed the problem with super-hard epoxy and shims, I was surprised the design was so poor.

 

My surprise came, when a friend of mine purchased a 2003 "Tohatsu 9.9" and the cold start choke and throttle systems were the same, except all alloy rotators and bushings with double Teflon liners and shims.

[dewey123]

i have no problems with my 8 hp long shaft electric start tohatsu. It has always started and ran great in winter spring summer and fall. runs all day on little gas and always gets me back when my force doesn't start. You won't have any problems finding parts for them either