Reply To: 2 hp Johnson or Evinrude — should I get one?

[Don]

Those 80s 2hps are good engines…Simple, pretty rugged and reliable, easy to service. Needless to say, a fresh water unit is a much better bet. But, like others have said, these engines aren’t very tolerant to cylinder/piston skirt wear. You will know when one is “worn out”, will be hard to start, won’t idle well, and be low on WOT power. The mid 70s -80s models have a plastic tank, which is preferable to the metal ones that fouls and rusts out found on earlier models. I don’t know why, but these things seem to command big money…. Those OMC/hong kong units from the 90s aren’t worth bothering with, will be tough to find parts for.
The latest water pump kits for these engines are expensive, but feature a SS liner and cup that fit inside the gearcase housing, so a replacing the gear housing is no longer necessary. .