1994 115 Yamaha

[Capt. Skid]

I`m looking at a 94 Welcraft CC with a 115 Yammy.
Since I have had stern drives most all my boating life,
I need some opinions on the 115 Yammy..I think I read
somewhere that there was a year in the 90`s that Yamaha
had a lot of issues with the 115 anyone have a take on this?

[mrobertson]

I've never heard of problems in the 90's.

However what i do know is that the 90 and 115 2 stroke yammies are notably one of the most bulletproof engines that yamaha ever built. As with any carb'd engine they need to be kept clean and taken care of. You'll want to do a compression and/or leakdown test on it before purchasing. In any case, make sure you realize that motor is 16 years old.

[steve hawk]

I have a 1999 115 yamaha that I bought new and have no problems

[Capt. Skid]

Thanks for the replys, I will do a comp. test to see if any cylinders are weak.
The asking price is right so I will tread lightly. I`m really not concerned with
the rigs age, I have an 89 rig that I repowered in 04 and rebuilt the trailer in 09.
So, I`m sort of used to old stuff, hell I`m old as MUMMY DUST, almost.
Capt.Skid

[SteveL]

In my 1988 Yamaha 115 2 stroke, the shift rod was carbon steel rather than stainless. Sometime later they switched to stainless. This fall I repowered because the 21 yr old motor had some issues that needed to be fixed, including a carb rebuild, lower unit seals, and the steering arm kept freezing up (lots of old motors are prone to that). But what pushed it over the line to make it too expensive to repair was the carbon shift rod, which runs through the powerhead, corroded to the point it needed to be replaced--it got so thin it flexed too much and would no longer shift properly. In order to replace the shift rod they have to pull the powerhead, and it gets into big $. The repair bill just was not worth it for an engine that old. I have heard that shift rod issue is a common problem with old Yamaha 2 strokes. I got lucky and found a very nice used Yamaha 90 4 stroke and repowered with that.

The 88 Yamaha was a great motor, it started and ran very well, and a 94 motor likely has a lot of life left in it; for the right price I would consider buying the rig you are looking at. You could check with a mechanic to see when Yamaha switched to the stainless shift rod.

[C-Hawk18]

I`m looking at a 94 Welcraft CC with a 115 Yammy.


If the motor is a 1994 then it should have the SS shaft. Most of the yami motors were changed to SS by 92-93.