OXE Diesel Outboard Experiences?

Hmm. That's pretty recent. Sounds like the design isn't mature yet.

 

We decided to purchase 2 OXE 150hp engines this year. We were running a lot of hours, very slowly and required a lot of power. We were also operating in shallow water, around ropes and needed access to lift and clean the propeller if it got jammed. We met all of the requirements for a diesel outboard and decided on going with OXE as they were in the business the longest, had a power pack in the size we were looking for. We had also looked at Neander, COX and Caudwell.

So far we have logged over 300 hours on each engine and have the following comments.
1. The engines hardly use any fuel at all in our application (which is well suited for a diesel outboard)
2. The engines when they run are really good, quiet and easy for the guys to control
3. We don't really have any issues with the operation of the engines themselves
4. We were worried about the car engine but that seems fine really and the gearbox is quite robust

Now for the bad parts of the engines... Generally they seem 99% of the way to a good outboard but have way more minor issues that mean you're not operating than an engine in production this long should have.
1. The cowling screws come loose/off with the vibration of the motor
2. The lifting mechanicsims on both boat failed. The seals in them were paper and disintergrated in the salt water. The circuit board and the pump were in a place where we couldn't repair or replace without removing the boat from the water. The curcuit board shorted out
3. Both transmissions experienced the same issue after 300 hours where they would stop engaging after 20 minutes of operation
4. The seals in the transmission of one of the installations allowed half the transmission fluid to leak out
5. All of the wires and hoses chafe against the cowling and engine causing premature failure
6. The warrenty process is really bad and next to impossible to follow through with as the process doesn't allow for any on site troubleshooting

The engines seem fine and very close to actually being very good but they require too much simple maintenance due to significant minor details in the engine which consistantly cause failures of the engines.

There is an online blog here Our experiences with OXE https://www.inthesameboat.eco/oxe/ with engines from 2021 which I didn't see when I was researching the outboards. What's concerning is that 2 years on from when they got theirs ours are experiencing very similar issues which indicates tht OXE hasn't addressed these very simple problems in the part 2 years.

 

Definitely not mature. And probably won't become mature at this rate. I don't imagine they're getting enough sales to pay for more design work and changes to the product.

 

Thanks so much Jape for the details.

Those are some "big" little things to have in 300 hrs.

 

Thanks Jape, that's really helpful feedback. On that basis, I'll have some difficult questions for the distributor and likely won't be buying. A shame really as the concept is perfect for the application.

 

What a disappointing marketing disaster!
So many potential applications, lost.

 

Absolutely. Brought to market too soon. So the first adopters regret the purchase, and the bad reputation grows.

 

I looked after four Yanmar diesel outboards in the 90s that were used in pairs on a weed harvesting barge working on Oyster Harbour in Western Australia. They were around 45hp each and we needed two spares to keep it running because of maintenance and part supply issues. The local Marine and Harbours authority would not pass it with petrol motors and the Yanmar was it in diesel outboards back then. We had a lot of trouble with gearboxes and engines, with one snapping a crank in two, and a lot of silly stuff caused by excessive vibration and harmonics like the little brass lock nuts on 33C cables rattling loose then the cable going out of adjustment and wrecking the gear shift clutches. Good luck with it, I hope these modern ones are better designed than what was used back then, but reading above, not really.