Optimax Motor Repair Advice

[DaveK]

My 2000 Optimax blew up last week I know there were problems with the early Opti's but I was hoping that after all these years that I had dodged the bullet. I've been very careful about how I treated it, and maintenance, etc. I'd be surprised if I have more than 500 hours on it.

I'm trying to decide what my best next step should be and was hoping that someone has had some experience they can share.
I know that I can replace the power head with a remanufactured unit but I'm not if clear a reman unit will eliminate the problem/s that made these Opti's unreliable.

Anyone know what the root cause of the problems were (motor design or component weakness) and if it is addressed in the remanufacturing process? For instance, that they now use different pistons, etc.

The bottom line is that a reman is big bucks and I don't want to pour more money into this if I'm going to have the same issues down the road. Anyone have any sage wisdom? Thanks Dave

[kb]

Hi Dave:

That is never fun when you have motor problems. Not knowing how or what you blew up on the motor makes it hard to tell you what may have happened. I am thinking it may have been the #6 piston since you mentioned pistons.

That seemed to be the issue with some of the older motors. It is important to run the Optimax oil in these engines and warm them up prior to WOT runs first thing in the morning.

The new PRO XS Optimax has carbon fiber reeds, a higher RPM range, solid motor mounts and offshore gear case and many of the issues of the past have gone away with this motor. It is only available in 225 and new this year a 250.

Contact your local Mercury Dealer and they should be able to take care of you. Repowering with another brand gets pricy as you will need controls, gauges, ignition, props, cables etc to change over so just be aware of that as well.

Good Luck
Kent Brown
Yes I am sponsored by Mercury!

[Hitman]

My 2001 blew it's power head with only 74 hours...and yes it was the number 6 piston. According to my service center it was related to a known fuel delivery problem...running to lean which causes higher operating temps. You should have seen a fuel rail and ECM recall on your motor. I had both performed on mine and still blew the power head. Also due to the excessive failures you were covered under a supplemental warranty due to a class action lawsuit for 2000-2001 owners....you should have gotten something in the mail. Unfortunately I think this ended last year though...It's worth calling the Optimax support team and asking. I got lucky in that mine blew 1 month before the end of the supplemental warranty so it was all covered.

Best of luck

Hitman

[MIKE TREMONT]

I feel for you Dave. I've really babied mine after about the first year. Way to many horror stories and I had way to many electrical problems.
The call center at Mercury at the time was a joke (2001). Remember thier motto use to be "the water calls". I guess they heard form me and others that yea the water calls, but you don't. I had to leave a message and hope that some script reader could take care of the problem. I had a "authorized dealer" trying to trouble shoot the problem, but it wouldn't fail in the test tank. Mercury wouldn't authorize the tech to come out to the closest lake and dianose the problem. When the guy helping me finally took it on himself to do it, it took his tech five minutes to determine it was a faulty temp sensor.
Then it got worse after they did the recall work, but I won't bore you with my stories, you have the problem. I've wondered what I would do if this happens to me. The techs I've talked to say the carbon fiber reeds are the way to go if you do redo the head. They also swear by the advise that Kent gave to make sure the motor is warmed everywhere before you bury the pedal.
If and when I get to make this horrible decesion I hope I have enough bank to go with the new XS.
Good luck and make sure you trust the guy that does the work for you.

[Bob Simard]

Hey Dave,

At some point in the furture I'll be in the same situation - my 02 Opti 225 has roughly 700 hours on it. for me, when the time comes, I'll more than likely put a ProXS on it for the reasons KB identified. Also - I love my R-Boat (520) - no real reason to change hulls. I'm not sponsored by anyone so don't have to turn a boat every year. I know my hull bow to stern - changed out wiring, fuses, pumps, etc. For me - the 520 is simply the greatest fishing platform ever made. All the dings in it are mine!

If I had it in my head to sell it within say the next 18 months, I'd simply put another powerhead on by a shop/mechanic I had faith in....

Also for those of you out there with high hour engines, in addition to what KB says about warming it up before running WOT, I'd also be sure and run it at 3500 RPM when blasting off for 15 seconds to let the proper oil/fuel mixture hit all cylinders before full load. In addition, be sure and run Merc's additive Quicklean in your fuel..

Regards - and sorry to hear your motor blew

Bob Simard

[FRANK D. LOZANO]

Hey Dave,

KB and Bob are correct,

*Could have been cold seizure from the engine not being warm enough.

*Carbon build up from non Syn DFI Oil or lack of Quickleen use.

*Could have had a reed let go, have a hot foot? Snap deceleration is tough on reeds.

* You may have just overheated her, stuck a pistion and didn't even realize it. Did your alarm work? Did you recently get stuck in weeds? If so you have a good case for your insurance.

We can fire up the ECM with the Merc CDS Computer Diagnostic System system and see what happened in real time.

Give me a ring and we can talk about it.

[JFEARN]

I spoke with Eric Simon recently and he is now rebuilding Optis. I had this guy rebuild my 200 EFI last year and have been extremely happy. His rebuilding process includes all new pistons, rings, bearings, etc. The other thing he does is run it on a dyno with a break-in program and all bugs (fuel injection, sensors, etc) get worked out during that process. If you do have questions or concerns after you get your motor back, this guy will answer his phone, I even called him on a Sunday morning from the boat ramp where he walked me through some troubleshooting and got me out fishing again. Simon's not the cheapest, but his customer service is the best I've found. Now that he's rebuilding Optis, I think it's worth a call, his website is www.simonmotorsports.com. I'm not sure but I suspect you could even get your Opti built into an XS for a lot less than a new motor.

[CORAL 96]

If your looking to repair your motor also check with Blackbirds. Their site is www.1outboard.com. He seems to know how to rebuild them. Probably this is the way they should have came from Mercury!! Since he's on the east coast, you could have it shipped to you, and then either take to a reputable shop near you or fix yourself. Have heard lots of good reports on his motors and powerheads!! FYI, I was just on E-BAY and someone has an 05 225xs for sale. Only thing is it has a new powerhead on it from warranty. Not good!! I was hoping these would be better than the regular Opti's, but we'll have to wait and see. Still fairly new!! Was thinking if my 1996 225 efi ever craps out I might be intrested in one of these. Not if they are full of problems though!!

[Bob Simard]

Dude - you're on a 10 year old engine? How many hours? They all blow up eventually - Merc, Rudes, Yamis.

"Was thinking if my 1996 225 efi ever craps out "

MAN I hope I can make that statement in 2012! "If my 02 Opti ever blows!" At curent run rates, I'll have gotten 1750 hours on it!

You've got a winner there hanging off your hull! Show it love.

Regard,

Bob

[XMAN]

EXCELLANT POST---XMAN

[CORAL 96]

I'm uncertain as to my motor's history prior to my ownership. Previous owner didn't even have an hourmeter. Boat and motor were IMMACULATE for being 8 years old when purchased by me. Since I've had it, I've replaced a battery and alternator. Found out that I'm getting some water in the LU, so when I can get it in the shop I need to have the seals replaced. All in all she's treated me well. Although, I try and feed her well too. Only Amsoil 2-stroke oil & LU lube, try to run Chevron 89 octane as the techron additive is supposed to keep the insides clean, and a can of Sea-Foam additive every other tank or so. Guess I needs to find some wood to knock on!!!!!

[rmcollins3]

I blew the powerhead on my '02 Optimax as well. It cost about $7,000 to fix everthing. Mercury covered some of it, even though it was out of warranty. I'm not sure what caused mine to blow. I had it in storage for 6 months, and I guess I just ran it a little too hard right out of the gate.

It's ran great ever since it's been fixed though, and I haven't had a problem with it since. IMO getting it fixed is a LOT cheaper than getting a whole new motor (7K vs. 15-20K).

If you don't have $7K lying around, like I didn't, check and see if you have any equity in the boat - call your loan company, etc. That's what I used to pay for it.

It sucked at the time having to do it, but it was better than $15K for a new motor or having a boat sitting around that I couldn't use while still making payments.

I highly recommend Boatmasters II in Dublin, CA. They are very good and will do all they can to work with Mercury to get some of it covered by warranty.

[DaveK]

Thanks to everyone for their reply, this is truely a great forum

I'm still waiting to hear what the actual failure was. I have some further background - it blew up on my 2nd run of the day after I was fishing for about 30 min (some cool down but not cold....) I had a slight hickup when I accerated and then 30 seconds later she blew. Maybe she swallowed a reed when I accerated and it rattled arround before the bang. In addition, I always used Opti oil and typically warmed her up before I took off.

For me this is really a new verses rebuild decision. If the rebuilds fail anywhere near the same rate as the orginal manufactured units I don't want to pour any more money into that hole.
I bet some quality engineer at Merc has the data at his finger tips but I suspect you've got to know somebody to get it.

I appreciate the feedback from those of you that have had success with reman units. Maybe there have been some upgrades that improved the reliability.

Dave

[MIKE TREMONT]

I wouldn't bet against you Dave. All the trouble I had it was a Merc engineer that told the guy working on engine there was a problem, BUT he couldn't use his name in fear of retribution.

I know it sounds like I'm bashing Mercury and in a sense I am. Not only them but most manufactures are in a build it and we'll work out the bugs later mode. Great for the consumer

But I would rather have a Merc than anything else avaiable. I was a die-hard Yamaha fan during my watercraft stage, but 1000 psi injection kind of worried me.

I hope you can find some stats on the failure rates of the rebuilds. I would be very interested. Good luck with your decesion.

[Riplip]

98 225EFI- 700 plus hours, zero problems...

Well, the fuel filter vibrated loose once during a blastoff in a tourney, took about an hour and a half to dry things up enough to restart, but basically a rock solid motor so far...Quickcleen every third tank or so and avoid premium fuel...