Anyone else have a nightmare story with these engines? I have twin
150 sal****er opti's. Bought the boat used with 26 hours on engines.
Six months left on warranty and called it in for service the first
week I had it for warning lights and rough idle. They replaced
injectors and plugs cost was 600 for parts and service call. Ran the
boat and still had the warning lights and horns going off. Temp and
check engine lights. Try to get boat on plane and they shut down due
to smart system rpm limiter. Back off the throttle a little and the
warnings go off and off I go. Port engine has never ran worth a crap.
So take it to another merc service center to see if they are any
better and they replace impellers and plugs for 800. Engines run ok
except still get warnings, rpm shut downs, and port will not idle if
it stays running it will shake the boat to death. Decide to try
another dealer and they say I have 200 hours on engines mostly low
RPM's (Tarpon fishing in the Boca Pass). Of course they are now out
of warranty and I did not pay the 3,000.00 plus for the extention.
They inform me that the port engine has had many problems from the
time it was new (replaced head). Merc tells me tuff. Called and
bitched and they say they will cover part of the service (another new
head and 100 hour service to both). Well, 1,400.00 later engines
still run like crap. Call dealer and they say bring back in. So now
it is Nov 23, 03 and I put boat in and run it for two days of fishing
before taking back to dealer so I could at least have a couple days of
fishing and fun ya right (total of 12 hours on engines since repairs)
and the port engine blows up. Guess what, call Mercury and they say
oh well not their problem. Dealer says my fault and it will be 3,330
for new powerhead plus labor and other parts. I have owned this boat
for two years and have not had one day of use without taking it in to
be serviced. I live in MI and keep boat in FL. I spend three two
week vacations in FL to fish. I will NEVER buy a Mercury product
again and have told customer service this (don't care one bit). Just
take a look out fishing some day and you will notice the charter
captains almost all run Yami and some Honda. I have no choice but to
fix it and sell it.

With all the documented problems, I would contact an attorney. A couple of
hundred or less may be a good investment.
Bill

"Scott" wrote in message
om...
Anyone else have a nightmare story with these engines? I have twin
150 sal****er opti's. Bought the boat used with 26 hours on engines.
Six months left on warranty and called it in for service the first
week I had it for warning lights and rough idle. They replaced
injectors and plugs cost was 600 for parts and service call. Ran the
boat and still had the warning lights and horns going off. Temp and
check engine lights. Try to get boat on plane and they shut down due
to smart system rpm limiter. Back off the throttle a little and the
warnings go off and off I go. Port engine has never ran worth a crap.
So take it to another merc service center to see if they are any
better and they replace impellers and plugs for 800. Engines run ok
except still get warnings, rpm shut downs, and port will not idle if
it stays running it will shake the boat to death. Decide to try
another dealer and they say I have 200 hours on engines mostly low
RPM's (Tarpon fishing in the Boca Pass). Of course they are now out
of warranty and I did not pay the 3,000.00 plus for the extention.
They inform me that the port engine has had many problems from the
time it was new (replaced head). Merc tells me tuff. Called and
bitched and they say they will cover part of the service (another new
head and 100 hour service to both). Well, 1,400.00 later engines
still run like crap. Call dealer and they say bring back in. So now
it is Nov 23, 03 and I put boat in and run it for two days of fishing
before taking back to dealer so I could at least have a couple days of
fishing and fun ya right (total of 12 hours on engines since repairs)
and the port engine blows up. Guess what, call Mercury and they say
oh well not their problem. Dealer says my fault and it will be 3,330
for new powerhead plus labor and other parts. I have owned this boat
for two years and have not had one day of use without taking it in to
be serviced. I live in MI and keep boat in FL. I spend three two
week vacations in FL to fish. I will NEVER buy a Mercury product
again and have told customer service this (don't care one bit). Just
take a look out fishing some day and you will notice the charter
captains almost all run Yami and some Honda. I have no choice but to
fix it and sell it.

After running four strokes for years, and very succesfully, we decided to try
an optimax.

Bottom line, NO MORE 2 STROKES!

Have have this new motor in the shop half a dozen times, alarms going off, etc.

And don't dare remove that engine cover, it does not even look like a boat
engine under there!

Sterling
www.CaptainSterling.com

In 99 when I was repowering my boat, I did a lot of research on engines
available at 225hp. After about two months of daily research I went with the
Ficht. Of course the Yamaha dealers told me not to, etc etc but I called all
the tech service people and made my own decision. The engine has about 600
hours now and no problem. Had a problem with the trim and tilt unit, kept
creeping back down, under warranty they ended up replacing that. Also had a
recall one time to put some covers on the injectors and wires and update the
software. Other than all that I really satisfied with it, fuel economy is
great, and can troll for days, really idles nicely. I found a good source
for plugs at about 3 dollars per unit. Personally, I think its the dealers,
in my area, I am surrounded by maybe 6 big dealers of all brands, and I know
them personally but dont trust any of them, each time I had a dealing with
them they tried to burn me and not only I think this way about my local
dealers. If they say they have an Optimax authorized repair mechanic on
staff, ask to see their credentials and make sure its him/her working on
your engine. A lot of times they just get the guy off the lawn mower to fix
your engine and you paying for the other guy.






"Florida Keyz" wrote in message
...
After running four strokes for years, and very succesfully, we decided to
try
an optimax.

Bottom line, NO MORE 2 STROKES!

Have have this new motor in the shop half a dozen times, alarms going off,
etc.

And don't dare remove that engine cover, it does not even look like a boat
engine under there!

Sterling
www.CaptainSterling.com

On 26 Nov 2003 20:05:56 -0800, Scott wrote:

Anyone else have a nightmare story with these engines?

FWIW, I bought a new Bombardier Utopia 185 this summer. It's powered by a
Mercury Optimax DFI 200 hp jet. Three weeks out and it dies in the middle
of Rangely lake, ME. No beeps, warnings, whatever; it just wouldn't run.
Got a tow, brought it back to the dealer. They find out that one of the
air injectors had broken off inside the cylinder, embedding pieces in the
piston and head. They called Bombardier, then Merc who wanted them to
rebuild the engine. The dealers (good guys, fortunately) said "no, ship us
a new engine". Merc complied but after installation, they still couldn't
get it to run correctly. (The dealers were nice enough to lend me a
[bigger and better] boat and trailer during all of this). Finally, the
dealer's best mechanic determined that one of the fuel injectors had been
damaged as well. They repaired it and now, finally, all is well. Mercury
claims that as a result of my failure they have redesigned the air
injection system. (I'm, uhh, skeptical).

When I bought the boat, my biggest concern was the Mercury engine. This
has done little to change my opinion.
--

Larry
email is rapp at lmr dot com

Two strokes have been around for decades with no problems. It's just the
Optimax line that was screwed up from the beginning. Contact a lawyer and
write them. If you don't get satisfaction, sue. There will probably be a
class action anyway, if not already in the works.

"Florida Keyz" wrote in message
...
After running four strokes for years, and very succesfully, we decided to
try
an optimax.

Bottom line, NO MORE 2 STROKES!

Have have this new motor in the shop half a dozen times, alarms going off,
etc.

And don't dare remove that engine cover, it does not even look like a boat
engine under there!

Sterling
www.CaptainSterling.com

Tuuk wrote:
In 99 when I was repowering my boat, I did a lot of research on engines
available at 225hp. After about two months of daily research I went with the
Ficht. Of course the Yamaha dealers told me not to, etc etc but I called all
the tech service people and made my own decision. The engine has about 600
hours now and no problem. Had a problem with the trim and tilt unit, kept
creeping back down, under warranty they ended up replacing that. Also had a
recall one time to put some covers on the injectors and wires and update the
software. Other than all that I really satisfied with it, fuel economy is
great, and can troll for days, really idles nicely. I found a good source
for plugs at about 3 dollars per unit. Personally, I think its the dealers,
in my area, I am surrounded by maybe 6 big dealers of all brands, and I know
them personally but dont trust any of them, each time I had a dealing with
them they tried to burn me and not only I think this way about my local
dealers. If they say they have an Optimax authorized repair mechanic on
staff, ask to see their credentials and make sure its him/her working on
your engine. A lot of times they just get the guy off the lawn mower to fix
your engine and you paying for the other guy.

I'm sure everyone here is happy for your good luck, but even with an
OMC admitted failure rate of 1 in 5 that means 4 kept going.

It does seem you say having 6 "big" dealers in tow helps:-) I'd agree;
all you need now are the sacks & bricks:-)

Pretty bad lottery but hey we have a winner!!!!

Alas 5 out of 5 suffered the odium of the OMC & ficht names so 5 out of
5 suffer the loss of boat value.

K









"Florida Keyz" wrote in message
...

After running four strokes for years, and very succesfully, we decided to

try

an optimax.

Bottom line, NO MORE 2 STROKES!

Have have this new motor in the shop half a dozen times, alarms going off,

etc.

And don't dare remove that engine cover, it does not even look like a boat
engine under there!

Sterling
www.CaptainSterling.com

Tuuk wrote:
: In 99 when I was repowering my boat, I did a lot of research on engines
: available at 225hp. After about two months of daily research I went with the
: Ficht. Of course the Yamaha dealers told me not to, etc etc but I called all
: the tech service people and made my own decision. The engine has about 600
: hours now and no problem. Had a problem with the trim and tilt unit, kept
: creeping back down, under warranty they ended up replacing that. Also had a
: recall one time to put some covers on the injectors and wires and update the
: software. Other than all that I really satisfied with it, fuel economy is
: great, and can troll for days, really idles nicely. I found a good source
: for plugs at about 3 dollars per unit. Personally, I think its the dealers,
: in my area, I am surrounded by maybe 6 big dealers of all brands, and I know
: them personally but dont trust any of them, each time I had a dealing with
: them they tried to burn me and not only I think this way about my local
: dealers. If they say they have an Optimax authorized repair mechanic on
: staff, ask to see their credentials and make sure its him/her working on
: your engine. A lot of times they just get the guy off the lawn mower to fix
: your engine and you paying for the other guy.





I have the same engine. Where, pray-tell, did you find plugs
for ~3.00 ?? Cheapest I found was about 4.50 but now up to 5.00 (sparkplugs.com).

I too have not had a FICHT failure.

It does eat plugs if you idle/troll excessively.



--

Almus Kenter

`` Pluralitas est ponenda sine neccesitate''
`` carpe per diem ''

Hi

I haven't purchased them for a while, last time I purchased them I got 3
sets. So I change them about once every two seasons, or about 100 hours. I
first tried all over the place, every marina near me, every marina was
around 22.00 each cdn. Then I tried all the auto dealers around for a NGK
equivalent, I was able to find them for around 8.00 cdn each for the
champion QC12PEP. Then I tried the Boat U.S. and the West Marine. They did
some calls and some parts dealer called me up from Florida and who supplies
Boat U.S. Now, first they said they used to have them on the shelf but no
longer were carrying them. Then called back and found them, so they sold me
36 plugs for close to 3.00u.s each. I figured it was less than what I would
have paid for one set here so I grabbed them.
I suggest you call the Boat U.S. and get some quotes, I am not a member
anymore but I dont think that matters.
Have you ever tried the NGK equivalent? I forget the number but I know they
are very much cheaper and I am not sure their quality.






"Almus Kenter" wrote in message
...
Tuuk wrote:
: In 99 when I was repowering my boat, I did a lot of research on engines
: available at 225hp. After about two months of daily research I went with
the
: Ficht. Of course the Yamaha dealers told me not to, etc etc but I called
all
: the tech service people and made my own decision. The engine has about
600
: hours now and no problem. Had a problem with the trim and tilt unit,
kept
: creeping back down, under warranty they ended up replacing that. Also
had a
: recall one time to put some covers on the injectors and wires and update
the
: software. Other than all that I really satisfied with it, fuel economy
is
: great, and can troll for days, really idles nicely. I found a good
source
: for plugs at about 3 dollars per unit. Personally, I think its the
dealers,
: in my area, I am surrounded by maybe 6 big dealers of all brands, and I
know
: them personally but dont trust any of them, each time I had a dealing
with
: them they tried to burn me and not only I think this way about my local
: dealers. If they say they have an Optimax authorized repair mechanic on
: staff, ask to see their credentials and make sure its him/her working on
: your engine. A lot of times they just get the guy off the lawn mower to
fix
: your engine and you paying for the other guy.





I have the same engine. Where, pray-tell, did you find plugs
for ~3.00 ?? Cheapest I found was about 4.50 but now up to 5.00
(sparkplugs.com).

I too have not had a FICHT failure.

It does eat plugs if you idle/troll excessively.



--

Almus Kenter

`` Pluralitas est ponenda sine neccesitate''
`` carpe per diem ''

Tuuk wrote:
: Hi

: I haven't purchased them for a while, last time I purchased them I got 3
: sets. So I change them about once every two seasons, or about 100 hours. I
: first tried all over the place, every marina near me, every marina was
: around 22.00 each cdn. Then I tried all the auto dealers around for a NGK
: equivalent, I was able to find them for around 8.00 cdn each for the
: champion QC12PEP. Then I tried the Boat U.S. and the West Marine. They did
: some calls and some parts dealer called me up from Florida and who supplies
: Boat U.S. Now, first they said they used to have them on the shelf but no
: longer were carrying them. Then called back and found them, so they sold me
: 36 plugs for close to 3.00u.s each. I figured it was less than what I would
: have paid for one set here so I grabbed them.
: I suggest you call the Boat U.S. and get some quotes, I am not a member
: anymore but I dont think that matters.
: Have you ever tried the NGK equivalent? I forget the number but I know they
: are very much cheaper and I am not sure their quality.



Thanks for the reply. For my first set of plugs
I got them from BOAT US but they were about $9.00 each. (still better
than dealer who had them for ~17.00 per). I hunted around and found
www.sparkplugs.com who had them for ~4.50. Last check had them
for 5.04. I didn't think there was a NGK equivalent or for that matter
*any* equivalent. If you find the contact for that place in FLA
let me know.

So far I have only had *one* plug that I couldn't index somewhere on the engine.


Thanks,

-Almus


--

Almus Kenter

`` Pluralitas est ponenda sine neccesitate''
`` carpe per diem ''