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Mercury Optimax Problems
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. |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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. |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 '' |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 '' |
Mercury Optimax Problems
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 '' |
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