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Random Quote: Karma Is A Bitch, But Sometimes She Puts Out
So thats my dillema, just sold my 31 foot diesel morgan, and have found the two possible boats to buy, outfitted similarly except for the engines.
One is low hour, very light recreational use, and questionable rep, although I hear the 2000's were good engines. The other a power house in the industry, but worked heavily on a commercial boat... any opinions on this? Im on the fence. From what I undertsand, the power I get and the efficiency will be similar, but what I really need is reliability; and for the engine to last another thousand hours.
Go with the Opti and beat him down on the price using the "rep" issue. 1100 hours on an 02 engine is a lot of wear and tear. JMO Also, the opti will be more performance oriented. Have a good survey done on it and make sure any updates have been done.
Personally, I dunno that much about the '00 Optimax... An '02 F225 w/1100hours wouldn't scare me.... I also think I'd rather have an engine that was run for 4 years than one that wasn't for 6 years. The F225 is a good motor, just don't know about that year Opti
Opti's. I bought a boat with 2001's about a month ago and love 'em. I think there's a lot of bad out there because there's a lot of them out there. I don't care what motor it is, 1100 hours is tons unless it burns diesel.
Like has been said, check out the Opti's. Get the serial numbers and call Merc, they'll give you the poop on them.
Anybody here know of any yamahas that have failed before 1500 or so hours; or any idea of what percentage of these engines that will see two thousand hours?
Wow, a ragged out Yamaha or an OptiPop, that's a decision that really sucks. Find out if the Opti has had the powerhead replaced yet, cause if it hasn't it very likely will. You sure there aren't any other alternatives?
Nah, they are both on the hull I want, and both are killer deals, and if I had to repower... then Id have a brand new yam or zuke four stroke, right? No more problem. I know all required warranty work has been done on the 2000 opti; this was not a recall year, and the owners of these engines that Ive spoken to are pleased with them; would preffer a nice quiet for stroke, but I think the fuel efficiency will be comperable, and the yami or the opti may go another thousand (or more...) hours... but who knows? Either of these engines could self destruct without warning.... or run like champs for years to come. Its not knowing that sucks.
The fact that the Opti only has 150 hours in 6 seasons would concern me. That is only an average of 25 hours a season. Did the parts receive proper lubrication and what seized up or gummed up from a lack of use? I would have either one checked out by certified mechanic....
we have 2 03 f225s with over 900 hours with no problems. The only thing of consern to me would be that they have done all the maintance that they were supposed to. At I think its 600 hours (somewhere around there) you are supposed to have the seals redone on the oil pumps. They made us do this to get extended warranty. Anyway to do that you have to pull the powerhead which takes a while and is costly. So I assume some people may not have had this done. The only failures I have ever heard with the F225s have been when they leaked and ran out of oil normally on these seal so this is something that is pretty vital. If all this good stuff has been done then you should be alright for a while. Now we could argue on here all day about what is better the mercury or the yamaha but the question is really would you rather have an 02 motor with 1100 hours versues an 00 with 150 hours. The yamaha might have more hours but the mercury has barely been run which sometimes can be as bad or worse. How has the yamaha been run for example we fish alot so most of our hours are at idle. You can get a machanic to check this out and tell you how hard the motor has been run. This guy could be running the you know what out of it wide open all the time you never know. The hours only tell part of the story. Has the optimax been maintaned if its only getting 20 to 25 hours a year on it is it just sitting there no being taking care of or is this the type of guy who will crank his boat up every couple of weeks but just doen't have the time to use it?
A good friend of mine runs several tour boats that rack up the hours. He used to run Mercs and went to Honda 225's when they came out in 2002. I know the Hondas are not Yamahas, but I'd expect the longevity to be similar. He's found that the lower units are the most failure prone item, with the counter-rotating units having a life of about 5000 hours. The power heads still do not have a defined life span, several of them are over 8500 hours and running just fine. As others have pointed out, engines that are run a lot outlast those that are run every now and then. The best analogy i can make is cars. We all grew up thinking that once a car hit 100,00 miles, it was ready for the junk heap. Strangely enough, the resale value still drops way, way off as they approach 100,000 miles, but most of them just keep on running. When was the last time you talked to someone who had the engine rebuilt in a car? Now, the engines outlast the bodies and the electronics.
So, in your case, I'd consider if the boat was designed with the weight of the 4 strokes in mind. If it was, and you demo both boats, I'll bet you buy the Yamahas.
I had a 2000 200 Optimax and it was great. There was a recall on a shift linkage and the primer bulb, I think. Other than that it ran flawlessly for the 400 hours I had it. Doesn't the fact that one hull has 950 hours less on it count for something? It would to me.
The Yamahas need a Timing Brlt at 1000 hrs. Check to see if that was done. The lower units on Yamahas are the best in the indstry. I winterize almost 100 boats per year and in 3 years I don't think I had 3 Yamahas with bad lower unit oil. Other brands have about a 20% issue rate (4 out of 20) Not all mercs but not the low numbers I see in Yamahas
__________________ Captain Tom Lemaire
AMAMC.COM
Aquidneck Marine And Machine Corp
Boat Repair and Service
Machine Shop Services
Hook the F225s onto the computer and find out how hard they were run. If the range/hours is reasonable, e.g. not 90% hours over 5000rpms, I would ask to see the maintenance log and make sure that all recommended work has been done at the correct intervals. If so they should be good to go.
I would also expect that they would be better on fuel, a little quieter and have less hole shot than the Mercs.
I have a pair of 03' F225's with just over 1,800 hrs. I have performed service every 75-100 hrs and had a couple of fuel pump issues--resolved under warranty. Other then VST filters, they keep running flawlessly. I am sure they will run for another 1,800+.....my vote is the F225's.
Help... 1100 hour 2002 yamaha 225 4 stroke vs 150 hour 200hp 2000 mercury optimax? 
