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Random Quote: If anything is going to happen...It will happen out there. Captain Ron Ricco
2000 Whaler conquest twin 225 optis 43 miles from home with family aboard for a pleasure cruise from New Smyrna to St. Augustine and Kaboom!!! Port motor makes a grinding, schreeching, god awfull sound....stopped, trimmed the motor up and low and behold a nice hole in the lower unit from where the gear set let go and puked out the internals...Have you ever idled home from that distance??? It sucks. Took me 7 hours to get to the house. I dropped the family off at a marina on the way and had them transported home and I made the long loneley journey with a buddy. On the way back we almost got hit head-on by a drunk boater in a bow rider....seriously I thought it was over!! I was unable to move out of his way due to being on a single engine. This was in a very wide part of the river too, he just was bearing down on me and I kept altering my course to the right closer to shore and he kept turning into me. That was scary [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img] To top things off the hub on the working motor spun and I could only turn 800 rpm's on the way home. Got home at 2am, every body had eaten pizza and gone to sleep, just me and my boat, battered, worn and dejected. God I love boating!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
you should carry spare hubs for the merc props. They are only 12 bucs take a few minutes to change. or taken the prop off the bad motor and put it on the good motor. Glad it worked out.
Glad you made it home OK, sounds like a great time. I'm sure the family cares...they just have so much confidence in your abilities that they weren't worried & opted for some shut-eye...yah, that must be it.
Same thing happened to me in April. Blew up the lower unit on one of the Optibombs I have. Then in June I blew a powerhead, then last week another powerhead. And all I have is 360 hours on the motors. Damn I love Mercury.
P.S. - You can't switch props if one of the motors is counter rotating.
Carry a set of smaller props. i spin 22" and can't plane on one motor. A 19" will get my boat up on plane with one motor and up to 30 MPH. Beats idling home.
Mercs are supposed to be renowned for the strength of their lower units...any chance there was water intrusion into that lower unit?...and that was the cause of the gear failure?
Optis sure don't seem to have a good rep do they?
Hey at least you got her home in one piece, and everyones safe.
It appears maybe notso here this weekend just gone. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]
Strange set of circumstances - maybe we'll here more, maybe not [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif[/img]
We've had a series of very strong storm fronts come in from the antarctic, it's blown and rained for days n days, cold as my muther in laws kiss.
(The only thing colder known to science is a frogs tit!) [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Anyway - full warnings out - Gale warnings, Hail, thunderstorms - heck even snow predicted on the mountain range down south of us, which for us is a rare event.
Sooo - Sunday - the seas are at 7 - 8 meters (thats about 22ft - 26ft combined sea and swell height) and one of the sea search and rescue centres just north of Perth a few miles hears a mayday call from a 30ft yacht with 6 passengers located 15 miles west of Rottnest island, (all up maybe 39 miles offshore from Peth) taking on water and about to founder, and they are about to abandon ship and take to the life raft.
The call was heard on 27 meg distress channel bye a sea search and rescue volunteer lady north of Perth and confirmed by another operator half way across the nation in South Australia - presumably some "ionospheric skip phenomenon".
So, most of Sunday say lunchtime onwards - the police have a pair helicopters out there, as well as all the "Official Govt Craft" over 60ft, they can muster scouring the storm tossed water for this raft with 6 people.
It made great news footage from the choppers these big badass boats being brought to shuddering standstills by waves that were crashing over the bows etc..
Sunday night, they decide it's just too damn dangerous to continue the search, so they call it off, and conclude that it must have been a "hoax" radio call!...and inform the press - it was a hoax.
Then this morning, two people going for an early morning walk along the beach in Perth find a womans body washing up on the beach in the surf...
Still the authorities claim the yacht sinking was a hoax call and aren't searching at all?.
Tonights news?..
No mention of hoax call OR the body found!!!!!
Talk about suspicious...or a coverup...
I guess there is no EPIRB signal BUT...that area is the same one 3 people died this time last year, and being so close to Perth it's an EPIRB exempt area, meaning it's not compulsory to carry an EPIRB, since they figure, theres so much boat traffic from Perth to Rottnest Island that a radio will sumon help quickly in an emergency.
Course - no one figures anyone with half a brain would go out in forecast gales at the tail end of winter, but just like last year at this time - theres always the Darwin Award Candidate Factor to be considered. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
So far - no ones reported anyone missing / overdue or vessels missing so maybe it is a hoax afterall, but that womans body being washed up business has me guessing we will hear more on this yet....as things unfold.
Call it a hunch.. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
Edit..
Heres a couple interesting "links" to news storys on this lot.
Sorry to hear about your problems, hope ya get back on your way ASAP.
Just a few thoughts:
1. He could not have "swapped the prop with the other motor". Counter roatating motors use different props (a left hander and a right hander).
2. The problems with the Optimax are the same as with the EFI. It's called quality, or, LACK OF. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
I wonder how many lower units other than Optimax failed over week end.I think the lower unit used by Merc is the same or very close to the same as one used by Yamaha.Gears and bearings are made by vendors not the engine manf.I think you will find water in lube oil to be cause of failure.If engine "saltwater series " Merc. warranty may cover lower unit failure from water in gear oil.
My lower unit had no saltwater intrusion, had very clean gear oil, and it still imploded.
For the life of me, I do not know how Merc can afford the number of failures they have. I know of absolutely no one who has had a completely trouble free Optimax. NOT ONE.
Or two -- since Mercury replaced my engines under warranty, I have put about 75 hours on the new ones (2002 225's). Not a single problem ... SO FAR. But, and this is a big one!!! [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img], given my past history with 225 Optis (the dreaded 2000 year models), I am still holding my breath. Every time I go out of sight of land, I do not turn the engines off: can't shake the fear that they might not start again! Everytime I hear a slight stumble, I practically drop a load then and there. I had a low oil warning and nearly lost it.
DHlaw knows whereof I speak -- he's actually seen the warranty records of the first set, minus the failures later that season. I essentially lost a whole season of boating due to engine failures. DH, you have my sincerest empathy.
Come to think of it, I seem to recall that my port engine had a few of those lower unit failures.
Worse is that anyone who does even a little research would need a reality check before buying a used boat with 2000 Optis on it. What is a 2000 225 Opti worth? I had a fantasy where, after alerting the local news to an "event", I hired a helicopter to airlift one to about 1000' above the dealer's parking lot and drop it -- a way of "delivering" the motor for repair (the notion that I can just drop off a 26' Whaler for repairs in my spare time rather pi$$ed me off). Another was to cruise every in-water boat show being towed by SeaTow with large sacks of lemons drapped over my motors, both of which are tilted up....
That being said, and as stated above, the new 2002 Optis have been fantastic. I could not be happier. Trimmed out, I get about 39-40 mph at 4100 rpm at about 2.5 mpg. They have always fired right up. Never suffered any trolling fouling. Nada. Mind you, I have heard that the new Bomb-Fichts (Fichtbombs?) are also real gems too. Could it be that the bugs have been worked out of the direct injection engines? If so, you can stuff the 4 strokers, I'll keep the extra 4 grand per: pays for a lot of gas and oil, with some bait thrown in for good measure.
[img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]
Still makes ya wonder... how many MORE new Whalers would be sold if customers were given their choice of power, or could buy without power at a reasonable price? Then again, I have to assume that Brunswick has done the math, and has decided that overall, they make more money with their packages...
Some of you guys are starting to get on my nerves. I know yamaha make a quality product but bashing Mercury is just plain ignorant. Let me give you some facts. As a full time guide I fish around 215 days a year I also associate with a number of other guides some of who fish more than I do.
1. I have 1457 hours on a 1999 Mercury 225 EFI with zero probems since new.
2. I have 450 hours on twin 1997 Mariner 150 EFI's with zero problems.
3. My dad has 600 hrs and a 1998 Mercury 150 Optimax with zero problems
4. Capt. Steve Loyd Sr. has a 2000 Mercury 200 Optimax with zero problems. (not sure on the hours)
5. Capt. Seve Loyd Jr. has a 2001 Mercury 200 Optimax with Zero problems.
6. Capt. Al Fontenella has a 2000 Mercury 200 Optimax that has had only some injector problems after 700 or so hours.
7. Capt. Tom haynes tells me that his 2000 200hp Optimax has had no problems. (except for the lower unit that exploded after he hit submerged oyster bed). I think that he said that he has 650 hours.
I believe that this is a pattern. People who make their living from an outboard tends to take care of it. By making good clean shifts, not reving the engine upon starting, idling under 1500 rpm's and around 1000 if possible, not making dumb mistakes like: overheating, low oil, putting stuff in the fuel because John Doe says its good for it,and such. Some of these things may not do much to your engine right now but they add up and could be the causes to some of the failures that i hear about on the forum.
I think both yahama and Mercury make a fine product. The Mercury's may be a little less tolerant to some of the things that I spoke of above. I know that I rely on my boat as my sole source of my income and would not run a product that I could not rely on. That speaks for itself.
Blackwater, to be fair I think that if you scan back through the various threads on this forum (apart from some pointless knee-jerk postings from certain Yamaha owners (are they dealers?)-- and who knows, they may be right) you'd find that the general consensus is that the EFI Mercs have been pretty much rock-solid all along.
The focus really seems to be on the Optimax series, specifically the Saltwater 225 built during 2000-2001. Mercury DID stop building them for a while. Mercury DID NOT know how to get ahead of the problem. My local dealer had to have a factory specialist rep come and work in his shop to try and get his backlog of Opti 225 repairs in some semblance of order -- "they are stacked like cordwood out in the shop." I have personally had the "pleasure" of said factory specialist running my boat only to have the port engine grenade on him. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] Mercury replaced my motors -- both of them (thanks again Bob Van!!!). There is real history behind the defects in those motors, not Yamaha-inspired fantasy. In the most egregious cases Merc has stepped up to the plate (with some prodding) -- I am aware of more than a few swap-outs.
The unfortunate result of not stepping in early and publicly to address this issue is that the failures of the 225 Opti have tainted the whole line with unreliability, and perhaps unfairly, as you have pointed out. And this may also have had a undesireable and unnecessary effect on the residual values of all boats with large Mercury engines as compared to those with Yamahas on them. If I had to buy a new engine now, the decision would be very difficult: I am grateful to Mercury for their cure, I am angry with them for a lost season and having to fight to get afloat again, I LOVE my new engines (notwithstanding a certain niggling fear factor) -- but would a given boat be worth more with Yammies two years down the pike when I go to sell it? Or Hondas? Fichts got a long way to go before they add value again, IMHO.
Like you, I am tired of owners of non-Mercury outboards telling me and everyone else what a putz I am for running one. However, if we had two 31 Contenders, say, one with 225 Opti Mercs and one with 225 Yams (EFI, F225, 200HPDI), all with zero defects and the same hours, at the same price ... which would sell first? More irritating yet, if the Merc boat was compared to a F225 equipped boat, my guess is that the Merc boat would blow it out of the water on virtually all aspects of performance. Talking to the guys who rig Intrepids in Ft. Lauderdale, the one engine they said that they would avoid for the boat (a 289 walkaround) was the 225 four stroker. They love the new Fichts!!
Weird world. OK, I have donned the flame retardant suit.... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
One of my best friends has experienced something extremely similar to your story.
He bought a 2000 26 Outrage with twin 225 Opti's.
He has just received his THIRD pair of motors from Mercury. They are 2003's, and merc re-rigged his boat with upgraded engine controls and upgraded smartcraft gauges. His pile of work orders for the 2000 motors was overwhelming, as was the one on the 2002's. Like you, he is very happy with the way Mercury treated him, but pi$$ed off about all the downtime and hassles.
His '03's have about 80 hours so far, and fingers crossed, they will stay trouble free.
Best of luck to you with your new pair.
PS. You are correct about the general feeling towards the new Bombardier Fichts, everybody seems to love 'em !
Optimax and the long ride home..... 
