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Roy Cody

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Has anyone heard that Mercury is going to stop making the Optimax motors? One of the fellas in my local club said he heard that Mercury was thinking of stopping production on the Optimax.
 
They did stop production of the 200-225 motors, but are supposed to resume this fall. I think it was a fuel problem.
 
Actually, the 225 opti are blowing their powerheads and I don't think merc wants to get in the same boat (no punn) that OMC ended up in with ficht. The pistons do not perfectly match the cylinder walls until they have reached running temp. If a guy cranks up the engine and takes off right away, they will almost always blow. I have run into this several times. I was about to move up in boats and get the opti, but I think now I will get an efi or yamaha v-max. That's just what I was informed. I wouldn't worry much...merc stands behind their product.
Rob
Nyguide2539
 
Hi guys,

As for the 225, I have one and I havent had any problems with it to this point other than getting the tpi's replaced.

I have not heard of this problem but to be sure I will always let her warm up before hitting the hot foot!

Thanks,
Steve
 
I was told that the 200's and 225's have bad ECM's on them and they are only generating @175hp....they stopped production until they can make enough new ECM's to replace the ones in the field and in production.
Don't know any more than that, but yes,...Mercury is deffinetely doing the right thing by stopping production if there's a problem....and they WILL stand behind their product! My 2000 Opti is awesome and I've never had a problem with it....I love that motor....the fuel efficiency alone is well worth the investment!! Also heard that the new ECM's will be available by the end of June. Again,..this is what I was told.
Best,
Mac
 
Mac,

Is that something Merc will handle as a recall or do we have to report a failure to get the new ECM's? Also how can we verify that we are not getting the full Horse Power?

Thanks,

Steve
 
Man too many rumors going arround on these.... Take it from me.... Yes the production did stop. but it has resumed and 02 Optimax are due to ship starting next week, as far as the problems they were having were with the ECU over fueling causing fouled spark plugs, The new ECU is available now... ( just put one on a boat today) all it is, are recalibrated for the proper fuel curve, Unless you are having performance problems w/ your Opti dont worry about it, there will be no recall, If you are having performance problems take it to a dealer, ( anyone who knows anything about the opti's will know exactally what to look at and do)As far as problems.... they are far and few between... we currently have 20 01MY optis in the field and have only had 1 that has had performance problems.Believe it or not... the biggest problem with the Optimax has been either A. Dealer setup or... B. operator error.
 
There you have it!!...Chris told us everything we need to do.....I'm running a '00 Opti, and mine runs great.....it was evidently just a few of the '01's but i know of 2 of them at our dealership right now!! Soon to be fixed!!!.Very cool....thanks for the info Chris!!
Mac
 

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