2005 Mercury Optimax 225hp

demco99

demco99

Active Member
Hi guys,

I'm looking at a boat that has twin 2005 Mercury Optimax 225hp outboards. Both have approx 900 hours. Any opinions on these outboards? I have only ever had a Suzuki 4-stroke so these are quite different. I have arranged a mechanical inspection for them on Friday. Anything in particular I should look out for? Thanks...

Whaler 27 FC by nickdemco, on Flickr

Whaler 27 FC by nickdemco, on Flickr
 
Mercury had some issues on some of their earlier 2000's motors 200 and 225's not sure how long that went on for. I personally blew up 3 of them. Hope you got deep pockets as in bet those will be costly 2 strokes to run. If the boat was priced right with this power and you were able to easy enough upgrade the power with out over pricing the over all cost of the boat Id feel good about the deal. I'd be looking at the boat value not the motor value if it was me.
 
Very much agree with FA. My boss had a 225 optimax (same year) and he had nothing but problem with it. Every time he got something fixed another part would crater.
 
My brother in law has twin Opti 150's, similar vintage.
He has had endless problems with ignition coils.
Got to a point where Mercury gifted him spares as every trip he seems to lose one or more.
With all the practice he has had he has become very profficient changing them out himself on the water.
 
Someone once told me to just hand mix the fuel and it would have saved a lot of trouble. My issues involved power heads blowing up.
 
if that's a 90's vintage 27' whaler you are going to be looking at a 100L/hr rig, great riding hulls but it will suck the fuel....
 
There were issues with coils on some years of those motors, none past 2008 or 9 i think. They are pretty painless to replace but you should never pay for replacement coil for they are faulty. I dont think there are many of the falty coils in circulation. my last opti had no issues with coils. It was 2009 or 10. The only other issue is the compressor. If they have not gone yet they may go soon. My 2 c.
When you loose a coil you can still run, there will be no alarm but you can diagnose by about 1/3 loss of power and 1/3 gain if fuel consumption. It may cut in and out for in the beginning to let you know somethings up, if not you have to know the motors well to figure it out. NO working coil, no working cylinder.
 
I have a 2003 opti 200 and i have no issues. Very happy with the motor and great fuel economy. Bought it rebuilt from Morrison Marine in Keating about 5 years ago as an ex nature tour boat engine. No coil issue with mine but see them online new for under $150 or less for used. Hearing some of the above comments maybe a spare would not be a bad idea. Ask them to pull the computer records from the engines, will tell a lot about the engines, will show if codes were thrown, alarms like overheat etc, even tells you the percentages the rpms were run. I just run up to 20 to 45 minutes max to fishing grounds and back.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nick.
You better buy some shares in the local fuel dock :p
300 should get you to thrasher and back.......maybe
 
Had a 1999 200 Opti seize up on me last summer. Not high hours but it had 1 cylinder that the injector likely wasn't injecting properly into and ....the motor is history. I should have hand mixed and the engine still would be chugging away. Coils are a pain, may need spares.
 
I have no experience with the 225hp but my 135hp opti has been good to me although its on the loud side. I find it odd the oil tanks are mounted outside the boat in your picture? Makes me wonder if the motors were recently installed to sell the boat.
 
I have a lot of experience with these motors. Solid if you treat them right. They have the best fuel economy of ALL outboards ,so I am not sure what the other members are talking about.

1. They are noisy , much louder than most outboards.
2. They don't like to idle for long periods without a smartguage trolling feature.
3.They are prone to blow reeds , the 2005 has carbon not metal reeds , but it means a rough idle.
4. Always use mercury oil , sparkplugs are expensive.
5. Check the compression , any cylinders under 100 , walk away.
6. These motors have a life of 1500 hours , at speed not trolling.
7.Common failures , compressors , oil pumps.

hope that helps.

beemer
 
Hi guys - appreciate all the replies. Any thoughts on these DTS controls?

also, although the owner has stated both engines have approx. 900hrs, the starboard engine reads only 360hrs on the guage at helm. Apparently this is due to a new PCM being installed a few years ago.. any issues with this??
 
finaddict said:
there, fixed it for yah:rolleyes::D
Click to expand...

well we all have our biases finaddict , but I have worked for a long time in whalewatching and we have used every motor imaginable over the last 15 years. Evinrude , Yamaha , Suzuki . and Mercury and all their variations. Similar boats with similar loads , so we have a really good idea what motors are performing better. I stand by my statement.

The fly by wire throttle control is great , but it is unusual that they would be mounted with Optimax. I would venture to say that this boat had 4 stroke Mercury verados on it that were pulled and retrofitted with optimax , probably why the goofy set up with the oil tanks. Don't think you are getting the straight goods on this boat from the owner.

beemer
 
Hi Beemer - thanks for your help.. can you let me know why it would be unusual for these controls to be mounted with Optimax?
 
demco99 said:
Hi Beemer - thanks for your help.. can you let me know why it would be unusual for these controls to be mounted with Optimax?
Click to expand...

it is possible , but very few people installed the DTS system with optimax because it was not necessary ,it also overcomplicated the whole system requiring a extra hydraulic steering pump witch is quite large. The DTS system was a requirement for Verados , they could not operate without it. Not many people would mount the oil bucket in such a exposed area. Certainly not a pro.installer.

get the shop to run the serial numbers of the engines and they should be able to come up with the original owner and possibly what boat it was installed on.
get a compression test and run the computer print out from the ECM . as someone mentioned it will give you a alarm history and how the engine was run during its life. The ECMs as very robust on the later Optimax , so you may have a rebuild.


good luck
beemer
 
Its been mentioned in this thread about hand mixing the fuel for the optimax. You can not do this. The optis are direct fuel injected directly into the cylinder. The oil/fuel mix is not dragged through the crankcase first like traditional 2 strokes for lubrication so the optimax directly injects oil into the crankcase for lubrication of the bottom end and pistons. If you bypass the oil mixing system for premixed fuel the bottom end gets no lubrication.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Sailfish25
FS: Twin 200hp Mercury Optimax with Controls
Replies
8
Views
1K
seahorse
seahorse
demco99
Kicker Installation in Vancouver
Replies
11
Views
3K
Jetboater
Jetboater
demco99
Gunwale Padding Fabrication in Lower Mainland?
Replies
9
Views
1K
bones
B
SVIAC
IMPORTANT: SVIAC Town Mtg w/ Mel Arnold MP Re Fisheries Issues
Replies
0
Views
635
SVIAC
SVIAC
SVIAC
IMPORTANT: SVIAC Town Mtg w/ Mel Arnold MP Re Fisheries Issues
Replies
92
Views
10K
searun
searun
Back
Top