225 hp Mercury Opti-max

[Tom L]

What's everyone opinion on this motor? Most things I here is that the are blowing up all the time? It's a heavy price for them or should i go with a Yamaha?

[Chairman]

No one talks about all the hours on them without problems. All of the high tech epa motors have some problems. Do not compare a Yamaha with an Optimax unless your talking about the HPDI version. I have had Opti's since '99 and had some problems, but the factory breaks its back to take care of them.

Chairman
NPAA #6

[Grampa_Joe]

I too have had 225 Optis since '99 with very few problems.
I guess you would probably see more problems with the other brands of motors if they had as much of the market as Mercury. There are just simply waay more Mercurys out there than any other brand.

Joe Carlson

[CJHughes]

I too own a 225 opti with smart gauges . yes it has blown up ,yes it is a neat motor when everthing works . I'll report back to you after Erie this weekend if I make it back with this motor .

[Airwave(OH)]

And Yes go with the Yamaha ! HPDI

[Walizz 1]

I've got a '99 and have had no problems with it. I'm selling it today and I told the buyer it's the best motor I ever had. The only work ever done on it was for new plugs and winterization.

[The Drake]

I have an 02 Opti and have 23 hours on it this season with no problems.

[eyefish]

Im on my 3rd year running the 225 opti I have changed the plugs 3 times and thats it, no other problems. Its all in the break in and how you treat your motor.

[Mike (KS)]

I fished a bass tourney this past weekend and my partner's boat had a 1999 Merc 225 Opti-Max. It blew up last fall and he had to replace. Needless to say, he's not happy with it.

[CJHughes]

Some are saying it is how you break it in , this is all monitored by a computer chip in your motor . Your mechanic has access to this through his laptop . He will know if you have exceeded the recommended breakin procedure . After the proper breakin of my motor I used it for what I bought it for TROLLING for walleye . The smart craft gauges allow you to troll down to 450 rpm's . My dealer said I used this feature to MUCH ! Which caused it to BlOW UP ! I do know that the new OPTI'S will only allow you to troll down to 480 rpm's . Don't get me wrong I like my motor and I think it is better than a Ficht and it is yet to be seen if it is better than an HPDI . They all have problems . Merc fixed mine and it ran great last year , I just hope it continues . The guy asked a question all I did was be honest with my answer .

[RR]

Tom,
In the past five years I have owned 4 DFI/Optimax's. My first one in 1997 was a disaster! I went out west fishing 6 times and the Merc.200 DFI brokedown all 6 times and had to be towed in. I took it to my dealer and they would call the Merc. factory and suggested to do certain things everytime it broke down. However, none of them worked and I told the dealer I wanted a new Merc. 200 EFI Plus the $1000 extra I paid for the DFI. Finally the factory agreed to let me use the new 200 EFI the rest of the summer and they would replace my DFI with a new improved Opti-max in 1998. The 1998 Opti-max ran problem-free all year long and then traded for a 1999 Opti-max and it also ran flawlessly except for a few horn signals would go off occassionally. This past year I had a 2001 Opti-max and ran ok except the plugs kept fouling when I used it for trolling. I changed over to the synthetic oil and had a new ECU box put in, then it was ok.
For 2002 I decided to go with the Yamaha HPDI 200. I haven't even put it in the water yet so I can't give you a report how it runs. However, when I get a few hours on it I will give you a report.
I talked to a number of dealers who sell both yamaha and mercury and every one of them recommended the yamaha hpdi vs. Opti because of it's low maintainance and dependability. I know Mercury has many more opti's in our area than hpdi's but I believe Yamaha dominates the salt water market. Some other features that sold me were it's accesability to the spark plugs,etc.(and they don't cost $20 ea.like opti's),an it's much quietier than a Opti.

Good Luck with whatever you buy,
RR

[tom l]

Thanks for the reply's. Still have mixed thoughts?

[TimnIowa]

Tom L.
I had a 99 225 Opti and all I can say is I ran mine for 3 summers and it didn't miss a beat. I never spent a dime on it and I wouldn't own anything else. But I have heard some horror stories on here but I wouldn't be afraid to buy any of the top brands but I would stick with merc first.

[JMinnema]

I've got over 600 hours on my 99 opti-max. I have never changed a spark plug. I was told not to change them if everythings running good.

[Rob Manthei]

I have had 225 Opti's since their production. Which means I have owned 4 of them. My 2001 blew up. It got updated to the 2002 specs and it never ran better. Very impressed. Mercury has a ton of motors out there, and admitted last year that they had a problem.(unlike other companies) You want a Yahamahauler, go look how popular they are on the classifieds, many Rangers sitting with yamahadogs.

[Mike A]

Have you ever owned a Yami??? If not, what makes you think they are dogs??? But since you brought it up, I went through the classified and counted how many Merc/Mariner's - OMC's - Yami's and others are for sale.

Merc's/Mariner's - 163

OMC's - 64

Yami's - 31

Others - 7

You can use your own discretion as to what that means but I certainly would not be critical. Incidently, I have always had Merc's previously and just got my 1st Yami. Would I buy another Merc???? Perhaps but i like my Yami so far.

[appleye]

I've had both and run a Yamaha now. Nuff said

[fishhunter]

the fact that there is 163 mercs and and only 31 yamahas says something yes. It says more people buy the mercs

[Snoogans]

Using your logic, it would also say that more people want to get rid of their Merc's right?