used motor question

I have thought about getting an older model 690, 619, or 620. I notice the 690s often come with a 175 Mercury efi and some of the 2000-2002 619s or 620s come with optimax's or other motors.

Is the 175 efi a good motor?

Are the 2000-2002 opti's any good?

What are the most trouble free motors from this era? (1998-2002)

Motor troubles drive me crazy.

[bridgeman]

Theres a risk any time you buy a used outboard, who knows what its been through or how it was maintained. The EFI's were and still are dependable units, the early 2K opti's had some injector issues but if they were updated and manitained you should be ok.

[southerncomfort1]

When I was boat shopping a mechanic told me the EFI Merc. motor of the late 90's was one of there best designs.Also said be very careful(beware) of the early opti's..Buddy has a 1998 200 Merc. Efi that he runs hard and in a lot in tourneys on a bass boat and that things never has given him any mechanical trouble at all.Have another buddy that has a early opti and blew it while under warranty.Had it fixed and has been a great motor ever since for many years of hard fishing.I bought a 98 ranger 692vs with a 175 evinrude intruder on it that was not the original boat motor.Had a few issues(carbs and reed gasket) this summer but once I got those resolved thing runs awesome again except being a very thirsty girl on the gas.

[BW]

The 690's were only rated for 175hp. I would think EFI would be the way to go. If I am not mistaken, the bigger opti's in that year range had problems???? 225hp....someone else will chime in. I think anything in that year range shouldn't give you too much trouble though.

[csuram99]

Just bought a 2003 619 with 200 efi in november, so i was in the same boat as you. I did a lot of research on mercury motors and the take-home message from the info was that earlier opti's were a risky option, especially outside of the warranty period. For the most part, there were good reports on the efi's. The only complaint was that they weren't as fuel efficient as the opti's, but most people recommended the efi's because of their reliability, simplicity, and lower cost of repairs.

Usually on sites like this you usually here from those that are having problems with motors and there's no doubt when you search through the archives that the opti problems outnumber the efi's. There will always be guys that have had trouble-free optis and you may purchase one and never have a problem, but it does seem like they are more likely to have problems.

I chose the efi for peace of mind, but i was still nervous in buying a used motor. However, I felt more comfortable in my decision because i drove the boat-motor, the motor checked out with low hours, good compression, etc, and the boat and motor were really clean and well-taken care of.

Good luck in searching for a boat; i had a lot of fun through the process.

[southerncomfort1]

Originally Posted by BW

The 690's were only rated for 175hp. I would think EFI would be the way to go. If I am not mistaken, the bigger opti's in that year range had problems???? 225hp....someone else will chime in. I think anything in that year range shouldn't give you too much trouble though.

Yup...690/692 max hp 175

[Shellback]

Originally Posted by cobrabassboat.com

the problem child merc has was the 3 liter . ( 200-225) optimax // the closer too the year 2000 the worse it was. number 6 piston would fail..
the efi 150 -175.. is a great motor and strong and easy to get replacement parts..

Please check your PM's

[SJD]

Old boat had a 150 EFI merc, great motor. It was a '96, sold it in '06, only thing I had to do is put a trim switch in. Open them up and they like the fuel, but at 4500 RPM's mine was pretty fuel efficient. If you do open them up, yeah they like fuel but they're a fast motor. I'd definitly take the EFI over the Opti Just my .02