Considering buying a V20

[Macrenovations]

Was able to a few articles on this motor. For what I know about these motors it' a hit or mis kind of deal with the 200's and 225's..But lower compression after a motor has been sitting awhile is some what the norm but you should put about a teaspoon of oil in each cylinder and turn the motor over a few times then see if she will fire of course hook up the water hose.Let it run for 15 minutes shut it down then test ,Test again after it cools down as well..Let us know what the readings are...Good Luck


According to an article in the November issue of Motorboating, page 22 Mercury OptiMax 3-liter outboards (200 and 225-hp) are being recalled in an effort to stop plug fouling that occurs when trolling. Reasons cited were small variations in tolerance among spark plugs, thermostats and the ECM. A service advisory has been advised to replace the thermostat, fuel rail and reprogram the ECM. rob

10/12/01 2:36:00 PM Ancient Mariner (204.2.54.49) from TEXAS says Opti's
They had a fuel injector problem due to a supplier not following specs. Blown powerheads. Know a man who got the retrofit. His sister is a Bass guide and tournament fisherwoman and sponsored by Mercury and she experienced a blown powerhead. He had run his about 2 or 3 hours when she called him and told him not to even start the motor until he had the replacement parts. He did this and now has a whole bunch of trouble-free hours. Ron Gehrke at Cy-Fair Marine near Houston handled it for her. Hope this info helps. Only the big blocks were affected. I have a 150 and its fine. Tom
Incidentally, he replaced a Yamaha 225 and described the new motor as "powerful", "awesome" and, "doesn't burn any gas".

10/12/01 11:38:00 PM Nasty (47.234.0.51) from NORTH CAROLINA says 2001 Opti's
My 2001 225 opti's were recalled. They installed a new fuel rail, injectors and ecm. Merc said the had problems with about 800 of the 10,000 sold, but they are doing the recall on all of the 2001. The 1999-2000 did not have the problem. Merc is giving me an additional 2 yrs on the warrenty from the date of the retrofit. BTW the installed new plugs, 12 of them. The Bosch plugs are not cheep.

10/15/01 9:34:00 AM Sixer (155.91.6.71) from NEW JERSEY says My understanding....
is the problems were with the 2000 and up 200 and 225's using the digital systems. Earlier engines were not affected by this recall.

If you can take the boat to a shop and have them plug it in to see the real hours and max rpm's would be your safest bet. If all checks out 3000 not that bad....

[RWilson2526]

If you are really interested in buying it and the seller is interested in selling it he might let you mess with it to get the compression numbers up. Tell him the numbers seem goofy and why you think they are like that and the way it stands now you arent going to buy it unless you can see if the engine is servicable. Bring a portable gas tank for the gas issue and start working on it. Then again the seller might not want to know if the engine is shot so he can sell it to the next guy with a clear conscience but its worth asking I think.

[nymack66]

Be very concern with those numbers, low compression on an engine is no good and should be carefully look at , Please factor in a re-build cost for the engine before you make an offer ...

[peiserma]

Thank you all very much for the advice and feedback. Especially to Macrenovations for taking the time to look up all that info.

After the compression test, the seller indicated I could come back and check the engine some more. I admitted that I wasn't sure what low compression numbers mean on an engine that has been idle for so long. I have the following plan, assuming the seller is OK with everything: get some new spark plugs. Not cheap, but worth the money to see if I can get the motor to run. Work some oil into the cylinders through the spark plug holes. Change motor oil in order to look at the oil fill plug (for shavings) and see if its oil or sludge in there. I like the suggestion of a portable gas tank. That way I do not have to mess with draining the old gas, and I can throw in a $5 bottle of fuel injector cleaner (the outboard is fuel injected). Oh, and I should probably drain the lower unit to make sure it has no water in it.

What else would you suggest? Assuming the engine ran two years ago and has no major problems, can I reasonably expect that I can get the engine running with the steps outlined above?

I'm not sure about a couple things. First, I assume its possible to hook up a garden hose to cool the engine? Is there a FAQ (with illustrations if possible) on this?

Second, is it possible to run this motor on a portable tank? That outboard is pretty big and, like automobile fuel-injected motors, is going to need a fuel pump. Is the fuel pump external to the tank? What size hose do I need?

And finally, can the motor be turned over by hand, to work the oil into the cylinders? How would one go about doing this? Is there a service manual for the Optimax available on-line?

Thanks so much the help so far.

[peiserma]

Just talked to the seller. He's OK with what I want to do. He is even getting a portable gas tank from a friend. Fuel pump is on the motor, so that question is answered. Still looking for advice on the other questions.

Thanks.

[Road King Cole]

Hi, welcome to the site. Make sure they have or you bring a well charged battery. Does he have a set of "muffs" for using the garden hose? Also, if you put oil in the cylinders, I wouldn't put the new plugs in until that oil has been blown out...

[RWilson2526]

Dont forget too that if he is premixing the oil in his fuel tank that you add some oil to the portable tank. If he is using on board oil tank than no worries.

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by peiserma

I have the following plan, assuming the seller is OK with everything: get some new spark plugs. Work some oil into the cylinders through the spark plug holes.

Good idea..

Change motor oil in order to look at the oil fill plug (for shavings) and see if its oil or sludge in there.

This is a 2 stroke engine...yes? If so there is no engine oil to change, other than the oil that's in the tanks ready to be pumped into the engine while the engine is running.. If he's running pre-mix than the portable tank will need to have the proper amount of 2 stroke oil mixed into it before you try to run the engine.

I like the suggestion of a portable gas tank. That way I do not have to mess with draining the old gas, and I can throw in a $5 bottle of fuel injector cleaner (the outboard is fuel injected).

Use Mercury injector cleaner. And I'd also highly recommend treating the fuel with Seafoam.

Oh, and I should probably drain the lower unit to make sure it has no water in it.

Absolutely a great idea... Look for metal shavings of any kind, as well as milky or cloudy oil.

What else would you suggest? Assuming the engine ran two years ago and has no major problems, can I reasonably expect that I can get the engine running with the steps outlined above?

Yes, however some things to keep in mind. Optimax engines require a marine starting battery with a mininum of 1000 Marine Cranking Amps. They are very power hungry while cranking because of the air and fuel injectors. And, while running, because of their huge power requirements, they don't start charging your battery(s) until about 2500 rpm. Below that they are drawing some power from the battery. Additionally, be sure that, when in neutral, the throttle cable is adjusted so that is holding the throttle arm up against the idle stop. The engine's computer is looking for a specific value from the throttle position sensor...and if the cable is not adjusted correctly this will trip an error code. (DON'T USE THE WARM UP LEVER OR THROTTLE ONLY FEATURE OF YOUR CONTROLS DURING STARTING).

I'm not sure about a couple things. First, I assume its possible to hook up a garden hose to cool the engine? Is there a FAQ (with illustrations if possible) on this?

Yes, use what are called engine muffs or mouse ears. Basically rubber disks that clamp around the bottom around the engine's water pick up holes and are attached to a garden hose. NEVER run an engine without water. You will destroy the rubber impeller inside your water pump in less than 10 seconds.

Second, is it possible to run this motor on a portable tank?

Yes.. in fact for your tests it's recommended so you can rule out possible old or bad fuel.

And finally, can the motor be turned over by hand, to work the oil into the cylinders? How would one go about doing this? Is there a service manual for the Optimax available on-line?

Yes, just turn the flywheel. It will probably be impossible or really, really hard to do with the plugs in, and since you want to work the oil into the cylinders and rings, it's advisable to have them all out... but it's so much easier to just use your engines' starter.. squirt the oil in and hit the starter switch for a few seconds to turn the engine over... let it sit for a few minutes..then do it again... you're done. Oh, and as a general rule of thumb, unless a service manual calls for it, never turn an engine backwards.. you can break things that are only designed to move in one direction.


Probably not on the service manual. They like to sell these things to make money. Look for Seloc or Clymers, or a genuine service manual from Mercury online in eBay. Usually they go for around $30-$50.


Hope that answered your questions, with a few comments thrown in for good measure. Red skys at night....

[peiserma]

Thanks for that wealth of information. Armed with that knowledge, I went back today and did all that was suggested. The lower unit oil looked great for having sat in there for two years. Not a hint of water. Engine was run off a portable tank.

But we were unsuccessful in starting the engine. I broke the top off of one of the new spark plugs, so we went with 5 brand new ones and picked the best-looking one of the old plugs. The engine turned over fine. The starboard side fuel rail had pressure, but the port side fuel rail did not. This particular engine has pressure-relief valves on the rail (they look almost exactly like the ones on your tires. They are called Shrader valves if I remember correctly ). The starboard side squirted fuel when we vented it, but there was nothing at all on the port side. Not even a hiss. That's how I know one side has pressure, the other doesn't :)

Where we left it was that the seller said he was going to try to tinker with it. He also said he was open to offers if I wanted to mess with it myself. I got the impression he really does not want to mess with it. He was riding with his significant other (as in motorcycles) before I got there tonight, so I got the impression his priorities may be different than when he was actively boating. Also, he has three boats sitting in his yard right now, and a fourth in the water. This particular boat is probably not on his short list.

So once again, I ask for your collective wisdom. Is this worth pursuing, or is it better to wait for something else? If its worth pursuing, how much would be a fair ballpark figure? I realize no one can give an exact answer without inspecting the boat, but i'm really just looking for a general estimate based on your personal experience. FWIW, the hull is an 87 cuddy, no weakspots that I found, solid transom (i put my full weight on the motor and made the boat bounce on the trailer). The back-to-back chairs on port side are shot and need replacing. Woodwork (I guess I have to get in the habit of calling it brightwork?) can be mostly reconditioned, but some of it will have to be rebuilt (I already have a table saw and a router and know how to use them). There are some minor dings and scratches in the gelcoat as one would expect, but it still looks pretty good. Oh, and recall that the seller has a the same engine, just counter-rotating, with a cracked block that could be used for spare parts if it were made part of any deal.

I have been looking for a used boat on and off for maybe 1.5 years, and I really like the V20s in general. More so than 90% of the other boats for sale out there. I do not have to own a boat right now (I can wait), but I surely miss being out on the water (used to sail my parents 30' Hunter before I moved too far away). Plus I have spare cash in my bank account right now (may not be true next year if my wife decides we need to redo the kitchen or replace the carpeting with wood floors). I consider myself pretty good mechanically, and can afford spending time tinkering with the engine. I'd actually consider that time well spent.

So your thoughts and opinion is appreciated. At what price does this boat become a deal, and at what price can I find a better value for my hard-earned cash?

Thank you!

[Destroyer]

Brightwork is all of the metal that needs to be ploished.. like turnbuckles, stancions, etc.

At what part does it become a deal? When he gives you a price that you like and that you know you can afford, including any work that may have to be done on the engine. I know that's not the answer you want, but it's about as true as you can get. Truthfully, a boat without a working engine is just a useless hull. Like a supermodel... pretty to look at but not very practical. IMHO