Advice with a early model Optimax

Any and all advice and insight is appreciated.

So I have an opportunity at a screamin’ deal with an an immaculately kept 1999 Lund Tyee 1950. This rig is MINT! (I’ve seen pics). Owners are an older couple that live on Vermilion. Little use, and always stored under a lift or in a garage. The boat is powered with a 1999 200hp Optimax that apparently only has 200 hrs on it. They are friends with my inlaws so I have no reason to not completely trust their word. I’m going to check it out and test drive it this evening and will find out more about it. But I can only assume they cared for the motor just as well as they cared for the boat.

I had no intentions on being in this position at this time, but when a deal like this presents itself, sometimes you have to call an audible and go for it. I do need to upgrade boats in the near future as my current boat is old 1750 Tyee. It’s a fine boat (I recently rebuilt the interior completely), but it’s definitely small for my family of five and the plans we have for future camping trips in Voyageurs NP.

This is essentially a “dream boat” except for the motor…..I’m not a fan of Merc’s in general (have had bad luck with old models in the past) and have not read a lot of positive reviews on the early model Opti’s out there. Seems like they are prone to a lot of issues, including just flat out blowing up.

I don’t know what to do….. (Really wish it had a Yammie on it!!!!) But, I feel that unless there is a major red flag tonight when I drive it, I’ll probably roll the dice and hope for the best, but I wanted to reach out to this community and see what others would do.

Thanks in advance!

Don’t buy it. Send me the sellers phone number so I can tell them you’re not interested.

Seriously though sounds like a slam dunk. So what if you eventually have to repower? You can change the outboard, but you can’t change the boat. If you can get a good deal on the boat you like IMO it’s always a go.

Grouse

As much as it may be a screaming deal, any time that 20 year old motor so much as hiccups, you’ll be blaming yourself and swearing at Mercury. IMO, it’s not worth the risk if you’ll always be second-guessing yourself.

Or, buy the rig, sell the Opti, and get yourself a 20 year old Yamaha. Then, when it has a problem, you’ll still be happy.

HRG

DeRangedFishinguy wrote:

Seems like they are prone to a lot of issues, including just flat out blowing up.

This motor falls into that category.

However, they usually “Opti-POP’ed” in the first 50 hours. So at 200 you may have found a good one.

But like Grouse said, you can always re-power. It’s a 21 year old motor. No matter what brand, that is a lot of years. And sitting around unused can be just as bad as beat on IMO.

BTW – I’m a huge Merc fan. Running a 2007 150 Opti with no issues. Just regular maint.

-J.

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

As much as it may be a screaming deal, any time that 20 year old motor so much as hiccups, you’ll be blaming yourself and swearing at Mercury. IMO, it’s not worth the risk if you’ll always be second-guessing yourself.

Or, buy the rig, sell the Opti, and get yourself a 20 year old Yamaha. Then, when it has a problem, you’ll still be happy.

HRG

lol! Touche`!

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>DeRangedFishinguy wrote:</div>
Seems like they are prone to a lot of issues, including just flat out blowing up.

However, they usually “Opti-POP’ed” in the first 50 hours. So at 200 you may have found a good one.

Good to know! Was wondering if there was a trend on when they tended to “pop”.

I also have heard of the issues with the Optimax. However I also had a to good of deal to pass up on with my boat a number of years ago, it had similar hours to the one your looking at. Still going strong for me like Jon said just regular maint. Mine is a 07 115 Optimax.

John Rasmussen wrote:

Mine is a 07 115 Optimax.

The problem motors were the early 200 HP and 225 HP motors. The 150 and under never had these issues.

-J.

Dream boat. If deal falls through I’ll stand next in line!

If you can get a good deal on an air compressor get one as a spare, I am pretty sure that was typically the main failure and this little buggers are expensive, like around $1500. What I did on mine was traded my 2 stroke in for a 4 stroke, the 4 stroke was used but only cost me about 1500 to swap which was how much it would have been to upgrade when new. Point is maybe think about doing it while the motor is running good and you can still get good money for it.

I run a 2007 Optimax 115 and it has needed nothing but a coil pack. I troll with it, run wide open a decent amount, and it has been phenomenal. The only advice I’d give with the Optimax outboards is to make sure you let them warm up/idle before running them. I like to start mine at launch, park, then take off once I’m back. I also only run synthetic AMSOIL oil. I’ve trolled hundreds of hours on a set of plugs without fouling or any of the old-fashioned 2 stroke smoke smells.

onestout wrote:

If you can get a good deal on an air compressor get one as a spare, I am pretty sure that was typically the main failure and this little buggers are expensive, like around $1500. What I did on mine was traded my 2 stroke in for a 4 stroke, the 4 stroke was used but only cost me about 1500 to swap which was how much it would have been to upgrade when new. Point is maybe think about doing it while the motor is running good and you can still get good money for it.

Good idea on the air compressor. I have read that about them as well.

I have thought about selling the motor and getting into something different, i just have no clue how much it would be worth. Sounds like you got a great deal on your swap, how’d you pull that off?

DeRangedFishinguy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>onestout wrote:</div>
If you can get a good deal on an air compressor get one as a spare, I am pretty sure that was typically the main failure and this little buggers are expensive, like around $1500. What I did on mine was traded my 2 stroke in for a 4 stroke, the 4 stroke was used but only cost me about 1500 to swap which was how much it would have been to upgrade when new. Point is maybe think about doing it while the motor is running good and you can still get good money for it.

Good idea on the air compressor. I have read that about them as well.

I have thought about selling the motor and getting into something different, i just have no clue how much it would be worth. Sounds like you got a great deal on your swap, how’d you pull that off?

I watched craigslist. It was actually at Cabellas and they were sitting on it for almost a year so they really wanted to move it. I traded a carbed 2 stroke for an efi 4 stroke Suzuki with new wire harness and controls, I did the rigging myself which was easy to help save.

Nice score!

You guys with mid 100 to 150 opti’s – I have a 135 (early 2000’s motor / low hours)….haven’t used it all that much myself since purchasing a few years ago. Seems to have a mid-rpm sound like a knock, but definitely not a piston knock or real loud. Merc tech I talked with that’s worked on it mentioned it’s just the airbox sound I hear. Normal with how much vacuum these motors create. Similar to all your experiences? TIA.

Does this boat have transom rot that Lunds of that vintage are known for? I just traded in my 1999 Lund Angler SS on a new boat and the dealer deducted $2000 for the transom repair. A good friend just had his early 2000’s 1800 ProVee’s transom fixed for ~$8000. Look for flex of the transom when moving the motor by hand if it’s on a trailer. When you test drive it watch for the transom flex when you throttle up. Another sign is the paint flaking off the transom. Some are so bad you can easily push a screw driver through the aluminum. Wet treated wood in the transom eats the aluminum by a chemical reaction.

My friend has an 02 225 opti. Powerful smooth running and efficient. He has had it since 04. Original owner blew it up and it was updated and no problems since.
I think the updates are mostly in the ecu. If I was to buy any two stroke from the 2000’s it would be an optimax. The opti’s are more efficient than other brands two or four strokes and will outrun all the other brands in top speed as well.

Well, I’m buying! Everything went well on the test drive Friday. The boat is in great shape and the engine seems great as well. To top it off we knocked an extra $1,500 off the already low price so that sweetens the deal even more.

I’ll always be paranoid with the engine, but hopefully it’ll treat me well and be solid.

The reason it is priced so low is the guy died and lady wants it gone. In-laws are good friends so it worked out for us. Pretty stoked!

Not worried about the transom at all. This boat was well cared for. After refurbishing the complete interior of my last boat, changing out a transom would be a piece of cake. No way would I pay 8K for someone to do that job.

Now I just need to get a Terrova and some legit downriggers for it for next season!

The biggest problem with the early Optimaxes was not the motor but the guys running them. The Optimax was one of the first close tolerance motors built. Most guys were used to running the old 2 strokes hit the key bury the throttle you do that to an Optimax and it is good bye engine. Being close tolerance the engine has to warm up some before hammering on it, heat from combustion will expand the pistons before the block gets warm enough so the pistons would stick and boom.

My 200o Optimax has been rock solid besides normal maintenance I have roughly 950 hours on it and still runs strong.