Optimax 135hp – Infamous?

Guys – I have read this is a problem waiting to happen (blown power heads), and others that say with proper fluids and maintenance, after the position sensor fix they are great motors.

I’m inclined to lean toward the Former.

Just curious if any experts here can tell me if I’m bananas for considering a rig with a low hour 1998 Optimax

Doug Larsen wrote:

Guys – I have read this is a problem waiting to happen (blown power heads), and others that say with proper fluids and maintenance, after the position sensor fix they are great motors.

I’m inclined to lean toward the Former.

Just curious if any experts here can tell me if I’m bananas for considering a rig with a low hour 1998 Optimax

Near as I recall, which could be wrong, lol— the blown power heads in early Opti’s were the BIGGER block engines–not that one/size.

Thanks Steve – I thought it was the 200hp+ models as well. I’m sure its all over hell as far as experiences. I’m just trying to gauge worst case scenario. If I need to kick in 2k or 3k to make things right it still might be a good buy. If the engine is garbage and I need to repower at $8k used, thats no bueno.

Yep big blocks were the issues. Injectors were the culprit, for a real piece of mind, you could have them cleaned and rebuilt for about$600 if I remember correctly.

Interesting – Sounds like an ok choice?

Buy it and don’t look back.

Did you find a good Ranger that it’s attached to? I always figure if you buy the right platform (boat) you can always adjust or change out motors, trailers, electronics, etc over time.

I have two friends still running 98 and 99 Optis — one is a 135 and the other is a 150. They’re solid. One of them just bought an updated cowling for his 135 and the increased airflow (the old ones are blocky, the new ones have a higher back than front) actually improved performance. I couldn’t believe it but I spend a lot of time in his boat and its 100% the truth. Finally, Sea Foam is an especially great product to use in direct inject motors.

I guess my thought is that it’s made it 18 years. If it were going to take a dump, it probably would have already done so.

I have been running a 1999 Opti 135 on my 1800 Lund Fisherman and have had no problems. It has been a great running motor and starts right up even after sitting awhile during the winter. Make sure you have plenty of cranking amps in your battery to turn the Opti over for starting.