Rebuild or Repower…

Well a couple of weeks ago up on Lake of the Woods, I was fishing the warrior shootout tournament. All went well and we started catching fish 26 miles out from launch. After 2 hours of fishing, my motor revved up, smoked a bit and I shut it off. Wouldn’t start again for awhile. Once it started, it idled really rough and killed itself. Had to get towed 15 miles across lake of the woods to the nearest access.

Long story short, I brought the boat in, the mechanic told me the fuel rail diaphragm went out. $820 later for the fuel rail diaphragm and new spark plugs, I get the boat back. Took it out Wednesday night for the first time and got on the water. Let the motor warm up, then got on plane and was heading towards my spot. All a sudden the motor sounded weird so I came off of plane and it died.

Got it started again but I could tell it was missing on a cylinder. Brought it back to the mechanic figuring they missed connecting one of the plug wires or something simple.

I get a phone call a couple hours later saying that there is scoring in one of the cylinders. They said the scoring looks like it came from the piston overheating.

Original shop quoted me $12,500 for a new powerhead. Second shop quoted me $9,000. For that price is it even worth fixing the motor? It’s a 2016 Mercury Optimax Proxs 225 with 830 hours.

Just looking for any advice from someone who has been in this situation. I’m mechanically advanced. Should I take on replacing the powerhead myself then have the shop reprogram the oil pump?

I keep my engine temp up on my smart gauges all the time so I can keep an eye on the temp to prevent something like this. No alarm, no rise in temp…

Thoughts?

Sorry to hear of your motor problems. How much is a new motor that you would repower with?

Would the motor’s computer have a record of overheating and possible cause?

That’s a buzz killer to say the least….
Good luck in finding a resolution.

I would guess the problems came from running lean during operation with fuel system issues. I would probably replace it and part out what I could from the damaged unit. Probably a long shot but could see if insurance would cover any of it.

I would tend to agree with replace and part out what you can, especially if you plan on running the boat for a number of years yet.

If you upgrade to a new 4 stroke Merc, or even new to you one, can you still use the old controls and smartcraft gauges?

If you like the boat I’d repower it. I loved my Opti when I had it but I’m glad I have the 4 banger on my new boat.

Netguy wrote:

Sorry to hear of your motor problems. How much is a new motor that you would repower with?

Would the motor’s computer have a record of overheating and possible cause?

I was looking at a 200 horse suzuki. Looks to be about 16k. Probably more by the time it’s rigged and gauges are switched from the merc smart gauges.

Adam Steffes wrote:

I would guess the problems came from running lean during operation with fuel system issues. I would probably replace it and part out what I could from the damaged unit. Probably a long shot but could see if insurance would cover any of it.

I’m working on something to submit to insurance. This was in no way due to neglect which they spell out pretty well in their policy coverage. Something happened that was unpreventable. Just really unfortunate.

the_hat wrote:

I would tend to agree with replace and part out what you can, especially if you plan on running the boat for a number of years yet.

If you upgrade to a new 4 stroke Merc, or even new to you one, can you still use the old controls and smartcraft gauges?

I believe everything is compatible in terms of the gauges. I don’t know if I can keep the same tiller arm or if I would need to drop 3k on a new one. The more I think about it and compare pricing, it’s probably going to put me upwards of 20k to go with a new/newer motor. I’m hoping Mercury pulls through and helps me out a bit. At least give me a decent price on a remanufactured powerhead.

I would want to know more about why did just one cylinder overheat before I decided anything. That’s not really a diagnosis, it’s an effect.

What caused the overheating or was it not really overheating but rather a lean condition in that cylinder that then caused the overheating? Has everything been thoroughly inspected and is it really only that one cylinder or could there be more damage on a more thorough inspection?

If you go rebuild, will the shop stand behind it with a warranty?

I would not commit either way until you have a real diagnosis and cause. IMO a rebuild would be very risky without a known cause, you could go out with a newly rebuilt engine and blow it sky high within a few hours if the cause of this “overheat” or whatever really happened is not found.

On the other hand, solving the problem by shooting the money cannon at it with a new motor would certainly “fix” the issue, but holy paycheck, Batman. The freaking cost! Makes my wallet squeal just thinking about it.

To me everything depends on the ability to diagnose what really happened and make sure a rebuild would not be ruined by the same issue that caused the original issue.

If you’re putting that many hours on that quick (150+ per yr ) I’d get a new power head with the warranty.

Good luck.

-J.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

I would want to know more about why did just one cylinder overheat before I decided anything. That’s not really a diagnosis, it’s an effect.

What caused the overheating or was it not really overheating but rather a lean condition in that cylinder that then caused the overheating? Has everything been thoroughly inspected and is it really only that one cylinder or could there be more damage on a more thorough inspection?

If you go rebuild, will the shop stand behind it with a warranty?

I would not commit either way until you have a real diagnosis and cause. IMO a rebuild would be very risky without a known cause, you could go out with a newly rebuilt engine and blow it sky high within a few hours if the cause of this “overheat” or whatever really happened is not found.

On the other hand, solving the problem by shooting the money cannon at it with a new motor would certainly “fix” the issue, but holy paycheck, Batman. The freaking cost! Makes my wallet squeal just thinking about it.

To me everything depends on the ability to diagnose what really happened and make sure a rebuild would not be ruined by the same issue that caused the original issue.

There would be a 1 year warranty with the rebuilt one. I might have to go that route. I wanted to keep this boat for a couple years, but if I go with a new motor, I’m still going to be -$xx,xxx or so.

Not an issue to rebuild a power head on an opti. Been done many many times. Agree it will be a 1 year warranty.
I would also want to know why it fried a piston before I were to get it rebuilt. Good luck with insurance. I think it’s a real long shot but worth a try.

Call Eddie Lybeck and have a chat with him. You will have a better understanding on what route to go.

Put a Merc remanufactured power head on and be done quicker with a mercury warranty.

I agree with Iowa boy I had a mercury remanufatured powerhead put on my 225 opti this was quite a few years ago but was less than 5 grand at that time. I have not had a problem since.

michael keehr wrote:

I agree with Iowa boy I had a mercury remanufatured powerhead put on my 225 opti this was quite a few years ago but was less than 5 grand at that time. I have not had a problem since.

Had a good convo with insurance yesterday. More than likely whether insurance covers it or not it’ll be a new powerhead.

I recently lost a cylinder on my 225 Opti. Parts for a rebuild were just not available in any reasonable time frame. Looked like it might be 15 months or more before I would be back on the water.
Searched all over for a new 225 four stroke and it took me 3 weeks to find one and I just lucked into that. I bought the 4 stroke. All controls and gauges matched up fine. The new 4 stroke is lighter than my Opti and is an awesome performer. Not cheap but I have been back fishing for a few weeks now.
Check and see that you can actually get all parts needed for a repair. And see if you can find a new one anywhere just to compare.
It is crazy timees in the supply chain for sure right now.

norge wrote:

I recently lost a cylinder on my 225 Opti. Parts for a rebuild were just not available in any reasonable time frame. Looked like it might be 15 months or more before I would be back on the water.
Searched all over for a new 225 four stroke and it took me 3 weeks to find one and I just lucked into that. I bought the 4 stroke. All controls and gauges matched up fine. The new 4 stroke is lighter than my Opti and is an awesome performer. Not cheap but I have been back fishing for a few weeks now.
Check and see that you can actually get all parts needed for a repair. And see if you can find a new one anywhere just to compare.
It is crazy timees in the supply chain for sure right now.

I talked with the shop that would do the work for me. They said they could get me in and out in a week. Thankfully there is no shortage of powerheads around right now. Worst case scenario, they’ll bore mine out and get oversized pistons and I’ll be back on the water.

I may be a little late on this thread but I came across a similar but not as serious as you.

I have an 09 Ranger 619 that had a 225 Pro XS Merc on it.. I had no problems with it, but at 60 years old I wanted a quieter motor… I love my boat and planned on keeping it for a long time.

So I priced out a new 4 stroke Pro XS and came up with a great dealer and did the power upgrade… The new 4 stokes are the real thing and I’m supper happy with my decision.

Good luck with your choice what ever you decide !!

Why can they not clean and rehone the all cylinders and reuse the old head?

That’s what he said.

rjthehunter wrote:

Worst case scenario, they’ll bore mine out and get oversized pistons and I’ll be back on the water.

Dave Koonce wrote:

I may be a little late on this thread but I came across a similar but not as serious as you.

I have an 09 Ranger 619 that had a 225 Pro XS Merc on it.. I had no problems with it, but at 60 years old I wanted a quieter motor… I love my boat and planned on keeping it for a long time.

So I priced out a new 4 stroke Pro XS and came up with a great dealer and did the power upgrade… The new 4 stokes are the real thing and I’m supper happy with my decision.

Good luck with your choice what ever you decide !!

How long ago? Does the dealer still have your Opti? I’m not a big fan of how loud it is, but I can live with it. I already lost some hearing in my left ear from shooting. Makes it a little quieter now I guess lol. I am still working with insurance. But as of now I’m having a reman powerhead put in. I drop the boat off Thursday to get worked on. Said it’ll take a week once they have it. I hope insurance helps. $8,800 kick in the nuts if they don’t!

bigcrappie wrote:

Why can they not clean and rehone the all cylinders and reuse the old head?

Kovash where I’m taking it said they can do it. It’s only a couple hundred bucks cheaper and they still have to go through and inspect/clean all the injectors, new reeds, inspect the compressor, etc. So in the end it’s faster and easier to put a new one on. I’m sure they’ll send this one off to get bored out and bigger pistons then resell it for the $6k they’re charging for the powerhead…

I find the scored cylinder right after a plug change interesting. I’m sure any ceramic plug pieces have been thoroughly cleaned out by now. Have you ever met the mechanics that actually do the work on motors at that shop?

jwellsy wrote:

I find the scored cylinder right after a plug change interesting. I’m sure any ceramic plug pieces have been thoroughly cleaned out by now. Have you ever met the mechanics that actually do the work on motors at that shop?

I talked with him. Younger guy, probably later 20s if I had to guess. I wondered a bit about that. I no overheat alarm, got new plugs and fuel diaphragm. Then I end up with a scored cylinder. I’ve taken damn good care of the motor and the guy before me did too. I drop it off tomorrow at a new shop. Hopefully they can shed some light on to what happened.

I would ask the new shop to check the threads very carefully on that plug hole for abnormalities or possible sand/grit in the exhaust.

jwellsy wrote:

I would ask the new shop to check the threads very carefully on that plug hole for abnormalities or possible sand/grit in the exhaust.

I’ll do that for sure, thanks for the idea!

Update: just got the boat back today. Total bill was $10,300. I have a check on the way from insurance from geico for 9k. The surveyor decided that I had a grounding event (hit bottom) because there was some sediment (sand) found within the air compressor screen. Not sure how he came to that conclusion, but covered is covered! He spent several weeks talking to the shop that originally found the problem and the shop that fixed it. So I’m a pretty happy guy!

Did not know Geico covered that kind of problem-cool

tim hurley wrote:

Did not know Geico covered that kind of problem-cool

Yep, run it aground, and you’re covered I guess! No one really knows what happened and caused the issue, but that was the surveyors best guess 🤷