Etec Vs Optimax

[Markus]

You forgot the part about mercury using the OMC "designed" orbital injection and having nothing but ticking time bombs. How about those DFI chrome stripe engines? I remember them, what few of them even made it more than a few months on the tournament boats, that is.

Those engines are best forgotten.

Remember, though, that it was the greatest technological shift Mercury had ever gone through, and they clearly had no idea of how much testing would be required before putting the engines in the hands of customers. This was not isolated to the DFIs. There were lots issues with the first year models of Optimaxes as well, even if it was not as bad as FICHT.

Only Yamaha waited until the stuff actually worked.

Clearly, Mercury learned its lesson. The Verado launch, which was also a huge technological shift, was super smooth.

Mercury fixed that junk and moved on, now these OMC flag wavers want to claim that the Optimax is their baby. Yea sure.

Who claimed that?

Ficht is a convienent scapegoat for the poor management and quality control OMC had at that time. Ficht engines work awesome if you get one of the ones manufactured after BRP took over.

Yes. On the other hand, if OMC had gone with Orbital which was a much more proven technology than FICHT, they might have been able to pull it off despite poor management and quality control.

If David Jones, the Mercury guy who the owners put in place to turn OMC around, had had one less problem to fix, he may well have pulled it off before his owners lost their patience.

[1BadAction]

Didn't mean to imply that they were on this thread, but do a quick google search, you'll see what I'm talking about. Those threads just happened to keep popping up when I was image searching trying to find a pic of a 1996 "DFI" mercury cowling.

[mad dan]

there is one here in naples,96 DFI still running they dont make a lot of parts for it.engine is a 3.0 96 EFI engine with direct injectors on heads and a air comp.

[Wayne Cammidge]

Those engines are best forgotten.

Remember, though, that it was the greatest technological shift Mercury had ever gone through, and they clearly had no idea of how much testing would be required before putting the engines in the hands of customers. This was not isolated to the DFIs. There were lots issues with the first year models of Optimaxes as well, even if it was not as bad as FICHT.

Only Yamaha waited until the stuff actually worked.

Clearly, Mercury learned its lesson. The Verado launch, which was also a huge technological shift, was super smooth.



Who claimed that?



Yes. On the other hand, if OMC had gone with Orbital which was a much more proven technology than FICHT, they might have been able to pull it off despite poor management and quality control.

If David Jones, the Mercury guy who the owners put in place to turn OMC around, had had one less problem to fix, he may well have pulled it off before his owners lost their patience.

Merc still had vendor issues with the Verado.
Remember the Float level sensors in the VST.
Felt so bad for Merc.
They try everything to get it right, but yet Murphy still has to show his ugly head

[Mr. Demeanor]

I for one am becoming a disgruntled Opti owner. Having three failures in 322 hours. Compressor one gave up at 150 hours, oil tank sending unit gave up at 170 hours, compressor two gave up at 322 hours. These are common issues, just google it. I have never had a code other than when the oil sensor went out. No overheat, no oil starvation. I personally know so many guys that have lost compressors and oil tank sensors and not just on older Optis. Again, google is your friend to see these are common issues. $3k in non warranty repairs or about $1000 per 100 hours is making me sick. I know there are plenty of owners with thousands of hours without a hicup but unfortunately, its seems to be a matter of luck. These compressors just seem to be very finicky and my last one took out 3 air injectors when it went. The sea strainer built into the barb fitting that feeds cooling water to the fuel rail and compressor is a bad design IMO. Very hard to service/inspect but crucial to the life of the engine.

[ghind]

Does anyone have a direct comparison test for these two engines? either 150 or 200 Hp ( i am considering the 150 HO)

I am well aware that some people on this forum have there own choice of manufacturer but i would very much like objective oppinions.

Many thanks

Phantomuk, to answer your question it would be helpful to know what you plan on using the motor for. To be clear, both are great, reliable, fuel efficient motors. In specific applications, one will be nicer than the other. Which one is better depends on which application.

[phantomuk]

Sorry, but that is a great point!
I am interested in performance. but as i write this i am thinking more about the small block 200 etec.
on a 20 foot boat weighing about 600 kgs all in. both engines have aspects i would like!

[DIwhacked]

If you buy Merc's Opti, don't purchase without extended warranty. Consider that part of the purchase price and decide from there vs. etec. My Opti jet went lemon the third year, $2000 and counting and still no solution why and the Merc service people have been zero help. Merc has also declined any interest in finding out why it continues to cut out at load (which requires lake testing for each trial and error experiment at my expense). No codes on the diagnostics. When Optis are good, they're great. When they suck, they suck very very badly on your bank account.

[scb]

No need to purchase the extended warranty. You currently get 5 year factory coverage FREE. Gimme 5.

It is a BUYERS market!

[DIwhacked]

Yes, I agree, with the extended warrenty now built into the price of the unit, if the price still works now would be the time to buy if you were inclined to take the Opti challenge (risk).

If you do buy one, if you have any service work done ever, make sure that the service center gets it documented with Merc or they will behave as if it never happened when it comes time to show that you've had continuing problems over time.

Once your warranty runs out, you might as well be dead. That is their level of interest in the service history of their products.

[bworner]

Wow, Man you must have been thoroughly pissed by your dealings with Motor manufacturers.....See last year I was floored when I guy I was working with on a new demo 225ho had problems with his 1998 200 small block, the crank shaft had issues and after how long Mercury stepped up and sent him a new Powerhead because they knew it was a known problem with that motor.....Not sure how much companies in this business can warranty after the fact, but if its been documented that a consumer had a recuring problem, that should be watched and warrantied, but if a new problem arises after the warranty period, then I guess tough cookies, but Im sure in your situation their is more to your story, and thats where the frustration comes,.....BRP so far in my experiences has terrific dealings with my clients, heck they even sent a tech and engineer to my Pro guys house to resolve a problem, that is a 5hour drive, and they worked on it at his house, now thats service......