2.5 XS - 2005 - The good the bad and the ugly??

[moatorbotin]

I posted this in General and realized it probably should be here.....anyway.

Considering a 2005 2.5xs. I've done some reading, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info out there regarding long term thoughts. What i've gathered is it's an opti 2.5 on a 3.0 mid, 230-240-ish horsepower depending on what you read, 6800 redline, sporty 1.87, etc.

What I can't find is any information on common problems, reliability, etc. Any reason why I should NOT buy this motor? I understand it was a 1 and done deal, so it's a bit of a unicorn, but by all accounts it seems to be a decent motor given the original 2.5's had been discontinued. Anyone have or running one now?

[Greg G]

What are you putting it on? Used 300XS motors are plentiful now and not much more in weight I'd suspect then the unicorn 2.5XS Optimax.

[hsbob]

the 2.5 is beefer that the 200xs on a 2.5 liter motor using a 3.0 liter lu. by 2004 most of the issues were corrected on the 200xs and the 2.5xs. a 300 will have greater hp but the 2.5 and 200 are optis and the fuel consumption is very low. my 200xs gets up to 7.4mph on a hs voyager and 3.3 wot, that 4 cycle numbers. SnF tested a 2.5 on a STV and got 104mph with 4 people on board. look for the full review.

[moatorbotin]

The motor is bolted to a newer hydrostream vegas. 2006 or so i believe.
@hsbob are you running this on a newer voyager?

I did read the SnF review, was looking for some long term reliability/durability information.

[hsbob]

the boat is a 88 and motor is 2004 , i bought both new. i have another 2004 200xs for a 1997 vegas. both motors have about 300 hrs and are 2 serial number apart. neither has had any serious. before i got the 200xs with o-ring head gaskets i went thru a motor every other yr.

if you could find a low hr 2.5xs i would buy it, just my thoughts

[moatorbotin]

the boat is a 88 and motor is 2004 , i bought both new. i have another 2004 200xs for a 1997 vegas. both motors have about 300 hrs and are 2 serial number apart. neither has had any serious. before i got the 200xs with o-ring head gaskets i went thru a motor every other yr.

if you could find a low hr 2.5xs i would buy it, just my thoughts

I ended up buying the boat. Started a thread in the props/set up/rigging section.

So far I'm happy with the boat.

[tdogcarter]

I had a 2.5xs on my euro...nice overall motor...biggest problem was the 6800 rpm limiter and the 1.87 gearcase....with the 1.75 gears it would have been better as you could run smaller props...I ran the 34 cleaver for top end and 28 trophy for weight and a 32 et with 2 people. If the limiter could safely be increased on the 2.5xs it would be even better....only problems I had was the belt that runs the alternator broke on it....but nice to just get in the water....hit the key and it fires right up...easy on fuel