Love & Hate with Optimax 225

[optiguy]

Well we got the boat in the water 2 weeks ago after waiting 6 weeks for the dealer to check for some possible problems with the motor. When I changed plugs this spring, one was badly fouled. So bad that last fall we were 10 knots slower than normalat WOT. Finally the dealer checked out the motor and everything checked out OK. Launched the boat and a test run confirmed 26 to 28 knots at 4400 and 35 at WOT running light. Great, lots of fluke fishing and having fun for two weeks. On Wednesday I took my kids to Niantic to see the tall ships then on to the Race to see a Sub and the Eagle coming in. We hung around for another half hour and watched a couple other tall ships pass by Little Gull Island. I thought this would be a good time to take my 11 year old son over to see the old gun emplacements on the backside of Fishers Island. On the way about a half mile off the island something caught my eye. I chopped the throttle and told the kids to keep and eye out for something in the water. Within a minute we were rewarded with seeing a pair of Dolphins just swimming along. Not an unusual sight for you in the south but not so common for us in CT. Had fun following them for another 15 minutes and off to the gun batteries to keep my amused. Made the quick run home after 3 hours running around and started putting the boat away. Normally after tilting up the motor and shutting off the Batt switches it's time to go. But I just took a quick look at the motor and was shocked at what I saw. Water coming out of the cowling. Crap, now what. I lowered the mator and pulled the cowling off. There was 4 or 5 inches of water in the lower cowling. Double Crap. Salt Water + Computer = Disaster. I got the water out and rinsed the motor off with a hose. Took out a can of WD40 and sprayed it down good and then wiped everything down with a rag. OK, time to see whats wrong now. I start the motor and everything seems fine. After about a minute, down below the powerhead on the Stb side I see water shooting out the side of the Exhaust plate. Crap again. So we go have and I use Mercurys Parts Express Website to get some parts diagrams to find out what I am looking at. I find out that a Poppet valve to control the flow of water to the lower leg to cool exhaust gas has ruptured. No big problem, $8 worth of parts and 2 hours to fix standing in shallow water. All fixed and the motor runs great again. Am I happy with this motor, yes mostly. Do I trust it, not really. This last problem was simple but why would Mercury design something the might spray Salt water everywhere if it fails and only be able to notice it if you happen to be looking. The Moral here, if you own an Optimax and have never replaced the poppet diaphram, do so. It might just save your motor sometime.
Bill