trailking08
New member
Hello,
I think I may have made a big mistake. I recently purchased a boat with a 2006 Mercury Optimax 150L DFI outboard on it. I thought I was getting a great deal as the boat is practically immaculate and the motor has less than 30 hours on it, as it had set garaged since 2013. When I purchased it the gentleman drained the fuel tank, put new gas and new battery in it, and it fired right up and seemed to run fine! My mistake was that I purchased it with only running it on dog ears and did not take it to the lake to test it out (feeling pretty foolish right now)! I took my granddaughter out for its first outing this weekend and it seems the motor is having some major problems. It runs fine at idle and seems to run ok if I slowly throttle up, until it hits around 2000 rpm, and then it starts cutting out and sputtering. Once I throttle back to around 1000 rpm it settle down and I can throttle back up again. It seems to run OK as long as I throttle up slowly and keep it below 2000 rpm. If I try to punch the throttle it cuts out at any RPM. I called the local marine repair shop and was told that the optimax motors do not like to sit for long periods of time and "for starters" as he put it, I would probably need to have all following replaced: fuel lines; fuel filter/separator; and all three fuel pumps; along with injectors cleaned and/or replaced, at a cost of $1500 - $2000 dollars "for starters"! Needless to say I am feeling pretty sick to my stomach, and even more foolish about now! I am pretty mechanical and have the basics for tools, so I started reading some of the forums on people having similar issues, and here is what I have done so far: I replaced the fuel line and primer bulb; I replaced the fuel filter and oil filter; checked oil in both tanks and primed them; I disconnected the fuel line on the mechanical pump and tested (it squirted out fine); I had my wife turn the key on while holding and listening to the electric fuel pumps (here is where there may be trouble, but not sure)! It was difficult to tell if they were both running so I disconnected the power to each, one at a time and turned the key on. The pump that is in the box with the fuel filter (I think it is the high pressure pump) would click and then rev-up as if pumping fuel (I could hear gurgling as if air bubbles were in the line but not sure if that is normal.) When I tried the other electric pump (low pressure?) it clicked but did not rev-up at all. Are both pumps supposed to run when the key is first turned on? Any other Ideas on what could be going on or what I should try?
I do not have thousands of dollars to have the dealer diagnose/replace all of these parts, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, and sorry so long!
I think I may have made a big mistake. I recently purchased a boat with a 2006 Mercury Optimax 150L DFI outboard on it. I thought I was getting a great deal as the boat is practically immaculate and the motor has less than 30 hours on it, as it had set garaged since 2013. When I purchased it the gentleman drained the fuel tank, put new gas and new battery in it, and it fired right up and seemed to run fine! My mistake was that I purchased it with only running it on dog ears and did not take it to the lake to test it out (feeling pretty foolish right now)! I took my granddaughter out for its first outing this weekend and it seems the motor is having some major problems. It runs fine at idle and seems to run ok if I slowly throttle up, until it hits around 2000 rpm, and then it starts cutting out and sputtering. Once I throttle back to around 1000 rpm it settle down and I can throttle back up again. It seems to run OK as long as I throttle up slowly and keep it below 2000 rpm. If I try to punch the throttle it cuts out at any RPM. I called the local marine repair shop and was told that the optimax motors do not like to sit for long periods of time and "for starters" as he put it, I would probably need to have all following replaced: fuel lines; fuel filter/separator; and all three fuel pumps; along with injectors cleaned and/or replaced, at a cost of $1500 - $2000 dollars "for starters"! Needless to say I am feeling pretty sick to my stomach, and even more foolish about now! I am pretty mechanical and have the basics for tools, so I started reading some of the forums on people having similar issues, and here is what I have done so far: I replaced the fuel line and primer bulb; I replaced the fuel filter and oil filter; checked oil in both tanks and primed them; I disconnected the fuel line on the mechanical pump and tested (it squirted out fine); I had my wife turn the key on while holding and listening to the electric fuel pumps (here is where there may be trouble, but not sure)! It was difficult to tell if they were both running so I disconnected the power to each, one at a time and turned the key on. The pump that is in the box with the fuel filter (I think it is the high pressure pump) would click and then rev-up as if pumping fuel (I could hear gurgling as if air bubbles were in the line but not sure if that is normal.) When I tried the other electric pump (low pressure?) it clicked but did not rev-up at all. Are both pumps supposed to run when the key is first turned on? Any other Ideas on what could be going on or what I should try?
I do not have thousands of dollars to have the dealer diagnose/replace all of these parts, so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, and sorry so long!
