NEW OUTBOARD

[visa]

For those who were following my nightmare, and for those who gave me advice and who sent me messages I thank you, my dielema is over (as well as my Summer) as have just found out what ws wrong with my outboard, a broken piston, not cracked but broken, with a half inch part of piston missing.

As its a write off (too expensive to fix)  i,m in the market for a new outboard, most probely it will be a 250hp Mercury Verado http://www.mercurymarine.com/engines/outboards/verado/sixcylinder.php [/color]
or an Opitmax cant make up my mind so this Topic is open to suggestions, my boat is a Rascala 24 ft. centre console deep V  Hopefull will get it down in end september, for some lampuki fishing in october and november.

Have to thank Shanook, for the great paitance he took with me as we must have put the boat at leat five times in and out of the water for testing, also George who had a sunstroke because of me as well as Ken (poor catch) and skip for their support during this very long drawn saga. as well as others with their good wishes thanks GUYS.

[viper]

hi,
i own a mercury 90 optimax,just bought this year.i am still trying it as i just finished doing the running in.it seem to be very economical and very realable.i have smartcraft fitted so they give you engine diagnosise every secound that you wish.it seem, from some information i gatered that optimax is more economical when coming for troling.but it remains the fact that veroado is a great engine and you have to know exectly what to exepect from the boat.

[shanook]

hey visa u making me blush........but what are friends for ........i am now a qualified boat launcher and retriever.... thanks to the practice i got from visa, i hope i dont have to pay for the practice sessions???

[skip]

John, sorry to hear about your dilemma and the engine I'm inclined to believe that you may well have broken your piston due to the all that weight you were carrying at the time, just too much stress on the engine and over time it caused it to fail, but I'm no mechanic so I could be wrong.

Wouldn't a broken piston have shown up on a compression test?

The Verado's are great engines, super powerful, smooth and ultra quiet, plus they look dare I say dead sexy! If you prefer to have the option of doing some trolling on your main engine go with the Verado or a four stroke, after testing the Direct Injection technology that engines like the Optimax use I still think they suffer for extended periods of trolling at lower rpm's. Yes they are very very fuel efficient, more so than four strokes in areas but overall I think if you can accept the extra weight of a 4 stroke I would go with that.

Seems like you want to stick with Mercury, but if you're looking at something else the Suzuki 4's are excellent as some of the forum members can vouch for.

I see the six cylinder Verado's all appear to weight the same 288kgs across the range regardless of hp (200-300hp) but I believe your boat is rated for a max hp of 200? Any particular reason you want to go from 200 up to 250 aside from because you are a speed freak?

The engine you were using weighs around 212kgs according to what I could find on the net, so I'd want to be sure that the extra weight on the transom wouldn't be an issue, you wouldn't want the transom cracking.

Does the engine come with any Smartcraft gauges or are they all extra? Everything I read about the Verado's say they're sweet and give very little problems, but I would still post on the US forums like hulltruth and hope you get some decent answers to guide you.

The 250 Optimax weighs 229kgs with a 60amp alternator whereas the Verado runs a 70amp version. Also the Verado has Digital Throttle & Shift so you'll most likely need a new throttle control box to benefit from that.

At least we got that water out

[visa]

Havent been there yet regarding weight. i will let shanook work that out for me. no i dont like the suzuki, if i change from Mercury i would go for a Mariner,  Yes they come with a Smartcraft gauge, and yes u need to change the trottle but if you buy a new engine what a trottle a nice stailess steel one 

I will definetly be looking you up before i buy it cause between you and shanook i cant go wrong

[busumark]

viper do you own a kaptan 15ft and you are a friend of frdyy tal medway. how did you find the optimax. visa if you know chris the manager with azzopardi fisheries has a boat with twin 275hp verada. maybe if you are passing in front of the shop you can go in and ask for him and can tell you about the verado

[skip]

Dont bother with Mariner! Just a re-badged Mercury and in Malta has ummm let's say a certain associated image. You usually find a Mariner on a Speedcraft!!

I expected better from a full ECU controller engined, didnt expect them to be a tad unhappy at say 5-6 knots for extended periods of time and from what I read this is applicable to the Optimax's, and Tohatsu who both use low pressure direct injection, and even to an extent the Evinrude.

Would I buy a direct injection engine again on a boat where I would be trolling from the main engine; NO.

Would I buy a DI engine for a sportsboat where speed, weight and economy were important, Probably yes as they tend to be cheaper.

[visa]

thanks busu will do, although i am supposed to have a trail with the mechanic of mercuray when he puts his verado on his boat. Anybody knows wos boat capsized in M,forn this night?? hope it was not of poor catch?

[skip]

John, check out this site as well www.veradoclub.com

[poor catch]

Hi Visa,
Boat involved in Marsalforn capsize wasn't mine - I've been moored up at Xemxija for the past week. Having bespoke aux. engine bracket mounted and related modifications carried out - Reason for Saturday's sms stating that I'm carrying out fibreglass works.

[skip]

Any updates John?

[visa]

Tomorrow i have an app with the insurance and will take it from there, 

In the meantime managed to fix an 8hp on the dingy and going fishing for Kahli, and think found a new metod for fishing them, with twestees, they go crazy for them, managed to catch a decent five sized and caught and relized six small ones, so [passing the time coast hugging trolling without sucess.