Direct Injection 2 strokes

[ozscott]

Whilst Jabba got lucky with his water issue, my understanding is that none like water and none like stale fuel and it is often very costly (and not a warranty issue) to fix. As a mate of mine in the industry (Merc) talking about an Opti put it...you just dont want to go there. This is the problem with injected motors. I just took my boys out for a full weekend fishing trip and the boat had not been out since August last year...I had run the motor out of fuel and dropped the fuel from the tanks. Tanked up on the day of the trip with BP Ultimate in both and added some fuel stabliser for the next few months and off we went. The 17-18 year old Yammy started within 3 seconds at the ramp dead cold and ran like a dream from idle to WOT and ran out to 63 kph top end when I had warmed it up for 10 minutes first. Now you gotta love carbs.

One one hand I would love to have an ETEC with its super quiet operation or an Opti with its absolute grunt, but you have to look hard at what you do I guess. If I am honest I would have dramas with those motors and probably 4 stoke with the sort of hours i am not doing at the moment, but the carb motor just keeps doing the business trouble free. Now that my boys are enjoying overnighters and are a big help I will up the hours of use again, and then I might be able to justify a new one.

I think the new ETEC is a nice bit of kit and it is inevitable that they will be catching up reliabilty wise to OPTI, but as far as I know if you can handle the extra noise the OPTI is still the pick in most HP sizes.

Cheers

[PADDLES]

hi big e, to answer your question without blurring around the edges too much, there's really only 2 commercially available methods of direct high pressure injection of 2 stroke engines. one uses a mechanically driven high pressure pump with an electrically fired injector for each cylinder and the other (etec) uses a combined electrically actuated pump/injector for each individual cylinder. so the only basic difference is the method of compressing the fuel, one uses a mechanical pump/compressor and the other uses an electrically actuated piston to compress/pump fuel into the cylinder.

"etec" technology is a wonderful thing but it is relatively new technology and only time will tell if the electric mechanism proves to be reliable. the technology used in the "optimax" style direct injection has been around for a little longer but just like an etec injector failing electrically, if the mechanically driven pump/compressor loses drive then the show's still over till it's repaired.

[FNQCairns]

Personally I cannot see the opti/hpdi style of DI lasting into the future, way too complicated in comparison to the etecs design and no avenue to un-complicate, like mentioned above when the etec style is fully sorted, imo it will be the way all of these engine's go....or the last 2st DI outboard design left standing, given time.

[PADDLES]

i agree fnq, when (and that's not an "if") the electronic injection mechanism used in the etec gets perfected, it's simplicity will push the orbital/optimax technology back to the dark ages.

[ozscott]

i agree fnq, when (and that's not an "if") the electronic injection mechanism used in the etec gets perfected, it's simplicity will push the orbital/optimax technology back to the dark ages.

..back to the "black".

Cheers

[samson]

yeah mate have been consistently getting them most trips but generally like to catch a good mix so don't spend the whole trip chasing them but they are always welcome.

[business class]

yeah mate have been consistently getting them most trips but generally like to catch a good mix so don't spend the whole trip chasing them but they are always welcome.

We need to chase them a little more i think

[BigE]

Thanks guys i appreicate the replies, Lots of good feedback anyone with thoughts on the TLDI tohatsu system. seems similar to the opti but in the 115 hp range it's on a 4 cyl not a 3 cyl like the opti.

BigE

[bigjimg]

I was looking at a Tournament boat with E tec 115hp years ago and was quite impressed with all the spin on them at the time,but how long is it going take to Perfect.All the while the customers are the guinnea pigs,thats the way it seems to me.Don't think the Opti is going to shrink into the sunset any time soon.But as with all things mechanical it will breakdown at some point no matter who the manufacturer.You are best going with what you feel is the best deal and backup after sales service.Good luck.Jim

[OPTI]

the opti max is bullet proof ,there only weakness was the compressor ,which has now been rectified with two bearings on the crank ,in saying it was a problem,ive herd of a hand full fail,and mercury just warranty it .the best thing about the mercs in australia is the parts back up and warranty.
etecs are good also but ive experienced poor parts support locally.i donyt like waiting a month for a part.

[wrxhoon]

I'm not gpoing to tell you what to buy, other than to say that I have a 200 opti that I chose for various reasons none of them related to dealer or service, only technical .

I will tell you the difference between the Merc and the Rude , Merc uses low pressure fuel rail and injectors and they use a compressor to itemize the fuel to a very fine mist. The E-tec uses a very high pressure injector to achieve the same thing. I don't have to tell you that I prefer the Merc as it has proven to be more reliable however others may disagree. As far fuel economy goes all clean tech engines are fairly even, some will use more in some rev range than others but it very much evens out. I have smartcraft on mine and I know she uses 1.4 lts per hour at iddle.
None of the clean tech engines blow any smoke. E-tec is quieter than Opti .
I haven't looked in to HPDI because they had to many failures early on when they used the funny shape pistons but Tohutsu use the same set up as Mercs.

As far as oil use goes not sure if Mercs use more or not ( I think they may) but I know the Merc DFI oil is slightly cheaper ( still rip-off) than E-tec oil.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[PADDLES]

g'day opti, i've similar stories about mercury's warranty, they're a big distributor and apparently they back their products 100% and fast. but the simplicity of the etec combined injector/compressor will make it become the benchmark technology for high pressure direct injection ......... when they perfect it.

hi bigjim, unfortunately that's the viscious circle with new technology. there's no such thing as "real world" testing you need to get it out there to see how it goes and to get feedback to modify and perfect it, but you also need to have it reliable enough to not get a bad name.

[FNQCairns]

i think the go here is that the opti is 15? year old technology at the injector and the Etec is effectively 8? year old at the injectors.

The opti uses near 100psi of fuel and a little less than that of compressed air to make a lean burn. It's good stuff and if one discounts the early years when they would hardly run for 30 hours without some spanner work time got it more or less sorted.

But still the opti by comparison has gross wearable auxiliary parts, very expensive to replace, much needed to keep the symphony happening, when it's a party it's great but when the party ends and the engine is used and outside warranty becomes the sticky bit.

I only like to think in old school 15/20 year original lifetime terms with outboards, is there a normally used 12year old opti out there that has not had literally thousands of extra dollars already spent on it to replace orbital specific, filters, sensors, pumps, injectors from any blamed cause.

The technology is fairly well sorted now in warranty after they used the consumer as the guinea pig but wear and tear remains what it always will be....this is the sticky bit for me, they are good engines and even seem no to longer be as electronically governed down (compared to their older tech efi equivalents, HP V CC) to save detonation not sure if the ETEC has found this level yet.

[BigE]

Thanks for the replies, lots of good info there.

If the opti and TLDI are very similar sytems, would the 3 pot opti or the 4 pot TLDI be the go. does seem to be much feedback about the 115 TLDI ?
BigE

[fisho8]

I have got the 115opti on my boat which has done 37hrs so far I love the sound of it at full noise and it is good on fuel. It has not been too bad on the oil so far I have put about 10ltrs through it so far from new just depends on how hard you drive it really I only have 1 speed on the water and that is flat out lol.