COULD I HAVE REED DAMAGE?

[jeffadams]

175 standard 2010 Optimax 1B789623. The engine idles and runs well except when it's in gear at low idle. Then it seems to miss and sometimes stall. It has done this for a couple years and I have changed plugs many times to no avail. In the plenum, when you look in the air intake, there's always a small pool of what looks like oil. Years ago, the serpentine belt rubbed when the air compressor bolts got loose and I'm sure that it sucked in a lot of belt "dust". Can't remember, but that might be when the problem started. Knowing that the stainless reeds can break, I'm wondering if that might be the problem or the belt dust could have caused a reed to hang open? Is it difficult to disassemble the reeds for inspection? If I went to carbon reeds, would I need to lap or do anything other than install and check gaps? I read where the stainless reeds have a neoprene surface that they seat against. What would be your recommendation?

[06 SB]

Standard Optimax has steel reeds. I would replace them for sure with TDR Reeds from Don. The OEM steel reeds tend to chip and can take out a cylinder on the way out. I will let the experts weigh in on whether it could cause your issue.

[blackboat]

From my experience,if you have a bad reed,the motor usually won't idle at all plus all the other symptoms you have,but run OK at near or WOT throttle.

[Rip Bass]

My 200 Opti had half of one reed that was broken off,length wise of the reed. I got lucky and the missing piece fell to the bottom of the reed cage and stuck there. My only symptom was a slight miss at dead slow idle,with just a touch of throttle the miss went away. I replaced them with TDR’s from Don Weed,now it idles better than it ever did,I think.Most likely you will need to lap the cages to true the surfaces. I used 220 sandpaper on an old mirror,it’s a slow process but not difficult.Oil in the plenum is normal,there is some oil return lines that dump oil into the plenum.

[jtracc]

Check you drive belt if it's stretched or damaged it will run like crap at lower rpms.

[EuropeanAM]

Check you drive belt if it's stretched or damaged it will run like crap at lower rpms.

+1

Inspect those reeds- strongly suggest replacing them with TDR Reeds regardless. While an Optimax engine may run reasonably well with broken, chipped or missing reeds (at least at lower RPM's), the 2.5L models tend to exhibit a wide array of stalling, skipping or performance problems depending on the severity of the reed problem.

[SilverFox579]

Dump the SS reeds even if they are in good condition...not worth the risk of having one fail and take out a cylinder or worse. I documented converting to TDR reeds in conjunction with my fuel rail and injector cleaning and can be seen in the FAQ at top of this or the 3L forum - Fuel Rail and Direct Injector Removal

[jeffadams]

Thanks for everybody's advice. I will change the stainless reeds out to TDRs and have sent Don an email. Looking at my engine, I was wondering if the air plenum could be removed and positioned to the side without disconnecting the oil lines? Finally, I saw a comment in one of the posts that led me to believe that replacing the stainless reeds with carbon, could affect the engine setup and that the standard optimax was tuned for SS reeds. Will using carbon reeds make any difference on engine tuning (ie: fuel flow, efficiency) other than improve it?

[EuropeanAM]

The TDR reeds that WE sell are designed and spec'd to provide the correct flow and tension so that NO modifications, whatsoever, are required.

Safer for the engine, better idle, and in many cases better throttle response/snap in the mid-range.

[SilverFox579]

The TDR reeds that WE sell are designed and spec'd to provide the correct flow and tension so that NO modifications, whatsoever, are required.

Safer for the engine, better idle, and in many cases better throttle response/snap in the mid-range.

^^^^

This is precisely what I noted when upgrading to TDR reeds in my standard Optimax. It idles smoother and has noticeably improved throttle response and mid-range snap in addition to the peace of mind zero risk of engine damage should a reed break and be ingested.

[jeffadams]

The composite reeds sound like the way to go, especially considering what happens when a stainless reed fails. Would the composite reeds have as long a lifespan as the stainless? Are they more susceptible to warpage over time and therefore need to changed periodically?

[EuropeanAM]

We have had very good service from the TDR's. Breakage has been VERY uncommon, and I have several customers that have well over 1000 hours on them with no problems.

[scstarr]

I have TDR reeds from Don in my 2.5 BIG improvement ! buy with confidence

[JOE54]

My 200 Opti had half of one reed that was broken off,length wise of the reed. I got lucky and the missing piece fell to the bottom of the reed cage and stuck there. My only symptom was a slight miss at dead slow idle,with just a touch of throttle the miss went away. I replaced them with TDR’s from Don Weed,now it idles better than it ever did,I think.Most likely you will need to lap the cages to true the surfaces. I used 220 sandpaper on an old mirror,it’s a slow process but not difficult.Oil in the plenum is normal,there is some oil return lines that dump oil into the plenum.

+1 optis act lil different than efi or carbed engines with reed broke

[TomP.]

Thanks for everybody's advice. I will change the stainless reeds out to TDRs and have sent Don an email. Looking at my engine, I was wondering if the air plenum could be removed and positioned to the side without disconnecting the oil lines? Finally, I saw a comment in one of the posts that led me to believe that replacing the stainless reeds with carbon, could affect the engine setup and that the standard optimax was tuned for SS reeds. Will using carbon reeds make any difference on engine tuning (ie: fuel flow, efficiency) other than improve it?

On my 2.5 Opti when I changed out to TDR reeds I did not have to unhook the oil lines I had just enough room to get the plenum off. I ordered all my parts from Don.

[ChrisCarsonMarine]

On my 2.5 Opti when I changed out to TDR reeds I did not have to unhook the oil lines I had just enough room to get the plenum off. I ordered all my parts from Don.

You can change the reeds on a 3.0 opti 2000 and newer without removing oil lines,we developed glass reeds and crankcase stuffers for these motors,and most 2 stroke motors,Chris

[JaySmithRacing]

Don Weed and myself in his and my recreational motors as well as my 10,500 rpm race motors have 100% success with the TDR reeds , nothing goes in my motors ...

Jay @ JSRE