A local tech mentioned that he was seeing alot of o ring, seal deteriatrion and rod coating loss in several optimaxs. Thought to be caused by high detergents in quick clean and dfi oil combo. He thinks premium plus and quick clean safer for seals and rods or just dfi with a stabilizer and no quick clean. Maybe only use quick clean every 3 tank or so to clean sensors and injectors. Thoughts anyone?
I wouldn't think MERCURY MARINE would highly recommend any product that would knowingly cause damage to any part of one of their engines, I have guide boats that have 12-1300 hrs on them with optis on um Q kleen and Q care in every drop of fuel , they are maintained regularly and not abused but used.Which seal and what o rings???? mabe its the fuel not the additive hmmmmm
.................................................. ...the scariest thing in life is the unknown ...................................
Not sure on the fuel part but it seems to be several different motors from 150-300. It is the seals and o rings that are in the block and head assembly I would say. Seeing as these motor are ones he is rebuilding. Also as mentioned it is eating the coating off the rods. This can't be good. I do not know the uses and conditions of these motors just what was mentioned to me in a conversation.
Well "Quick Clean" can NOT be the issue, IF your "local tech" states that Quick Clean is ok with the PP......Originally Posted by jr5bass
I think your Tech is dead wrong about DFI and Quick Clean.
He thinks it's the fact that there are more or stronger detergents in the dfi than the p+ and that's is where the issues are caused. If the dfi is so clean burning the why do you need qc with it just food for thought. Was dfi even avalible when quick clean was introduced? Like I stated early he has rebuilt several motor and noticed the occurring with that combo of oil and quick clean. Some of these motor are low hours others are mid to high hours. I am not trying to buck the system here just wanting see if anyone else has seen these issues on the internals of other optimaxs. As to make sure I am taking proper care of mine.
You don't have to use additives with DFI oil.......I don't.
I ran the quickleen and quickcare in my tank and I noticed a ton of black buildup inside my prop hub. I switched to Startron and the hub is clean as a whistle. Local merc dealer and master technician since 1971 said he hardly ever sells the quickcare and quickclean because Startron is better.
I use DFI oil and the additives. The main difference other then color is more molybdenum in DFI to reduce carbon. Unless I am mistaken, it is not a detergent.
I have used Startron and it works well. I switched when Don recommended it and IIRC, posted that Startron can be rough on diaphrams.
USN Retired
2020 Basscat Caracal
2020 Mercury 225 ProXS 4s
The black carbon residue you see in the prop hub is the carbon that has been broken loose from inside your exhaust tract. So...black in the prop hub shows that Quick Kleen is working as intended. If you don't see the black....then the carbon is building up inside the engine. I haven't tried Startron or anything other than what Don recommends....but my prop hub is totally clean when I run nothing in the fuel, and black when I use QuickKleen. So if you see nothing in your hub...then I'd assume your additive is doing 'nothing' as well.
2020 BassCat Eyra w/Merc v8 Pro XS (2b685615)
2008 Triton TR196 w/Merc200 (1B505505)
2024 Havoc Alum Duck boat w/ Mod Mercury 3-cyl 2-stroke
0T899507 w/1B728726 powerhead (sleeved/ported/welded chambers, mod carbs/tuner &light flywheel)
Previously owned:
2018 Eyra w/Merc250 (2b525704)
2015 PII w/Merc200 (2b115304)
Brooks tunnel w/Merc 200 carb & CLE l/u motor (A913415)
Ok, now I've heard that having black residue in the hub is good when I've always heard the opposite. Can anyone else advise?
Black in the prop is GOOD . Like stated above that is carbon being loosened and pushed out through the exhaust. I use Don's cocktail and i always have black soot in the prop. . I pre mix so i have more carbon than oil injected EFI's and optimax motors. I don't know anything about startron so i can't comment on it
Well crap, I guess I am going to go back to what I was using.
(Black in the prop is GOOD) Now that's pretty funny. How about run a clean burning oil and have NO carbon buildup anywhere. That would be nothing Mercury sells.
Nor anybody else...
2008 Bass Cat Pantera Classic
2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
I would not alter from the recommended cocktail, and the recommended oil- especially based on the "opinion" stated in Post #1.
Someone needs a better understanding of the engines in question- since fuel (and Quickleen) are never in the crankcase, they aren't causing any discoloring or "loss of coating" to the rods.
Only time I've seen what he described is with an engine that had been run HOT (or without lubricant).
Interesting topic... though it's based on a couple of flawed theories.
Dual Mercury Master Technician- for Mercury Outboards, Mercruiser and Mercury Racing at European Marine in Greenville, SC.
Still consider myself a "Marine Apprentice" after 47 years (learn something new every day).
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It seems like since the oil recommendation changed and a majority of people are running strictly dfi there have been more compressor problems.
It may just be more people are on this site to post about problems or I'm paying more attention but it may be something interesting to look in to??
We actually did a survey a few years back... ran for over a year. Did not appear to be any correlation between compressor failure and "oil used".
Dual Mercury Master Technician- for Mercury Outboards, Mercruiser and Mercury Racing at European Marine in Greenville, SC.
Still consider myself a "Marine Apprentice" after 47 years (learn something new every day).
Mercury Parts, Mercury Outboards, Smartcraft & Accessories, Injector Service, TDR Reeds- BBC Sponsor
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