OX66 250

[Saltyone]

Looking at a 2000 Grady with the original OX66 250s.

Doing some reading, sounds like they are pretty bullet proof engines with proper maintenance.

They have less than 500 on power heads. 2400 on lowers.

I'd obviously have a compression check done, but with that many hours on the lowers, would that be a concern or would I want to anticipate a repower in the near future?

Thanks

 

[seasick]

How do they know the hours on the LUs? were older LUs swapped in or did the motor have 2400 hours and then the power heads were replaced? ( I would be more concerned about what the reason for the powerhead replacement was as opposed to the age of the LUs.


Yes, the SX is a bulletproof motor assuming it wasn't abused and was maintained, but how do you tell? Maintenance logs is one way but I don't know a lot of folks who keep a log. ( Yes, I do)
Often with motors that old, there is little value, a lot of which is in the LUs normally. In your case, the LUs have a lot of mileage on them.
On the motor bracket in that model year range there was a decal with the motor serial number and date of manufacturer. I would be curious to know what that decal says

 

[Saltyone]

How do they know the hours on the LUs? were older LUs swapped in or did the motor have 2400 hours and then the power heads were replaced? ( I would be more concerned about what the reason for the powerhead replacement was as opposed to the age of the LUs.


Yes, the SX is a bulletproof motor assuming it wasn't abused and was maintained, but how do you tell? Maintenance logs is one way but I don't know a lot of folks who keep a log. ( Yes, I do)
Often with motors that old, there is little value, a lot of which is in the LUs normally. In your case, the LUs have a lot of mileage on them.
On the motor bracket in that model year range there was a decal with the motor serial number and date of manufacturer. I would be curious to know what that decal says

I'm guessing the LU's are original, and the power heads were replaced when the LU's were at 1900 hours. I'll see what i can find out on the decal.

 

[seasick]

I was curious how the owner knew how many hours were on either. He could have had the ECU dumped regularly. I just find it odd that a seller would state the LU hours Perhaps the deal is that the motors had the power units replaced at 1900 hours and have added 500 hours since then.

 

[Saltyone]

I was curious how the owner knew how many hours were on either. He could have had the ECU dumped regularly. I just find it odd that a seller would state the LU hours Perhaps the deal is that the motors had the power units replaced at 1900 hours and have added 500 hours since then.

Thats what I'm thinking. I've heard you cant check the hours in the control module, but it would display the hours on the gauges correct?

 

[seasick]

Thats what I'm thinking. I've heard you cant check the hours in the control module, but it would display the hours on the gauges correct?

Some SXs have a computer that stores the hours and can be dumped with the Yamaha Diagnostic tool. I am not sure which models and years though. I know my SX150 does not store hours.
As to external hour meters unless there is an actual data feed from the motor to the gauge, many hours meters are just clocks that when either the ignition is powered on or sometimes, spark is being generated, the meter counts time.
I would not put any faith at all in elapsed time readings.

 

[Saltyone]

Was told that one motor lost a bearing. The other had a head gasket fail and was recommended to replace the powerhead.

Powerheads were replaced about a year apart from each other.

 

[Saltyone]

How do they know the hours on the LUs? were older LUs swapped in or did the motor have 2400 hours and then the power heads were replaced? ( I would be more concerned about what the reason for the powerhead replacement was as opposed to the age of the LUs.


Yes, the SX is a bulletproof motor assuming it wasn't abused and was maintained, but how do you tell? Maintenance logs is one way but I don't know a lot of folks who keep a log. ( Yes, I do)
Often with motors that old, there is little value, a lot of which is in the LUs normally. In your case, the LUs have a lot of mileage on them.
On the motor bracket in that model year range there was a decal with the motor serial number and date of manufacturer. I would be curious to know what that decal says

Attached a picture of the serial number.

Also attached some pictures of the transom and specifically the aluminum bang cap. Looks like 2 pieces were used and maybe slid under? Also looks like the aluminum has been damaged or forced around the mounting area and maybe some deck screws to secure it between the engines? No silicone visible at all for sealing as well.

 

[seasick]

There should be a second decal with the manufacture date. No big deal.

It is tough to get the whole picture about what is going on and what work was done but I see things that make me need to see more.
In the first pic, I don't know what those hoses or cables are but both have damage from abrasion it seems.

What the heck is rusting in pics 3 and 4?
The last pic of the transom cap looks like tit has been crushed, either on purpose to clear something or due to an issue with the coring when the engine bolts were tightened.

All these things could have a simple explanation or could be signs of a poor repair. It needs a serious look.

 

[Chessie246G]

There is an expression that fits here. Rode hard and put away wet. I would walk away from this one. Unless you can get it dirt cheap.

Looks like a lot of corners have been cut....

Bang cap looks horrible. Possible transom replacement.
Corrosion everywhere. cheap deck hardware.
Engine mounts seem to have sunk into transom.

I wouldn't buy unless you are prepared to replace the transom and a full repower. Not that they wouldn't last, I question how well they were taking care of. Just by looking at other items This owner is more of a fix what breaks instead of maintaining what is working.

 

[Saltyone]

There is an expression that fits here. Rode hard and put away wet. I would walk away from this one. Unless you can get it dirt cheap.

Looks like a lot of corners have been cut....

Bang cap looks horrible. Possible transom replacement.
Corrosion everywhere. cheap deck hardware.
Engine mounts seem to have sunk into transom.

I wouldn't buy unless you are prepared to replace the transom and a full repower. Not that they wouldn't last, I question how well they were taking care of. Just by looking at other items This owner is more of a fix what breaks instead of maintaining what is working.

Yeah, he's definitely asking more than I would have expected (60K). I've seen same model boats with newer repowers for less than he is asking.

 

[Saltyone]

There should be a second decal with the manufacture date. No big deal.

It is tough to get the whole picture about what is going on and what work was done but I see things that make me need to see more.
In the first pic, I don't know what those hoses or cables are but both have damage from abrasion it seems.

What the heck is rusting in pics 3 and 4?
The last pic of the transom cap looks like tit has been crushed, either on purpose to clear something or due to an issue with the coring when the engine bolts were tightened.

All these things could have a simple explanation or could be signs of a poor repair. It needs a serious look.

It looks like the 2 hoses/cables are maybe rubbing on the bang cap, but not sure what those are for.

The rusting looks like maybe some cheap hardware on the back of the fold down transom?

As far as the transom cap, to me it looks like it was "fabricated" (putting it nicely) to clear something

 

[SkunkBoat]

Looks like a 265x?

If he can get 60K for that I'll sell you mine for 100k

don't worry about hour numbers...the motors are OLD and they will suck money on trim & tilt rods that are probably pitted and then nickel & dime everything else.
Good that they were rebuilt but how much was done. Internal anodes replaced and cooling channels cleaned?
Price them assuming they will cost you $1000 a year to keep running and you will be down while you are fixing them.
steering pivots could be bound up with dry grease.


If they run great they will get 1 mpg at 30 mph. Seriously. And burn a lot of oil that cost$.

The transom cap was replaced. Not a particularily great job.

The tailgate is missing the gas shock. The nuts are rusting in that spot.

Fuel Tanks replaced?

Price the motors. I sold my pair of well running ox 225s for $5500.
Price the boat.

265 is a great boat. Worth a refit and repower if you get it at a reasonable price. If you are looking at a 265 I assume you want to run offshore. You need to lose the OX66s.

 

[Saltyone]

Looks like a 265x?

If he can get 60K for that I'll sell you mine for 100k

don't worry about hour numbers...the motors are OLD and they will suck money on trim & tilt rods that are probably pitted and then nickel & dime everything else.
Good that they were rebuilt but how much was done. Internal anodes replaced and cooling channels cleaned?
Price them assuming they will cost you $1000 a year to keep running and you will be down while you are fixing them.
steering pivots could be bound up with dry grease.


If they run great they will get 1 mpg at 30 mph. Seriously. And burn a lot of oil that cost$.

The transom cap was replaced. Not a particularily great job.

The tailgate is missing the gas shock. The nuts are rusting in that spot.

Fuel Tanks replaced?

Price the motors. I sold my pair of well running ox 225s for $5500.
Price the boat.

265 is a great boat. Worth a refit and repower if you get it at a reasonable price. If you are looking at a 265 I assume you want to run offshore. You need to lose the OX66s.

Yeah, mostly nearshore, but do a few offshore runs when the albacore show up.

 

[Chessie246G]

My single OX66 250 gets approx 1.5 mpg on a good day. Plus 20$ every 50 gallons of fuel for 2 stroke oil.

60k seems way over priced. 60k now. possibly 6-10k for transom and 25-30k x2 for a repower.

I think you can find a better cared for boat, turn-key, ready to go for much less than that investment.

 

[dogdoc]

My Marlin with 1998 OX250s gets 1.3 mpg at 30mph cruise when trimmed perfect. Plus the oil. The annual cost mentioned is real and no matter how much I pay attention something always seems to show up. Little things get a bandaid and batched up so as to not keep me off the water every other week. Its the big engine stuff that kills me as I have no trailer and so boat must be pulled and blocked to work on it (twice in 3 years/ 300 hours). I hope you are handy because if not your mechanic just got an annuity. Even with all that for what I paid it has been good value. I am always checking the repower market and hoping things get better before to long, but in the meantime TLC and good observation keeps me on the water.

 

[Saltyone]

So I went and looked at the boat over the weekend. Pretty clean overall, but the engine covers definitely look aged. When the powerheads were replaced, it also got new fuel lines and some other parts.

The rust on the fold down transom is from the cheap hardware on the transom shock mounts. He took the shock off, because the bait station and rod holders he had made to fit in the transom was to heavy.

He did mention one of the lower units fluid will foam up, which is a bit of a concern.

The wires off the stern that have abrasion on them are for the transducer and speed wheel.

I told him I thought he was quite a bit overpriced with his asking.

I'll just keep looking. Will be putting my Northriver up for sale in the next few weeks, so would like to have a boat in mind by then.

 

[Delta2020]

Not sure the model your looking at but I would run from that boat.Engines were awesome in there day but big gas hogs along with the high price of oil.I had the same motor but it time and I replaced it with a Yamaha 300 half the gas no oil or smell.I also replaced the transom that looked ok until it was opened up cost was 8K .Currently selling on this site 268 Islander w 300 awesome

 

[Saltyone]

If i was to pick this boat up for a decent price and repower. Has anyone recently done a repower with twin zuke 200s? A little research has shown its in about the 35-40k range?

Are these OX66 250s worth anything in the used department?

 

[dogdoc]

May 2020 I was given a 35-38 k all in for 2 250 hps , think they said that included about 5k for my motors 250 ox66. Wish I had done it then. They may give you a number but I hear you wait forever to get the motors