Home › Forums › Bass Cat Boats › Sabre/150 Opti Question – Advice Needed
jcdogfish.
I may buy a 06 Sabre with a 08 150 Opti on it. The motor has only 53 hours on it and about 6 months of factory warranty left on it. However, there are a couple of things about the motor that concern me.When I drove it, similar to what the guy told me about the rig, I could get it up only to 5,300 rpms (and it should max out at 5,750). The boat has a 6″ jackplate and a 23p tempest on it. From what I understand, thats the right prop for the boat, but it really had very little lift even when I trimmed the motor up pretty high. I am having the motor completely checked out by a dealership, but again, Im a little concerned about buying a motor that hasnt been set up and run completely right. The jackplate was some crappy detwiler power lift model that looked really thin and “breakable” and nothing like one of those solid machined jackplates, tho, but I guess it should do its job if its adjusted right. The motor also had one of its coils replaced. I am kind of curious about that – Im not completely sure I trust the dealership/mechanic that replaced the coil, but again, I know very little about what goes into replacing one of those things. Is it a simple job, or is it something that really could affect the motors long term health if the job wasnt done 100% right? Truth be told, Im still somewhat uncertain about buying the boat because when I met the guy for the test drive, it was kind of apparent he didnt really know how to drive the boat right. He said hes the second owner of the boat/motor so he didnt break the motor in himself, but still… The only reason Im still quite interested in the boat is its priced GREAT and I really like the idea of having some warranty left on the motor. But again, the motor has always been the most important part of any boat purchase Ive ever made and Im not really keen on buying something that could break a few months after the warranty ends…I do have the option of buying an aftermarket warranty for 2 years for around $2,000 through Xtremegard thats backed by Lloyds of London. Id be able to take the boat to any Merc authorized dealer in the country for warranty work and the boats priced low enough so that Id still be getting a great deal on it even with 2k on top of the purchase price. A couple of people have said this warrantys pretty good and that its not just a “rip off” like a lot of the other aftermarket warranties out there. Ha, I dont know… I guess Im just throwing this out there – will definitely appreciate any/all thoughts you have about this thing.
what about the boat itself, warranty will take care of the motor , how about the boat, trailer, tires.
Too much prop for 100 degrees ! A 21 would probably be the choice for summer, and the engine with those hours is probably in excellent shape, just hot water and loaded dont mix ! If its that cheap you cant go wrong ! And if you didnt have to “drive” the boat its not propped right ! Good luck , D. p.s. Nothing at all wrong with that jackplate, it is factory, and ive never heard of one break. BCB only uses the best.Last edited by dbasketman on July 10th, 2012, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for the input, guys. Catman, Im not worried about the boat itself. It seems solid enough and its priced right considering the condition its in. Im just concerned about the motor and trying to think about this thing from as many angles as possible. Like most everyone else, I just want to get something I can make 20-40 mile runs in and know Ill be able to get back to the ramp 99% of the time. Anyone know anything about the coil issue and how repairing that affects the motor? I wish all of the coils had been replaced but the dealer told the owner that there was only one bad coil and they only replaced that one, but I know a guy that said that his dealer replaced all of the coils on their motor (250xs) even though not all of them went bad.
Is there a big difference in power between a 150 Opti and a 150 EFI? I have a 98 Sabre with a 150 EFI and a 24p Trophy plus and can turn 6100rpms all summer long and hit the high 60s. I understand the props are different as well as the boat design, but I would think he should do better than that.The Optis had a bad batch of coils in certain years and that might be the reason for the coil.
Ctford, yeah, Id think that I should be able to get the boat up to at least 5,750. Like I said, the guy said hes always driven it up to only 5,300 and he had a bad coil a year or two ago, replaced that and the boats still running 5,300 like it always has.The Sabre originally came with a 115 according to the seller and then the original owner replaced it with the 150 opti so Im almost wondering if the jackplate wasnt adjusted accordingly and thats whats stopping the motor from running up to 5,750. I dont know – really cant figure out the reason why its not running at 5,750 with that 23p tempest which really shouldnt be overkill for that motor…Also, when I took that test drive, it was a cloudy morning and around 80-85 degrees.
Not really likely but the RPM gauge could be off. My 92 Sabre had a 150 Evinrude and the gauge never went over 4000 rpms but I was running 60+ mph on gps so I know it was running good.Jim EbarbMany, LA (Toledo Bend Lake)2004 Cougar/ 225 OptimaxHumminbird Helix 12 Chirp SI on BalzOut Mount at bowLowrance HDS 7 at bowHumminbird Helix 12 Mega SI on Ram Mount at ConsoleLowrance HDS 8 in dash at console
The prop sounds correct to me, summer or not. You should check propshaft height, it should be around 3 3/8 to 3 1/2 below pad. The tempest likes height and the cat doesnt need much positive trim (packs air for lift). Single console Sabre with light to medium load 1 person should run 66-67 gps with your opti. Have the engine checked out if all else is good, at least to satisfy yourself. John
Optis sometimes eat coils. I had one replaced on my 07 200 HP last September and has run like a champ since. I had an good mechanic at CR Marine but still, I wouldnt be overly concerned that one was replaced by a mechanic you might not have full faith in. If motor has full power now, you should be fine. Finding the right prop, engine height, etc. is stuff to do later. Just because the present owner isnt getting full performance out of the rig, doesnt mean you cant. Folks here will be happy to help. Someone here may even meet up with you to do it. If the price is right, youve had a mechanic check it out, and there is still some warrentee left, it sounds like it could be a good buy. Good luck.
5300 sounds really low, and no lift sounds really quirky. The engine may need another coil replacement because unless the prop is really damaged or worked poorly you should be spinning the heck out of the 23. Even if it is a very stiff 23 I would expect at least 54 or 5500 and you should have all the lift you need,,,unless there is a very large dead body in the front storage compartment.
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