Anyone else have a nightmare story with these engines? I have twin
150 sal****er opti's. Bought the boat used with 26 hours on engines.
Six months left on warranty and called it in for service the first
week I had it for warning lights and rough idle. They replaced
injectors and plugs cost was 600 for parts and service call. Ran the
boat and still had the warning lights and horns going off. Temp and
check engine lights. Try to get boat on plane and they shut down due
to smart system rpm limiter. Back off the throttle a little and the
warnings go off and off I go. Port engine has never ran worth a crap.
So take it to another merc service center to see if they are any
better and they replace impellers and plugs for 800. Engines run ok
except still get warnings, rpm shut downs, and port will not idle if
it stays running it will shake the boat to death. Decide to try
another dealer and they say I have 200 hours on engines mostly low
RPM's (Tarpon fishing in the Boca Pass). Of course they are now out
of warranty and I did not pay the 3,000.00 plus for the extention.
They inform me that the port engine has had many problems from the
time it was new (replaced head). Merc tells me tuff. Called and
bitched and they say they will cover part of the service (another new
head and 100 hour service to both). Well, 1,400.00 later engines
still run like crap. Call dealer and they say bring back in. So now
it is Nov 23, 03 and I put boat in and run it for two days of fishing
before taking back to dealer so I could at least have a couple days of
fishing and fun ya right (total of 12 hours on engines since repairs)
and the port engine blows up. Guess what, call Mercury and they say
oh well not their problem. Dealer says my fault and it will be 3,330
for new powerhead plus labor and other parts. I have owned this boat
for two years and have not had one day of use without taking it in to
be serviced. I live in MI and keep boat in FL. I spend three two
week vacations in FL to fish. I will NEVER buy a Mercury product
again and have told customer service this (don't care one bit). Just
take a look out fishing some day and you will notice the charter
captains almost all run Yami and some Honda. I have no choice but to
fix it and sell it.