Offshoreonly.com - Raylar- Nothing but problems

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moral of this story .... leave the 496 alone............

why dick around and cause heartache over a few ponies...if you don't mind the risk..swallow it and move on. I feel sorry for this guy..I have heard about others..but such is life when you own a boat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hawks407 (Post 3175703)

I believe that if I had not done the first kit my motor would have made it much longer, and I would not have lost so much boating time.

Too bad we have no way of predicting, that engine could have been doomed the day it left the factory.

If over 700 Raylar kits have been sold already for the 496, Im guessing they would be out of business by now if this was a common problem. I read the whole thread, I think it really sucks that it happened, but I cant see blaming Raylar for all the problems.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hp500efi (Post 3176220)

moral of this story .... leave the 496 alone............

I think that is jumping to a conclusion based on very little statistical data.

I do understand the pain the owner has been going through, but hopefully the second engine will work well from now on.

I would however get the other side torqued to specs too, to be on the safe side in that respect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hp500efi (Post 3176220)

+1 Whats wrong with stock? Ya I would like more ponies every now and then. But I dont want the headache.

This thread reminds me of the problems some freinds were having about chipping their diesels. But thats another topic and I dont want to open up a can of worms. :evilb:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDFever (Post 3176194)

Few things you might be missing.

1. By and large, the majority of boat owners never get on this site and post issues or complaints. All of us on here are a minority in the sport. I realize how many members there are but I don't think most on this forum realize how many owners do NOT partake. It's pretty easy to loose sight of this or never give it a thought. That alone will heavily skew the numbers.

2. If you spend time around some shops (most have no time or interest), it may surprise you at what you would see. No offense but there is no way it could "add up" to you if you don't spend a lot of time around it looking, poking and being nosey.

3. You may be shocked at a lot of the dense, inexperienced mechanics out there. First thing a guy does after he buys a kit is try to find someone who will install it at a "perceived" discount. Or he hunts down a shop that says "yeah, we'll have it going by the long weekend for you". The scenarios are literally endless. If you have a nice boat, nice stuff to install but have an "average" guy, you're in trouble.

I was at a local Mercury Dealer here in SD the other day grabbing some parts. Lots of nice, low hour stuff torn to chit.

Some within the warranty barely. Lots just outside the warranty. It happens.

I completely understand that chit happens. I am mechanically inclined and spent my younger days building bb chevys running on alcohol for 1/4 mile drags. Spent a lot of time at the machine shop that sponsored my car. My point is there are a lot of people out there that are clueless (not necessarily saying your are Brad :kiss:) when it comes to engines and when they read on a website these engine 'kits' will 'raise the level of reliability', they may actually believe it. How can a BCK-103 kit increase reliability when using stock pistons? Now upgrading to the forged piston kit may be another story. I just think if this was pointed out in the first place things may have turned out differently. My 2 cents.

BTW, I think Ray really did what he could once things went to chit and I am really sorry to hear about the family medical issues.

[QUOTE=capt2130;3176325]+1 Whats wrong with stock?

Now what fun would that be ?:lolhit::party-smiley-004:

[QUOTE=RunninHotRacing158;3176371]

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3176325)

+1 Whats wrong with stock?

Now what fun would that be ?:lolhit::party-smiley-004:

exactly...but sometimes ya just want to go and not really worry boat nuken a motor or drive...I say buy two... one turn key and one that ya just do whatever with to haul azz in!!:coolcowboy:

I'm glad that I listened to everyone telling me not to bother with the 496, so I bought a low hour '07 vintage 525 EFI from an OSO member for $20,000 and sold the 496 for $8,000. I shipped it to Germany! IMO the 496 is a white elephant and I don't see much use for it. Nothing personal Ray, JMO.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thirdchildhood (Post 3176675)

It's a great engine for what it is. I had one for three years and it gave me nothing but reliable boating pleasure with reasonable performance. It's not a racing engine and wasn't designed to be upgraded, that's why there are purpose built bigger hp engines. I wanted to go faster but couldn't see tinkering with the 496 so I just sold the boat and bought something else. My attitude was that I wanted to GO BOATING, not F around with engine issues and miss what few months we have in the northeast dicking around with engine repairs/mods.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indy (Post 3176676)

True that. The 525 gave me a solid 10 mph increase and tons more acceleration. I also feel that it is up to the task of running hard for extended periods. Are folks picking up 10 mph with the Raylar kit?

edit: I don't want to turn this into a 496 or Raylar bashing thread. Some folks want to work with the 496 and Raylar has certainly done the research on how to get more out of them other than just bolting on a SC. I'm just tossing in my 2 cents. (which is probably only worth one cent!) :)