mwdill

is there anything about the 575 that was problem prone? and what is the normal maintenance for them other than the nomal.

Pesky Varmint

In 400 hours they're pretty straightforward. The two
little details I found to keep an eye on:

1. Frequently check the supercharger oil. If you lose any
rapidly it's either rebuild or replace the supercharger (and
ask the Blower Shop about any details, and there are many,
on this).

2. Keep an eye on the oil in the housing in front of the
raw water pump where the diaphragm fuel pumps are
mounted. And keep an eye for gasoline in the diaphragm
pump vent lines. If you see fuel, replace the pump, and
definitely change the oil in that tiny little reservoir.

Other than those areas I haven't had any surprises and in fact have had superb reliability. In October we ran a poker run nearly 20 miles on Havasu at nearly full throttle, not a drop of oil in the bilge. Still perform like the day I bought them.

Pesky Varmint

zahndok

Pesky Varmit

How many hours did you get before a blower rebuild? I'm hearing about 150-175hrs. from others. Is that about the same for you? I'm at 155hrs and trying to decide whether to send it in this winter to the blower shop. I have no obvious signs of blower failure.

alicat

I had my blowers sent to the blower shop around 150 hours. One was full of gas and the other wasn't far behind. The blower shop will tell you how bad those blowers were made and it looks like they are correct.

racin fever

Flat tappet hydraulic cams wear out prematurely due to low idle rpm at start up.

Steve Zuckerman

Racin,
My engine goes through a start up cycle that goes:
1500 RPM for at least 15 seconds, 1000 RPM for another 10, and then finally settles in at 750 to 800 RPM. It always does this even if it's warm, so I don't get "low idle rpm at start up".
I've never heard of this being a problem on 575s. Can you explain what you are talking about? A friend and I both have 575s with over 300 hours and have never seen this.
Steve

racin fever

Steve.
The reason why you haven't heard of this problem is probably because of your religious start up cycle. Most of them do not idle that well. The 575's are the only
engines that mercury still uses a flat tappet cam. Flat tap-
pet cams are high in friction relying only on oil splash to lubri-
cate cam lobes. The cam's are short lived. If you start to hear
tappet noise in your engine it may be time to retrofit with a nice hydraulic roller set up. The good news is there's more
power to be had with this change.

Steve Zuckerman

Racin,
I have been considering swapping for a complete hydraulic cam and kit anyway for performance reasons. You are correct, it's the only "blue" motor with a flat tappet. Have you swapped one out? What did you go to, and how did it work?
My only concern with this upgrade is getting the ECU reflashed properly. I've had AZSM do it once, with their boost kit, and it works fine. I've also added a Whipple intercooler, and cranked up the boost to 7PSI. It's working very well.
Thanks for your input.
Steve

Pesky Varmint

One of my blowers has never been touched (reminder: 400 hours). The other blower went in the second season (around
200 hours).

No evidence of any cam wear. No noise, perform like the day I bought them (still get the RPM and speed we always have).
I thought the reason they used flat tappets was because the cam was so mild, which in theory means the rest of the valvetrain also leads an easy life. The engine builders I consulted with that on agreed. These engines only see 5200 rpm tops (stock at least). AZ Speed and Marine re-flashed ours and took the limiter to 5400, but I can't get them there.
Never heard of anyone with 575SCi with any cam/lifter issue.

Pesky Varmint

Cattitude

The sealed brgs on the backside of the rotors are small and not up to task- mine failed after 143 hrs and took the rest of the blower with it. IF I were to keep running that blower I would look into better brgs and change them every 100 hrs/2seasons- cheap maint vs the alternative.