Rage

I have heard of only one failure where a Raylar kit was installed and it was a melted piston because the A/F ratio was way too lean. That was because the fuel pressure was deliberately set below the Raylar specified 50 psi for the kit. Not the fault of the kit.

Rage

Additionally a couple of weak points in the stock 496 components are the stamped steel rocker arm assemblies which failed during the GM 100 hour WOT durability test conducted for the GM HP3 race engine program. The roller bearings in the stock roller lifters were also prone to failure after a season of racing. Both these items were upgraded for the race engines which also run at 5400 rpm limit versus 5200rpm stock.

Rage

I should have mentioned that the hydraulic roller lifter bearings that failed were paired up with higher load Nascar valve springs and not the stock spings.

Raylar

Thats one two of the reasons we use a stainless roller rocker in our Raylar kits and we also use special springs on our heads that do not overload or damage the stock hydraulic roller lifters or pushrods. We have seen excellent results from these parts in use for almost 4 years now and it just goes to show that if the entire 496 engine upgrades are designed and tested properly, the engine is an excellent candidate for a high performance marine engine. Our factory sponsored race boat demonstrates this all the time.
In the stock engines, the stock rockers and lifters work just fine up to the 425HP levels and rpms their engineered to. Remember though these are just factory production engines as far as the block goes and we have as well as others seen a few failures in absolutely stock untouched low hour 496 engines. This can happen with any production engine but the percentage of failures in the 496 is far below that of the original 454-502 Merc engines when compared to units in service as a percentage. The 496 is by far the best big block GM production has ever built! Not to say other blueprinted handbuilt engines are not better as are ours but that means spending more dollars for the added reliability of an all forged internal engine, be it 454-502 or 496!
For those boaters who own and operate the new 496, rest assured you have a very reliable strong powerplant and if its modified with the right systems, it will remain that way.

Best Regards,

Ray @ Raylar