bobl

Merc is handling this as a warranty issue on the ones we've fixed. I believe you'll need to have a dealer handle it. If it's out of warranty then I would contact Merc's customer service and see if they'll help you out. We just picked up a couple of '04 Nordics with the 496's and they seem to run pretty clean.

snopro13

Voodoo, an authorized merc dealer has to send it in. Mine was out of warranty but there was no charge from merc. No black soot at all!!!!

voodoo

Just got confirmation today from my dealer a new ECU is on the way for exchange. Hopefully it will get here for the weekend so I don't have to clean all that $hit off after 3 days of running.

BTW, has anyone tried a K&N filter yet. The stock breather looks pretty unrestrictive, but I ordered one anyway. 59-5005 bolts right on and is only $60.00. It is listed on the K&N site for marine applications. I have a connection at K&N and got a smoking deal on one to try.

bikinilover

Stock flame arrestor flows better air. Only thing K&N does is keep dirt out. I don't see much dirt out on the lake. I had one, didn't see any difference, went back to my stock one.

I should get my new ecm from my dealer any day.

bcolmsted

Had mine (mag) done over weekend...
Sounds better, picked up 2 mph and no soot...
Dealer knew nothing about it and Merc apparently played dumb till I told them to look at this site.

bcoffield

I installed my new ECM last Friday. I have no more soot and no noticeable performance change. I did have a little more top end over the weekend, but that's mainly do to the cooler weather here in the northeast.

Looks like winter may make an early return.

rv

For those that have tried the new ECM did the soot problem go away right away? I remember with the original one that the program was setup to run rich for several hours until the engine is broken in. Then it would lean out. Since you have a new ECM I would assume that it doesn't know your engine is used and would start this procedure all over again. Therefore you are running rich until it reaches a certain number of hours. Have any of you experienced this or know if that rich period is eliminated.

Rick

bcoffield

I had 80hrs on the engine and a lot of soot every time I when out. I installed my new one and the next day I when out for a three hour run and no soot what so ever.

Not sure how the new ones work when motors are new.

rv

Bcoffield,
That is what I am hoping for. Hopefully mine arrive this week. Thanks for the reply.

Rick

Rippem

O.K. fellas...here's my story. 496 HO's. So @*#kin' rich the stink of raw fuel is about giving me a headache. At 3K cruise it's terrible. After idling a few minutes and shutting off, it's so bad I'm afraid the boats gonna blow up! I have looked for leaks/raw fuel in the bilge it's so bad! I run the blower alot! It doesn't stink of fuel in the bilge so much...but the fumes in the cabin can be unbearable! Even an hour after docking (tavelling thru the hull getting trapped in the cabin). The tank vent(s) ARE plumbed to the hullsides as they push air when I'm filling. I have changed engine oil @ 6 hrs 'cause it was black . Fresh oil black (gasoline contaminated my guess) in just 2 or 3 running hours! 17 hours on the engines now. Boat runs well though I'm getting a little tach jump (both sides) @ 3000-3500 rpm which may suggest dropping the occasional fuel soaked plug! What do you guys think? These are '02's in a 353 Formula just bought new. Anybody have the raw fuel stench along these lines...under the circumstances we're discussing? Not to mention the boat seems pretty hard on fuel consumption. It's not my first twin engine boat and I had floscan in the last one, and Formula's perf report with fuel burn specs for this combo in hand. She drinks .