AWESOME, Sounds like a very nice boat, now If I could sell my Catamaran!!!!!!

I just put my 2001 29 500efi up for sale if you are still looking. I'm in Harrison twp mi. On www.powerboatlistings.com and Craigslist Detroit. Will be on offshore tonight. Let me know if interested.

who is "they"? just curious...

If you type in 525 efi valve springs in search, You will find all kinds of threads on this issue, Then decide if they are offering good info, They are the posters on this subject. I chose to go the replace route gave me a little more comfort. Everyone has their own ideas about it but replace route seems to be the majority. Hope this answers your question.

I appreciate your reply... seems the theory is more rumor than truth? My mechanic, who Mercury Master Technician for 30+ years told me this a not true for any "Blue" motor except the original HP500"s... he told me Mercury recognized the issue early on and sent out a tech bulletin to replace the valve springs at 200 hours because of a high frequency of occurrence of failure... I told him that I have been reading for years that this was needed for all "Blue" motors.... his response was he has customers with 500+hours on 525EFI's that have never been apart... I agree with you everyone should do what makes them comfortable... but this does seem to be a rumor... I find ir hard to believe that Mercury is designing in obsolescence at only 200 hours?