575's bad rap ??
 

The opinions of 575's are all over the board...blower's too small..runs too hot..does not live..sheez. My thought is to buy a 382 with 575's add whipples chiller and I should be good to go. Are 500's better with blowers and chillers added?? This boat will be at Mead,Havasu and Powell. 100 degree plus temps.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Go with the HP 500's and build them!

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Get rid of the Weiands and drop on some BlowerShop250's?

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

I do not want to cut holes in the deck. The blower shop blowers are too tall.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

The Blower Shop billett 250's are the same height as the Weiand's

I'll give you my opinion on the 575SCI... :D They really didn't have a bad reputation. They work pretty well. But, what I could never understand is the rediculous price that Mercury got for them. (retail for the entire package was 56k!!!)

Inside the 575 is nothing special at all. It's just a 502 with cast iron heads, dished blower pistons, Manley H-beam rods and an extremely mild flat tappet ho hum cam (.559 lift.) The 256 Weiand blower is a low end item and is pretty much worn out by 150 hrs. The fuel injection system is just a pair of Rochester throttle bodies, same as a 454 chevy dump truck of late 90's vintage. Together it works ok but no way are they worth the coin Merc charged for them.

They do come alive with a decent roller cam and a bit more compression. We did a pair last winter and they made 690hp and ran the piss out of them all season.

..that's my .02 :D :D

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

My buddy had an 02 Gun with 575's and it should have been the Mercury test boat. He ran that boat wide open 90% of the time for 300+ hours before finally burning one piston. I am not exaggerating. The boat was either to the dash, or idling to the slip. The two 575's he had were excellent motors.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Never had any issues with 575's,reliability is good because boost is so low so Merc can offer regular warranty.The boost is so low that some refer to the blowers as cosmetic(good to look at and nice to hear the whine) :p But SuperChillers and smaller pulleys can transform that if you so desire.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

they are great turn key blower motors,
i love em in our boat

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

I have had nothing but prase the 575sci is a great motor.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Ditto,

Great Motor, botton end is rock solid, uppers needs attention (just like an HP500) around 200-250 hrs. Send blowers off to The Blower Shop for a rebuild ($ 800ea or less) and your good to go. Ultra reliable.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

My 575's have been great! I have 215 hrs. They always start right up, idle good, and haul ass! They do burn a lot of fuel, and they don't like really hot weather (over 95) but neither do I!

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

A good friend of mine has one in a 29' Fountain with the AZSM boost kit. Other than routine maintenance, he's never done any repair work, at 300 hours, and it runs consistently 85/87.
I have one in a 28' Nordic. A screw fell out of the rear throttle body @ 100 hours. The blower cut it into 2 pieces, 1/2 into #5 and 1/2 into #8. 2 pistons, new rings, and a Blower Shop repaired blower later, it's been very reliable. I've added the AZSM boost kit, Whipple intercooler, and it's been running great (84/85 consistently, even in hot weather). Did have to replace the mechanical fuel pump this year, but that's it.
I think they are overpriced (could have made a LOT more HP with aftermarket parts), but they will perform with minor modifications, and with regular maintenance (particulary the blower), they are very reliable.
Regards,
Steve

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Ours are a pair of the very first ones Merc built! We had to wait several months for these motors when our pache was being built. We originaly opted for the 500's, but half way through the build we heard of these 575's comming out, so we went with them. And so far so good!

Question for the number crunchers, because the engine was so expensive to buy, does the used sale price reflect that? Or is it more that the engine is from Merc?

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

I have had a few issues with my 575's but I wasn't the first owner of my boat so I can't say how they were treated before I bought the boat. Mine have been completely rebuilt and modified with longevity in mind. I'm sending the blowers in for rebuild soon as a precaution. I am very happy with the motors.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Love Them--no Issues Whatsoever

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Mine have a little over 200 hours on them,
I'm the second owner.

Neither of them use any oil. :cool: :D
( the last boat I had that didn't use any
oil between changes had 330's in it)

They do like their fuel.....92 octane, none the less.

The only mechanical issues I've heard of is
with the sealed rear bearings of the supercharger.

Somebody on here had them fail.... there was a
thread about it.

Overall, I'm very happy with mine.

( just don't ask me about the XR drives :eek:
...... they haven't been "maintenance free")

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Thanks for all the help. Sometimes dealers badmouth something they don't have to sell you something they do have. Its hard to take advice when it is biased. This forum is a great source for solid info Thanks Again

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Like Biggus said earlier, a mild hyd roller cam, a touch more static compression, and the 700 hp mark is not out of line. These 575's had just a light clean up on the heads in the bowl area, and a port match. A smaller top pulley that gave 1 more lb of boost, and 709 hp @ 5500, and I believe around 5.3 lbs boost.
Roger, correct me if I'm wrong, I think you've got the dyno sheets. :D

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

I have a buddy with the EXACT same issues. Under 200hrs and had rear bearing problems with one of the blowers. I've seen his gas bill, yes those motors like fuel, not to mention going the extra distance to get to a marina that sells 92. And.... he's had XR problems, both sides.
Other than that, it's an awesome boat and the 575's make it "that much nicer".

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

I have a pair of motors I'm will to make a great deal on. 500 EFI'S with Vortec superchargers, aluminum heads, Arizona speed intake and ECU'S. An additional 40k were put into these 500 EFI'S. Apprx 740 dependable HP. Just Freshened. PM me if you would like more info. Looking to move quickly!

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Frank
I've been holding out on this information. Keeps people thinking how can he get that barge going so fast with mild power. One nice thing is Jeff was able to get that much power out of them without intercoolers. I guess we are lucky that Lake Michigan doesn't get too hot.

The drives are the weak link now but there are options.

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

So whats the issue with XR drives & 575's? and the fix...keep the ass end in the water??

Re: 575's bad rap ??
 

Here's what happened to mine:

Starboard drive: pinion gear started to chunk out,
vertical drive shaft bearing failed.

Port: pinion seal failed.......a month later, upper
gear set bottom gear chunked out, wedged between
pinion, pushed the pinion forward, breaking the case.

I've heard there was a bad batch of XR gears
.....I must have gotten some :rolleyes:

"Out of the water" was not an issue for mine.

I'm blaming it on the "bad batch of gears" and previous owner. :rolleyes:

I put 450 hrs on regular bravo's behind HP500's
and never had any issues.

What is the height difference between a 502mpi and a 575sci?

I had an 02 42 fountain with 575s for 3 seasons. Great set of motors (one of them had a little bit of a personality) but I also had a problem with one of my xr drives. The thing would constantly lose the drive oil over the course of a day.