Just doing a little browsing around and a few boats that stand out have twin Merc 575's.........can anyone educate me a little on these motors........are they reliable? How many hours before rebuild? Is there extra yearly maintenence due to the blowers? What is the correct drive? When I am ready to step up I would love to have the extra HP of these motors (31' to 35' boat) but I love the reliability of a 496 or 525......am I over concerned or should I stand clear...............keep in mind I am no mechanic.....my marina handles all service and repairs for me............................

good turn key engines 300-500 hrs. thursty
just do a search at the top of the page on the right..all kinds of info

Dependable, stay off the sticks and you should easily get 400 hours. Also, it does love to drink the gas when you put the hammer down.

They're a sweet motor.
Only thing to watch out for is the blower.
They need to be serviced every 100 to 150 hours by a good blower specialist. I recommend the Blower Shop. Very easy to pull a reliable 700 HP out of these motors.
Steve

Just my opinion, but you are better off with the 525's. I have spoken to alot of engine guys and for the HP difference between the 525 and 575 is very little, ( i believe 30 HP or so to the prop) and 525's dont use the gas like the 575. just my 2 cents

The 575's whine is awesome at WOT. Great engine!

Hey John,

We can talk about this. Give me a call or if I dont get dumb, Ill call you. Looks like a good weekend coming. Are you around? I am off Monday as well.

Vinny

i had a pair of 575's in my 42 fountain with xr drives. Put 111 hours on the boat without a problem and the whistle is awsome.

I'm using 3 of them in my O/L and I love them. They are thirsty at WOL. The blower whine at WOL is awsome. I've got about 250 hours on them and only had a bearing failure in one blower. Just replaced it with one from the Blower Shop much better design compared to the Weilands.

Great engine. I had mine rebuilt @290 hrs. Once opened up, I found that I probably could have done another 300+ hrs before rebuild. Bloweres DO need to be serviced / upgraded. Blower Shop does it for much less than $1k per blower.
Great engine. Not really as thirsty as the comments above. I get same fuel economy as a 525.
The throttle response is wicked!