NXT Drive Problems ?
 

Whats the real scoop on all the "problems" we have been hearing about with these drives ?

Ive done a lot of research on this with Merc and some builders that I know personally and the only challange I know of is with Fountains and some Outerlimits that the X-dimension is so high that the NXT-1 drive runs a little short on rudder/skeg length and thats when they go to the 6 drive married to the NXT-1 gimbal/ trans set-up, they dont use the 6 drive trans for these applications, there has been only 1 drive issue to date that I'm aware of and that was a bearing failure, there were trans issues at first but that was taken care of early on, I'm told by my builder that Merc is coming out with a longer skeg for the drive for certain applications .I hope this info is correct,,,my cat is getting laid up in 2 weeks:eek:

Correctamundo.........and Mercury as always is being EXTREMELY proactrive in working with Outerlimits and Fountain to resolve any issue there may be.

They have also bolted some #6's to the NXT gimbals.

The 700 pkg works fantastic on the Donzi ZR's. I was on a 700 boat in November through the FL Keys and it handled like a dream.

I was also informed from a Merc rep that the HP is more like 760+ which makes sense on the speed numbers Im getting on some west-coast boats:evilb: 137mph in a "Lake Boat" is ok with me,,125 in a 36 Nortech, the 662's in the Nortech at Miami is in the 112 range

Why not just go with Konrad drives? They have a tremedous proven track record.

resale, its what the market percieves as better. Merc motor, Merc drive..

Once you go BLACK you never want to go back ;)

In talking with the mechanics @ Typhoon, I was told that there was a water pick-up issue with some boats high x-dimension and they had to add a low water pick-up. Other than that it appears to be a bullet proof package.

Can't the manufacturers drop the X dimension for these applications?

they sure can but between fountain and outerlimits, every mph counts...

BTW, this drive fails to excite me. same old stuff, the idea behind it is 50+ years old. It still has all the disadvantages of the #6 without some of the advantages of a cone clutch drive. It doesn't push the envelope in any way...

Konrad - There's only one!!!:drink:

I beleive there has been more than a single failure with the NXT.

Do tell, :rolleyes: like I said,there were trans/cone clutch issues at 1st and they were taken care of, do you think Merc would still use the NXT trans in front of the #6 drive on the high x boats if there were still tranny issues? I dont think so in this market place, Shogren ran over 100hrs in his Fountain/mule last summer with the NXT drive with no failures and he aint exactly easy on equiptment

I was an Illmor/Teague/Spectre test dummy last year,:( no thanks, I'll stick with Merc

You are right about that. You think that overall performance would be their goal. But, alot of these manufacturers want to squeeze every last mile per hour out of their boats. That is fine for them, but is that wise for the consumer? I also heard that at a certain poker run, a certain manufacturer ran out of gas twice. All, just to squeeze that extra 1-2 mph. How ridiculous. If dropping the x dimension lost you several mph, but gained you better drivability, handling and maybe even reliability, woudn't that be the wiser choice? Especially now that alot of these boats are doing 100mph+.

Interesting ....

Now , what are the minimum octane requirements on the 700 ?

91

I am not a bravo lover, but do tell us how the experience was with the Illmor motor. Thanks Jeff

This is not going to happen when consumers care only about the top speed number however unrealistic it is. NK

The first challenge, was purely a personal preference, the engines {twins} sounded like a Cummins diesel when coming on plane! and that was with no mufflers thru 4 inch tips. At speed outside of the boat 5900rpm they sounded good but at idle and getting on plane they sucked, The second issue was the powerband, not a real good mid-range hit and if you didnt prop the boat for 5900-6000 rpm instead 5500 or so you lost a lot of top end power, kind of like a 2.5 merc, the 3rd issue was outside temp/heat and power loss, totaly fell on its face when we hit 115 degrees out more-so than a 525 merc, I lost 400rpm and what mid-range hit that I had, 3rd was water pump {raw water} taking forever to draw raw water and eventually failing both pumps, the 4th was trying to sell the piece of **** :mad:

who ran out of gas:p :rolleyes: once oops, but twice turn them in:p

Well, it wasn't Cig or Fountain. And,...that,s all I have to say about that.:D

Bayliner??:cool:

Sure it will. Lot's of folks care about reliability and handling over a couple MPH. Most of the ones that object to that are folks that like to talk big on the internet, but don't actually have to maintain these boats!:rolleyes:

Interesting, I was just talking today about building an Ilmor implementation. I still would like to see them develop their own drive. And I still think the company is on the right track, even though they probably still have a lot to learn. They are good for the industry, even though they probably have some more lessons to learn. I wish them well.

Please tell us what is really on your mind,,,,Dont hold back.:evilb: :evilb:

:D :D :D

These are engine issues, hell it is a chrysler, what did you expect.

How were the drives? The NXT is all about the drives....

My drives were fine ask Nascat about his:( Actually the 700's are important to me because of altitude and temp compensation

Interesting on the power loss. I have found that the Imor actually does not lose any power at 100+degrees vs. the Merc. Maybe you had another issue. Did you contact Imor to resolve your problem? At idle I considered it great. Planning was a different sound alltogether though. I found that from ilde to full throttle the powerband to be unreal. It was nearly veritical throughout and also showed this on the dyno sheets.
Just curious, could you have had another problem?

Im trying to find the article in PB mag where they compared the Ilmor 625 vs the Merc 600. Check out the power curve there. Also I remember there was a missprint in the nexts month issue on the mpg. This is the first negative post Ive read on the Ilmors, sounded like a few things went wrong on this earlier application that soured the whole experience. Jeff

I may still have that since I was going back and forth the engine choice question when that came out. I will let you know later and can mail it to you if I find it. But as I recall, there are no power curve numbers in it. There was a MPG misprint in it where it said the 600 was more fuel efficient.

I went with the Merc 700 NXT Drive package and all I can say is 'awesome'. The mid-range is incredible. I can't wait for PB to test a west coast cat (DCB or Eliminator) with this package. I think people will be suprised by the numbers (if that is important or not). To some it is and to some it isn't. I own a DCB F32. The boat has run 134. I have talked to mercury and what is being said on this thread is true - some Fountains had a handling issue due to the high X. I will never go back to a bravo drive after running this package.

Between 6 Illmors takin a s*** at Desert Storm and other issues I'm not a fan, in regards to the power loss @ high temps its a well known fact in the Lake Havasu area that from july thru aug you better re-prop and I personally lost 7mph, I called Illmor and I basically was told it was normal in our extreme temps 115 to 120 is the norm, I did a side by side comparison on 2 exact boats, 1 with an Illmor package and 1 with a 600 merc, the only advantage performance wise was rpm potential on the Illmor setup 6000 rpm/limiter versus 5375-5400 rpm on the merc 600, the merc had a much better midrange hit and I,m expecting my new 700's will clean up on the Illmor 700's in the same hull, fully bagged,carbon fiber/ kevlar layup in a 32 cat,,, IMHO

I'm buying the same boat:evilb: Clown I was in your boat with Dave this winter while you were testing DeFrees's props, what did you end up with for props? Dave is saying 16.5X38 CNC Mercs

Yes. Those are the props I ended up with. You will be happy with the package. Are you doing a light layup and when will it be done?

That is consistent with what Sunsation experienced with it on the F4. Handling with the NXT was superior to handling with the XR drive.

The 600s (and 700s) computer is supposed to compensate the boost to conditions to always produce the same power. I have not been in enough hugely different temps (like 110+) to be able to know for sure on my 600s. But they do seem to be much less reactive to changing conditions than previous engines I've owned, and therefore more consistent in varying conditions.

Do you know if the boat with the 600s had more consistent power when the advanced temps (110+) arrived in the summer?

Yes, thats when I did the side by side comp, the 700's also compensate for alltitude,,,I go to Lake Tahoe for a month in the summer 6300 ft, the 700's compensate to 4400 to around 4800 ft, I dont know if the 600's also do that

Bagged,light lay-up, poker run interior etc,etc,etc, you know the drill !!! It might be done for Desert Storm ? My buddy Ralph is doing his at the same time with 1100 Teagues/Quads/#6's:eek: 80 to 130 mph at warp10 :evilb: He's propping it like Jensons boat ,,,all acceleration I was in your boat with 6 blade Herrings,how do the Merc 38's compare?

So whats the deal with Konrads?......what is the difference between the 540 and the Ace and is there any topend loss compared to an XR or Imco extreme?