real or fake 496 HO ??
 

A friend of mine ordered a brand new "496HO" in his local boat shop

Instead of a genuine Merc 496 HO he received a "Marinepower" 496 HO :mad: :mad:

As far as I know, internal parts should be the same as the real 496HO and it should fit to a merc gimball / drive

What / were are the differences ??

Marinepower 496's sells for +- 7000 usd... Merc 496 HO at least twice the cost....

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

If it was me writing the check... I would NOT accept that.

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I fully agree with you but he already paid 50% deposit when ordering :mad:

The seller / orderform is really "tricky".... :mad:

On the orderform is marked brand new 496HO / 425 HP by marinepower usa...

But in Europe,CIS, Africa and Midlle East ALL genuine mercury / mercruiserparts (so all Brunswick stuff) is exclusively imported / distributed by MARINEPOWER

Marinepower inc belongs to the Brunswick company

www.marinepower.com

while these engines are distributed by www.marinepowerusa.com

Any help / advise is really appreciated :D

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I Just Got Off The Phone With A Friend That Is The Son Of The Original Owner Eddie Albright. He Said That There Are No Difference. If You Would Like To Call Him You Cam Pm Me And I Will Give You His Number.

IT IS THE SAME ENGINE. ALL THE PARTS ARE THE SAME. JUST DOES NOT SAY MERCRUISER ON IT. MARINE POWER BUILDS GOOD ENGINES.

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I'm sure it's fine, I'm just considering resale. I'm sure that would deter prospective buyers.

From looking it doesn't look like it has the pump to drain the block.

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I Am Not Sure Why That Engine Does Not Show The Pump. I Do Remember In May When I Was At The Shop In La All The Engines Had The Pump. They Use Gm Crate Motors And Marinize Them And Change The Cam I Believe. Not 100 Percent Sure.

I Grew Up With The Son Of The Owner And Have Never Seen Any Thing Bad From Marine Power.

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

It's not real pretty, but Marinepower is rated high in customer satisfaction surveys.

I like the fact that the exhaust manifolds are fresh water cooled. They will last a lot longer than the Merc raw water cooled aluminum (especially in salt water), but I bet that engine weighs more than the Merc 496HO.

I prefer the PCM555 system that Merc uses rather than the MEFI4 EFI system that Marinepower uses due to better self preservation, self diagnostic and fault code storage systems. Also, the Marinepower engine is Batch Fire Injection compared to Mercs Sequential Port Injection.

It may also be harder to get parts and service for the Marinepower engine than the Mercruiser.

Dave

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

Doesn't GM build all of the new 496 stuff, if so they should all be the same right? Parts availabilty too?

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I would mainly agree with you.. :) Not a bad unit, but all of the parts added to the long block are NOT the same as mercs... Jamie

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

I thought GM / Marinepower?? uses from 2006 the MEFI 5 ECU

http://www.gm.com/automotive/gmpower...100_marine.pdf

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

though the longblock assy is probably the same.....the dress is completley different, i see a crank driven seawater pump ......looks like old volvo stuff....

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

The ECM that is bolted on the back of the engine in the picture looks to be the MEFI3/4 style. I've read that Indmar is the first to use the MEFI5 ECM (which looks a lot different), but I don't know about Marinepower.

Dave

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

This is from the FAQ page on their web sight:
"What's the difference between Mercury and Marine Power Engines?
Both Mercury and Marine Power purchase their major raw materials and components from General Motors. Items such as base engines and EFI electronics are similar in all name brand engine manufacturers. The only real difference is marketing and packaging. "

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

Both engines are fuel injected...that's it

No way you can comparise a MEFI 4 (batch fuel injection) to the PCM 555 (sequential fuel injection) ...

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

My point exactly.
They wright it in a way to make you belive that everyting is the same except the wraping.

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

Thx for the different replys

Can someone confirm that this engine is still equipped with the MEFI 4 system (not the MEFI 5) . Better HR pictures are included

Does Merc uses the same GM camshaft or are they replaced by their own brands ? Someone has specs for the Merc 496 HO ??

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

The Merc 496HO and the MarinePower 425HP 496 both use the GM powertrain HP-2 marine base engine. The differences come from the different marine accessories both use. The marine power uses a different closed cooling system and it uses the MEFI4B ECM which is batch fire. The Mercury 496Ho uses the PCM555 ECM which is sequential fire and it has more protection and engine histororical data in the Guardian system. Both motors should make about the same HP and torque and run about the same. Here its now clearly a cost benefit analysis comparison from that point on. If your freind can receive good warranty service and the motor performs as expected then it will be up to him to decide if the approx. $7000 savings is a good cost benifit. From what you are saying it does not seem as though the seller tried to deceive him on the purchase.

Ray @ Raylar

Re: real or fake 496 HO ??
 

Thx Ray..finally the answer from the 496 "doctor" I was waiting for :D :D

Regards from out of Belgium and Alfred (496power.de)