JTeam, speaking of overheating.....another thing i was told is that the merc spec cmi headers do not have enough space between the inner and outer tubes esp close to the head. this doesn't allow for the proper amount of water to flow through and keep the header cool. the header gets really hot in this area and then when it cools down the inner tube can crack and dump water into the cylinder.

as far as pressure testing goes, is this something i can do on my own or do they need to be sent in? i've heard of others sending the headers in to cmi every year for testing. wtf? i don't want the hassle! i just want it to work. and if that means spend 5k to protect 50k then that's what i'll do

i wish we had concrete proof one way or the other but this will never happen because this is your typical finger match. what's a finger match? well we have two parties involved here and both are pointing fingers at one another and neither will claim responsibility which results in a tie. the prize for a tie? more money money kept in their pockets! IMO the good ole days of admitting when you are wrong died with the good ole boys

You can pressure test them like this:

Plug all holes. Look for bubbles.

Third child, thanks that doesn't look so bad. If I decide to keep them or sell them I will be asking for more details on this.

Speaking of selling, what is a fair price for a set of 2005 fresh water 100 hr headers? Pressure tested of course.

Should you be concerned??? I would answer yes. You might have a year or two before they start leaking, (maybe) but you should take the advice of JTeam and Thirdchildhood and have them pressure checked, so the NIGHTMARE that happened to Mykalvballer won't happen to you!

I got a sick feeling in my gut reading his post (and others with similar catastrophic CMI/Merc header failures) and we ALL feel for him and all the others with these defective POS headers on their boats!

If your headers check-out and are still good, then just consider yourself lucky (for now) (!) and open up a savings account at your local bank and start saving your money, because you WILL have to replace them eventually. IMO

It's MUCH cheaper and a lot less down-time to replace just the headers, then to replace the motor(s) and STILL have to buy new headers!

I have an 03 FasTech w/ 525efi's that has only been used in fresh water and only had 135 hours last Spring when I had the headers pressure checked. As it turned out, it was a GOOD thing I did... ALL FOUR were starting to leak at the collector!

I know that I could have had them repaired, but I looked at that as a band-aid type of repair, because I didn't want to keep chasing my tail fixing leaks and worrying about destroying my 525's with these "Ticking Time Bomb Headers" !!!

I had read about the horror stories of guys like Mykalvballer on OSO with these CMI/Merc headers and I'm just grateful for forums like this where so many great guys share information with their OSO brothers... I wouldn't have had ANY idea of what was coming, and I'm sure I would have smoked at least one if not both of my motors, if not for threads like this one.

It's not a repair that I would EVER had expected to have to make on a low hour fresh-water boat. Not that I think CMI & Mercury Racing deserve a pass on the salt-water application failures either...

Some people might consider changing the headers routine maintenance, but I'm not one of them, and I certainly didn't budget for this repair when I bought the boat in '09, because that was prior to the proliferation of CMI/Merc header failures on these and other Mercury Racing engines.

As far as your question about Hardin vs Gen-X, I think you should do your own research and do what YOU think would be best for you and your particular application. Include in that research calling Hardin Marine and CMI and talking to the techs there to see what the benefits are that their newly designed headers supposedly have to offer...

I really don't want to recommend one over the other, because of the long-term ramifications of recommending the wrong one, and I'm certainly no expert, so I won't pretend to be! I did what I thought was best for me after weighing everything out. So far so good, but only time will tell...

It sounds like you probably have some time available to make your decision (I had to make mine in a couple of days) so maybe by the time you need to do anything there will be even more information available and more products to choose from... Like this!




I'm not advocating that you put a turbocharging system on your 525 engine, but it's an example of something that IS an option that will be available for you, that wasn't for me when I was dealing with this issue last year!

No matter what you decide, good luck with your new boat!

If you dont mind me askin,what style/brand header did you end up using,how do you like them,what was the cost per set,thanks..

No "proof" which is why I said that is what I was told. I just remember doing a search and reading for hours(literally) because I run CMIs and several people stated that. One guy even said he inspected the materials and welds on both and the Merc units were much less quality. But agai, just what I read on here and other sites. I pulled my headers this winter and no signs of water ingestion at all. But, I would like to figure out a way to pressure test mine since they are off.

PerfectStorm, thanks man i really appreciate your post! this whole thing is starting to look like a "no brainer" for sure but that's exactly why i started this thread and why i am researching the issue to my fullest ability. unlike some guys who are more fortunate than i am and can afford to consider header replacement part of their annual maintenance, i just simply cant afford it.

i have already talked with cmi and hardin but you know how that goes. they obviously want to sell their products and are proud of their work. i'm not saying they will intentionally lie to make a buck because i do believe they are both great companies. but i like to here it from my fellow boaters who have absolutely nothing to gain by steering me the wrong direction.

as for now i am leaning towards the hardin hurricanes for two reasons:
1- cmi has left a bad taste in my mouth.....sorry
2- hardin are hand built vs. the mass produced assembly line style of the cmi's

a cmi rep from the forums here has sent me a pm asking for my email address. he says he wants to send me info on header maintenance that can prolong the life of the cmi headers. i believe it should be public info so i will share it with you all.

PS,
What did you end up doing about your leaking headers?
Thanks,
Dean

CMI has a video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWGcvwHZSE8 that discusses water flow. There is also a Merc Service Bulletin that eleiminates the bypass hoses. There is one thing I'm curious about for those who have had failures. While my CMI's have been OK, I've certainly experienced my share of failed manifolds. In all cases, I would notice a miss in the engine before it actually did any real damage. Have the failures been so catastrophic that there wasn't much warning?

Single 525 / salt water / flush after every use / Headers leaked at about 220 hours. Caught it before any significant damage. I had the headers welded (at the collectors) and good to go for now. Prior to knowing for sure what was wrong... The motor was down slightly on power. I'm pretty in tune to how its running, so when it's off just a bit, I can tell. The motor would surge at wot by about 300-400 rpm and at initial start up, it didn't have that snap that I was used to hearing. Just my 02. I can't believe that neither merc or cmi will stand behind this issue. They should make a joint effort to rectify the problem and make good on them by replacing them with better quality. Even if the consumer would be reponsible for the labor. Someone should tell mercury that the competitions is closing the gap. And I haven't heard any complaints about the competition yet!