Leave it stock and you probably wont have any problems with it until 300hrs. The one thing I would do is send the ECM out to Eddie Young and have a recal done. It will correct the pig rich lower RPM and also eliminate the annoying high idle at start. He can probably bump up your limiter as well. One thing you should really watch is what type of oil you use, use oil that has a high zinc content or you will eventually have cam lobe issues. Brad Penn 20/50 is a good choice, designed for blower motors. When you do an oil change do not fill to the full line, leave it 1/2 quart below full, if you have blow by you will be "making" oil...a good indicator that you have had cylinder wash down/ring seal issues. A smell of fuel will be in the oil also.

Change the oil in your sea/fuel pump housing at your first opportunity. Change it often, possibly every time you change your motor oil. Also change your blower oil, that can give you a good indication of the seals, also will smell fuel if seals are bad.

Not trying to be doom and gloom here, just trying to help save some trouble down the road.

when you say catastrophic are we talking total eng rebuild? or a blower rebuild? I gather it would depend on how its being run at the time of it failing and how soon you catch it


where can I find that? I don't mean to sound like a newb haha I'm digging threw the merc diagrams for this motor and I don't think I understand? I thought the fuel system was an electronic in tank pump to a regulator to a mechanical pump?

You've gotten some great advice here. If you are dead set on running it this season (as is), do a leak down to see where you are at. I would then pull the valve covers and check each rocker to make sure they are not failing (needle bearings).

Eddie's got an injector setup that will work if injector replacement is necessary (as they are no longer available).
DMPE will refresh the superchargers.

In my previous boat ('02 with 575's), at 290 hours - the head gaskets were toast, I had a broken valve spring, and a few rockers that were starting to fail. I learned all of this toward the end of the summer and missed a good couple months of boating time.

The fuel lift pump is behind the the lowest pulley in the pic, has 4 bolts, you will see a slotted plug on top, take that out with a blade screw driver and use a spray bottle pump to pump the oil out, may have some fuel in it, then find a way to squirt some gear oil in it. I changed the front blower grease the same way.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]565813[/ATTACH]

ill make sure to check them, are they a needle bearing style?
as for the ITS, does any one know if they are a to the helm hydraulic or just to the transom?

ill have to watch for that, thanks

Pretty sure ITS would be to the helm

ITS if full hydo to the helm

I believe mine were Crane gold rockers, and yes they have needle bearing fulcrum.

I pulled the heads on my 05 model 575SCI and it looked like the head gaskets were within minutes of failing. They were burnt between the cylinders. I personally am a fan of the 575, but if you can't turn a wrench, I would look for a boat with different power. Mine makes over 700hp now and I have only broken 1 drive in a heavy 28' boat over 5 seasons. I wouldn't let the XR drive scare me.