Yo Fish, when my starboard was pulled last summer, and the head was inspected, the mechanic said these where newer 502s with mini domes , and the timing was set for permium. Maybe I was sold bad information, and I don't know enough to dispute. I would say at least the later is true.

I can't remember any stock 502, whether carb or MPI, that required premium fuel.

Who knows, maybe...? Give it a try running regular and maybe it'll cut down on transom residue or.maybe run a tad better

You forgot cost savings!

all Merc black engines are programed to run on 87

First off....sorry for the hijacked thread Verbi!!
Second, Thanks Tom! I trust what you have to say! Now I'm ready to hear the excuses from my mechanic to see why he told me what he did.

No issues, I do it all the time..lol...

A guy has been emailing me on my boat...what a scam this is, attached is his email..

Thanks for mailing back,am ok with the price and the condition,am buying it for my vacation,because i'll be coming soon from our rig as am a petroleum project engineer on a rig offshore,i won't be able to come for the inspection due to the nature of my work,i would have love to call in person but we have call restriction due to bad weather condition our satellite server has been down.i will be paying you through PayPal,please get back to me with your PayPal details so i can proceed with the payment and contact the courier agent who will come to pick it up and deliver it in my place.


Await your reply.


Alex.

LOL... These guys are everywhere... I got one also!

Hey ..ask him if he would like a 300 as well???