What's the real deal on this? The 100 hour old 496HOs in Monsoon soot the transom something terrible. The port motor burns more fuel than the starboard. I have Mercury factory warranty left for a while. What do I have to do to get these reprogrammed under warranty to correct these issues? Can I pull them and ship them off myself?

Thanks in advance.

what grade fuel are you running... if i use higher octane than 87 mine turn the transom black .... the higher the octane the sootier the transom...

Don

There is a recall on them. I went through my dealer though. Call Mercury Marine. Do not put anything higher than 87 octane in these motors. They are designed for 87.

Well, I just bought the boat, but it has only ever run 87 octane. Thanks guys. Are there any Mercury shops willing to do this via the mail? I can't even get a call back from the mechanics in my area that I would trust.

Do a search, merc issued a recall on this for a reprogram.

Around here we cannot get 87 on the water. I have 160hrs on 89 with no problem.