Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

Hi all,

I'm new to the boating world and am looking at a old Sea Ray with various engine types. My question is when a Mercury engine gets old 800 hrs + what would you suggest. A new engine or is there such a thing as a fully reconditioned engine as in piston aircraft?
Can anybody shed any light on the topic and the costs, pros v's cons?
Many thanks.

Re: Reconditioned Mercury Engines?

Re: Reconditioned Mercury Engines?

800 hours isn't that much, they should make 2000 to 3000 hours with no problem. It just depends on what care and maintenance has been given to a particular engine.
Warm the engine and do a compression check and a leakdown test, then you will know what condition it's in.

Re: Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

Is this engine with 800 hours still running? Has it been properly maintained? Does the compression test show good compression?

800 hours on an engine doesn't really mean a whole lot. If the owner was neglectful with routine service, an engine with far fewer hours could be toast. On the other hand, if the owner made sure that the engine was routinely serviced, 800 hours could be just a milestone with many more to come in the future.

Many routes can be taken with an engine that needs to be replaced. New, re-manufactured, or used engines are all options on the table. Many sources for those options as well.

Re: Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

zaqzaq said:

...
My question is when a Mercury engine gets old 800 hrs + what would you suggest?
A new engine?
Or is there such a thing as a fully reconditioned engine as in piston aircraft?...

Click to expand...

I would suggest as the others, if it's been maintained properly 800 hours doesn't mean an engine is worn out. My engine had great compression, oil pressure, and ran as fast at 800 hours (10 years old) as it did when it was brand new.
New Mercruiser engines are very expensive, hardly worth the prices.
Mercury/Mercruiser has a factory reman program. You'll find info on their website under the Repower drop down tab. Here's the link: MerCruiser New Repower Products | Mercury Marine They are expensive too.

Re: Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

zaqzaq said:

Hi all,

I'm new to the boating world and am looking at a old Sea Ray with various engine types. My question is when a Mercury engine gets old 800 hrs + what would you suggest. A new engine or is there such a thing as a fully reconditioned engine as in piston aircraft?
Can anybody shed any light on the topic and the costs, pros v's cons?
Many thanks.

Click to expand...

As others have said, test the old engine first but if you decide to replace it here is a video on Mercruiser Plus-Series motors. Basically they are fully reconditioned to like new by Merc.


Mercury Remanufacturing - MerCruiser - YouTube

Re: Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

Sometimes re-man engines can be a crap-shoot, because of the life they may have lived previously. Mercury Remanufacturing is the more reputable source, but there are plenty of others.

As the others have said, 800 hours is not end of life for an engine, so check it out first. You may save yourself some trouble.

Re: Reconditioned Mercruiser Engines?

Ted makes a good point. Although with Mercury Re-manned engines everything on the outside of the block is brand new, most of the guts are brand new and those that aren't must meet factory spec for new, there's no point in spending the money for new engines if the old one's are still healthy. I just re-powered but got 22 years of great service out of my old Mercruisers and they were still plenty strong when I sold them. (were just starting to need a little more annual TLC then I had to give) There's no reason to think you might not have many more years ahead of you with only 800 hours on them, assuming they or it was well cared for. Before you spend for new or re-manned have them checked out (compression and leak down tested) you may well be pleasantly surprised.