1997 Mercury 225 EFI reliability

[glfuller]

I'm looking at a used boat with twin 1997 Mercury 225 EFI outboards with unknown hours. What sort of reliability issues are associated with these engines? What about overall fuel consumption? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Gordon

 

[skillman]

Re: 1997 Mercury 225 EFI reliability

For what its worth i have twin 250 efi 2003 model, basically the same engine, both are the 3.0 block. I have almost 700 hrs on mine with alot of saltwater use and they never missed a beat, except for a week or so ago when i had a bad primer bulb that i replaced, but that wasnt motor related. Still the original powerhead and lower unit on both motors. Keep fuel/water seperators clean, replace plugs and lower unit oil, and impellers as part of general maintenence you should be fine. Ive heard pretty good things about the efi's from 97'-03'. But just do your homework before you buy, cause you never know how the previous owner took care of the motors.

 

[glfuller]

Re: 1997 Mercury 225 EFI reliability

Thanks. Found out later they were 98's but I guess that doesn't matter much. Supposedly run good, but we'll find that out soon enough. thanks again.