Merc 4.3 V6 reliability

[tractoman]

I am looking at a 1990 18' boat with 213 hours on a Merc V6. Are these engines pretty reliable or are there any common problems with this era V6. Anything in particular to pay close attention to on these?
Thanks

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Merc 4.3 V6 reliability

On a twenty year old boat it depends more on how it was taken care of rather than the dependability of the engine. Pay a competent marine technician take a close look at. In my opinion that is a good engine. The biggest (serious) problem you will see here with 4.3's is cracked blocks from failure to winterize properly.