REFreshing Your BIG BLOCK MERC’S With Mercury Racing’s Factory Refresh Service

The big thing is to run a valve lash check every 15 to 25 hours. The valve lash is a huge indicator of whether any problems exist,” pleaded Mercury Racing’s Race Shop Lead Man, Dan Koch (pron. “cook”). Dan was responding to my question as to how do you know if your engines need refreshing or not. “The valve train is commonly the weakest link,” he continued. “The valve lash is critical. You can read so much from the lash.”

Power Boating Canada Publisher, Bill Taylor, had just sent his two year old 1075 SCi’s back to Mercury Racing to have them put through the now year-and-a-half-old “Factory Fresh” engine refresh service program set up for 850, 1075, and 1200 SCi sterndrive engine packages. We wanted to know what it all entailed.

“The biggest problem,” piped in Race & Refresh Manager, Jim Goerlitz, “is that our customers often wait too long – until something is broken. And then it really gets expensive. The rule of thumb,” he says, “is after about 100 - 120+ hours on an 850 and a 1075, and 75 hours on a 1200. But that really depends on usage – how rough the motors are being treated – how much full throttle usage.” So it really boils down to Dan Koch’s recommendation to regularly check the valve lash as an indicator of the overall “health” of your motors as to whether something should be done soon before a major problem occurs.

The process of a “Factory Refresh” is pretty straightforward. Simply contact your local Mercury Racing dealer, or your OEM boatbuilder if you purchased directly. They will contact Jim Goerlitz to arrange a convenient timetable. As part of the overall program, Mercury Racing will arrange pre-paid shipping crates into which the dealer/OEM will send the motors, with transmissions attached, to the Fond du Lac, WI, Plant 36 Headquarters of Mercury Racing. From there, the magic begins.

“We have five technicians in the shop qualified to work on this product,” says Dan. “One guy and one guy only is assigned to the engine. He completely takes it apart, makes out his report, and eventually puts it all back together again. We have cylinder head specialists who will do their thing but then it is given back to the assigned tech who basically does it all from start to finish.”

The refresh program and its retail price of $22,810. per engine is based on the engine being in good runable condition and that the prescribed maintenance program has been followed. The engine is taken down to the bare cylinder block. The block, crankshaft, and other rotating components are all washed and magnafluxed to ensure metallurgical integrity. The cylinders are honed and the combustion chambers glass-beaded to polish everything to like-original condition.

Certain rotating components such as camshaft, pistons, and rings are replaced as are intake & exhaust valves, retainers, seals, locks, rocker arms, and lifters, etc. Filters, spark plugs, high tension leads, sea pump impeller kit, and belts are all replaced, along with miscellaneous gaskets, seals, hoses, and hardware – in other words, pretty well everything that is needed to bring the motor back to like-new condition. If anything out of the ordinary is found that is not part of the normal refresh program, such as a hairline crack in the block or heads, or worn valve seats, guides, or main bearings, etc., the customer is called to obtain approval to rebuild / repair / replace as deemed necessary. Extra parts or labor are never indiscriminately added. The customer is always consulted. 

Finally, the supercharger is inspected and updated with new snout bearings and seals. Depending on the situation, engine upgrades are often added at no charge especially if peak engine performance is involved. Once the long-block assembly is complete, it goes through Mercury Racing’s electrostatic, high-solid, polyurethane paint process to bring it back to like-new condition. At this point, if it is a 1075 SCi or 1200 SCi, the customer may choose to take advantage of the relatively new “Color Your Merc” program which gives you a choice of seven colors for your engines to co-ordinate with your boat graphics. This engine color choice is also available for 525 EFI’s, as well as 600, 662, and 700 SCi’s, as well as the 1075 and 1200 SCi’s.

All of the parts replaced under the Refresh program are covered identically to Mercury Racing’s original engine warranties – 180 days for 850SCi’s; 90 days for 1075 SCi’s; and no warranty for 1200 SCi’s. All labor carries a 30-day warranty.

What About Your Drives? 

You plan to get your engines refreshed, but have you given any thought to your drives? “It’s smart to do the drives at the same time as the motors,” says Clay Gaillard, Manager of Mercury Racing’s famous X-Site test facility, located in Panama City, Florida. “It’s just cheap insurance,” he says convincingly. “They should be looked at after about the same intervals as the engines anyway, so while the motors are in Fond du Lac, make arrangements to have the drives shipped here for us to inspect,” he adds.

Once again, your dealer or OEM contacts X-Site directly. Drive crates are arranged and everything is taken care of on your behalf. Once the dry-sump Six drives arrive at X-Site, one of the best in the business takes over. Jeff Hopper is a long-time drive builder with 23 years of experience with Mercury Racing. Jeff started building drives out of Mercury’s legendary Lake X facility with the late Don Schwebs way back at the pinnacle of offshore racing days. Jeff is recognized as one of the very best in the drive re-build business.

“Everything, absolutely everything on the drive is disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. All gears, shafts, casings – all the big, hard components – are magnafluxed,” says Clay. “Jeff determines from this inspection what, if anything, is needed to bring the drive back to spec. The cost will vary from maybe $2,000 to $4,000 per drive for the opening and cleaning and inspecting and putting back together to original specs., to perhaps $12,000 to $14,000 if serious problems involving gears and shafts are found. But the customer will always be notified and advised of any problems found and gets to approve any expenditures,” advises Clay.

“One of the major considerations on the Six drive, is that the gears on the two shafts mesh with each other at exactly the same time. If they have gone out of spec. and don’t mesh precisely, then the load will be taken by one shaft, instead of split between the two shafts, and that’s where trouble starts. It’s known as one shaft ‘lagging weak,’” says Clay.

The main message here, as with the engines, seems to be to make sure you follow the prescribed maintenance schedule and have these regular inspections performed to try to prevent major melt-downs. You’ll be so much better off in the long run, financially and emotionally!

What About Your Transmissions? 

Situated strategically between the engine and drive of every 850, 1075, or 1200 SCi, is the oft-neglected or forgotten Cyborg 1500 Dry-Sump transmission. BAM Marine of Pompano, Florida is the designer, manufacturer, and OEM supplier of this critical component to Mercury Racing.

Through a special deal with Mercury Racing, for a flat fee of $1,545., as long as the transmission is in working condition when it arrives, BAM Marine will perform a refresh of your transmission. I spoke with Marc Berman, President of BAM Marine, who reiterated the same message that performing this refresh inspection at the same time as the engines and drives is simply cheap insurance to help prevent down-time or a major breakdown. “The transmission can handle almost 2,000 ft.-lbs. of torque in static or steady state conditions, however shock loads during heavy running can deliver spikes well above that number,” states Marc.

Once again, the entire transmission is completely disassembled, and all components are magnafluxed. All clutches and seals are replaced and since BAM is constantly doing R & D on their products, the transmission will be automatically upgraded to current specs. Once re-assembled, your tranny will get a new paint job and will then be tested on BAM Marine’s “one-of-a-kind” digital transmission dyno for pressure, shift quality, and parasitic drag at full operating temperatures.

BAM Marine has been focused on the development and production of high performance and racing transmissions for 25 years building shift-able transmissions for extreme duty and high performance marine applications. There are four Cyborg models ranging from the 9-forward friction plate Model 900 to the Model 1500 Dry Sump which has 11 forward friction plates and is recommended for high torque and high RPM applications. The forward clutch hub is made from heat-treated billet steel and has a hardened key to prevent spinning on the input shaft. All friction plates are of high coefficient, heavy duty graphite composite. An improved material is currently being developed.

“Most transmission problems are caused by low fluid pressure,” says Marc. “We highly recommend a pressure gauge for the transmission as opposed to a temperature gauge as a better indicator of potential problems,” he concludes.

Refresh Your Thinking!

The conclusion seems to be very clear. Refreshing your high performance package on a regular, prescribed basis is in every expert’s opinion, cheap insurance – much cheaper in the long run than waiting for a major catastrophe to occur – and to occur at almost always the wrong time.

Dan Koch probably nailed it down the best. “One: religiously follow the regular maintenance program outlined for the engine. Two: a simple thing like religiously flushing your engine with fresh water every time will save a mountain of internal problems – especially with the aluminum heads. Three: check the valve lash regularly. The standard is 16 thousanths. Too little lash can indicate a stuck valve and the valve can ‘tulip.’ Too much lash can indicate a roller tip on a lifter gone away, or a lobe on the cam going away. The valve train is commonly the weakest link,” he repeated for emphasis. “At the first sign of a problem, address it immediately. But regardless, get your engines looked at from between 75 to 125 hours, depending on the horsepower, and then get your drives and transmissions refreshed at the same time. It simply makes good sense.”

Three experts. The same single piece of advice. Who could argue? 

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