Merc XR6

[mojoputter]

Anyone own or have had any expirience with a Merc XR6 150. Looking at a boat that has one, and no nothing about them.

[boatfixer]

Very good engine.

But.... As with any engine, condition and past service history are what's important.

Its always a good idea to do a compression test if you can. But definitely take a good look at everything, looking for signs of misuse, neglect and damage.

[wastewaterguru]

My RiverPro has the 175 XR6 powerhead and I know from experience that it had plastic retainers on the crank shaft bearings. Overheat it once or twice and "poof" on the bearings. Funny that the shortblock I ordered had all steel bearing cages. at least someone learned.

[RK]

Hey Mojo -

The XR6 is pretty much your classic oil injected carb 2-stroke outboard. Pretty bulletproof overall. There are some downsides however:

- They're not great starting in cold weather.

- They're loud and smokey.

- Biggest one: they really like to burn gas. They get about half the gas mileage a direct inject engine like an OptiMax, and less than even a slightly updated design like an EFI.

All in all, a pretty solid engine, but like I said - they like the gas pump.

RK

[mamohr686]

I had an XR6 for a long time. It was a total gas hog and blew plenty of blue smoke. I found it worked well for keeping the mosquitos away. A couple of things to look for are the trim and tilt pump, and how well it goes into gear. My trim pump went out and it was around $900 to replace it. It was around $500 to rebuild one and it had only a 6 month warranty. My idle was set too high and it made a grind noise when I put it in gear. After a few years I had to replace the gears and that was about $1000. I didn't know I was doing damage at the time because that was the way it was when I bought it. Your probably looking at a 10 yr old motor so a leak down test and a dealer inspection might save you a lot of money in repairs or room to negotiate a price.