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Mercury Verado

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Scott1

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For all of you that have a Mercury Verado on your boat, do you have any tips or suggestions for me to be aware of.  I am having a 250 Pro put on my new boat and I have been reading as much as I can on this forum, which has been a great help.  All my experience is with I/O.

It seems that many of you like the 18P Inertia, should I tell my dealer this is what I want to start with?

I have watched videos of the oil change, gear lube change, will read about winterizing it (In Maine we have to winterize our engines by second week in September :)

I have read that the motor mounting position plays a large role in performance, should get about 20hrs on engine before you really know how it performs, etc.  All great info.

The Marina on our lake does not have 91 octane I don't think, but I will check into that.  He may even use 87 with 10% mix Ethanol.

So any other advice would be great

Thanks
 
May want to move this to the power thread.

Follow break instructions and you will have zero problems. Motor is ridiculously smooth with a ton of midrange torque.

Fuel at 87 will be fine but max hp comes with the higher grade which is a difference of a couple mph. Not a big deal.

TomS has a 18 and likes it. Me being a 2575, the 18 didn't have the overall that I like. The dealer will install a 15 more than likely as that is the preferred prop. Make sure you discuss with them up front the ability to test props. Most shops will allow this, unless you ding one up.
 
Willb said:
May want to move this to the power thread.

Follow break instructions and you will have zero problems. Motor is ridiculously smooth with a ton of midrange torque.

Fuel at 87 will be fine but max hp comes with the higher grade which is a difference of a couple mph. Not a big deal.

TomS has a 18 and likes it. Me being a 2575, the 18 didn't have the overall that I like. The dealer will install a 15 more than likely as that is the preferred prop. Make sure you discuss with them up front the ability to test props. Most shops will allow this, unless you ding one up.
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Thanks, I don't know how to move the thread.  Do you know what the difference between the 15 and 18 inertia are?
 
My 300 runs a 16 inertia and I am real happy. My dealer did water testing to get the height and prop setup. Now if I could get the 400 verado....

Cheers, Steve
 
Not all dealers are equal when it comes to setup.  If your dealer's never had experience mounting a Verado motor, he should check with Bennington's for info on motor height and suggested propellers.   Most manufacturers run the wires for such a motor--and they're essentially plug in wiring when the dealer gets them.

After a couple or three hours, you'll be able to wind the motor up for short periods of time.  After 20 hours, you should be able to run your engine normally.

Your dealer should start with an Enertia prop he believes will do the job.  He should be willing to change props (free) if the prop won't pull the factory posted redline or if the motor overrevs--on the rev limiter.  You've spent too much with that dealer to where he'd never let it go out with anything less than 100% performance. 
 
Bamaman said:
Not all dealers are equal when it comes to setup.  If your dealer's never had experience mounting a Verado motor, he should check with Bennington's for info on motor height and suggested propellers.   Most manufacturers run the wires for such a motor--and they're essentially plug in wiring when the dealer gets them.

After a couple or three hours, you'll be able to wind the motor up for short periods of time.  After 20 hours, you should be able to run your engine normally.

Your dealer should start with an Enertia prop he believes will do the job.  He should be willing to change props (free) if the prop won't pull the factory posted redline or if the motor overrevs--on the rev limiter.  You've spent too much with that dealer to where he'd never let it go out with anything less than 100% performance. 
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I agree.  I will make sure this is part of the deal.  If you think about it, it is not the buyers fault if the boat is not operating within specs because of the prop.
 
ssc said:
My 300 runs a 16 inertia and I am real happy. My dealer did water testing to get the height and prop setup. Now if I could get the 400 verado....

Cheers, Steve
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What RPM's are you getting with your 16? I ran the boat yesterday on Havasu with 28 gallons of fuel, two people on board, and a little bit of gear at was getting 5750 RPM's at just under 45 MPH. Temp was 81 with low humidity, so I don't think heat was much of a factor.
 
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Initially, when I was breaking in the motor, my RPM was just under 5800. As I got some time on the motor and time in the seat (think trim for the conditions) I got up to 6200RPM. Generally, I see around 5950-6100RPM and 49MPH via GPS speedo. I did see 50MPH once, but did not notice the RPM. I have no inclination to go to a 15 for more RPM as I think it will hurt performance. The 16 works well for me. Did Jim at Sun country water test your Boat? How is the height of the motor? Yesterday was a nice day with little wind, as opposed to Monday. Being blown, I don't see much of an effect on the heat. I run 49 in both 80 and 115. What color is your boat? I saw a few running yesterday. As soon as I get some of my family issues sorted, I hope to get back on track to get the 400 merc on my boat.


Cheers, Steve
 
The boat is black with a red stripe. I was out last Thursday through yesterday, so you definitely might have seen me. The boat had 1.5 hours on it when I bought it, and shows 48.7 as the top recorded speed on the GPS, so it was definitely water tested before I took it home. The motor went just over 10 hours this past weekend, so I have not run it at full throttle much yet. It does not seem to like much positive trim at all, and will start to lose speed if trimmed much past neutral. I will get more time on the motor before I start messing with the prop. Thanks for the info...
 
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I talked to the mechanic at the dealer today, and he said they set the motors low to avoid blowout and other issues. He said minimum RPM on the Verado should be 5800, but closer to 6400. Less than 5800 and you are not in the ideal rpm range for the motor. We are going to raise the motor at least one hole when it comes out of the water next.
 
Your post is timely. My motor is all the way down, yet the plate rides just a hair above the water line and in the "mist." I am going to take it in for service probably the end of June and have the motor raised one hole. I am happy with how the boat performs, but after a few discussions with some folks who seem to know outboards and Verado's, raising the motor one hole has less of a downside than upside. Time will tell. It will be good to compare notes after raising the motor. Looking forward to seeing you on the lake.

Cheers, Steve
 
ssc said:
Your post is timely. My motor is all the way down, yet the plate rides just a hair above the water line and in the "mist." I am going to take it in for service probably the end of June and have the motor raised one hole. I am happy with how the boat performs, but after a few discussions with some folks who seem to know outboards and Verado's, raising the motor one hole has less of a downside than upside. Time will tell. It will be good to compare notes after raising the motor. Looking forward to seeing you on the lake.

Cheers, Steve
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Sounds like you are good.  Raising it may bring it too high, but it is easy to put it back down if you need to.  I am interested in what your results may be.  Let us know how it affects your trim.
 
Here is an opinion from the propgods forum:

Sometimes when you go real high with the motor, the little trim fin anode behind the prop that helps with steering torque gets less water, and will make you feel the steering torque more.
You can get a "Torque Tamer" that mounts on the skeg and it would help with that a bit, if it gets annoying.
Single engine performance boats with the motors at extreme heights need the torque tamers for sure.


Motors too low can cause boats to run bow high all the time, always needing to run the tabs down to get it to ride right.
Porpoising easily with very little trim is also a symptom of motors being low.
The bow wanting to go sky high getting on plane can also be a symptom.
Raising the motors gives less drag, which can give you better economy throughout the rpm range, more speed, and make the boat run flatter.

Motors too high can ventilate too easily and drive you nuts.
Water pressure is also an issue, but you have to be up really high to loose pressure on your average boat.
Some props can run much higher then other props, so that will change things as well.

Its VERY common for the motors to be mounted too low from the builder/dealers.
Probably a liability issue or something. I don't know.
But it can make a huge difference in the ride and performance characteristics on your boat.
Props aren't everything, Engine height is VERY important.
Always worth checking.
 
ssc said:
Your post is timely. My motor is all the way down, yet the plate rides just a hair above the water line and in the "mist." I am going to take it in for service probably the end of June and have the motor raised one hole. I am happy with how the boat performs, but after a few discussions with some folks who seem to know outboards and Verado's, raising the motor one hole has less of a downside than upside. Time will tell. It will be good to compare notes after raising the motor. Looking forward to seeing you on the lake.

Cheers, Steve
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I checked the anti-cavitation plate yesterday at full throttle, and it is just at the waterline. I definitely think it might be dragging just a hair where the motor is set now. My boat is probably going to be in the water till November, so you will probably beat me with raising the motor. Let us know the results. I will look for you on the water.
 
The next time I go out, I will take some video of the plate at around 45 and trimmed. I will then have something to compare it to when I raise the motor.


Cheers, Steve
 
Guys, you don't need to be WOT to check the cav plate. Midrange cruise with level trim is fine.
 
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