I have an 04 175 Opti. It started running a little rough and died this weekend. Back at the dock I pulled the hood. To my surprise the compressor had been ripped off the block, the belt was torn up, the plastic flywheel cover was ripped up and plastic shavings were all over inside the cowling. It apears that the rear bolt sheared off inside the block allowing the belt tension to break the compressor loose from the other two anchor bolts. I did have the powerhead replaced 2 years ago due to the spring for the tension pully breaking off a smal piece of the block. So the bolt may have been new with the powerhead or it may have been original. The motor has a total of 170 hours and about 70 since the head was replaced.

My extended warrenty ran out 4 months ago. However, Mercury is shiping the parts to the dealer for repair. The compressor is 900$ ALONE. Mercury offerd to pay for all the parts, I am only going to be billed for the labor. Thanks Merc. i should be back on the water in a week.

I wish there were no problems with my motor at all, but I am happy with the way Mercury handled this.

The price seems high,but maybe we are not comparing apples to apples. I've got an 04 225 Opti, new powerhead after 70 hours in 2005. About 200 hours since new powerhead, no big deal. My compressort went out a month ago or so, still under warranty, the warranty claim was $500 and some change, maybe $550, but definately not over $600. That was a new compressor installed

there are a few additional costs, replpaceing the belt, pully and plastic cover on top of the block. I am not sure if the price would be the same if I had to actualy buy it.

As a current 175 Opti owner thats nice to hear they stand behind their product especially since nowadays noone does and they could have easily said tough luck buddy.