Verado owners!!! Lend me your ear!! And a bit of knowledge.

[moose-hunter]

I looks like I'm switching power plants with this new boat. I've always run Yamaha and never had a lick of trouble. Now... I jumping ship to run a Verado. A 175 on a 1875 Pro V.

What am I in for as far as routine maintenance, day to day life with a Merc and are there any ghosts in this machine? Meaning are there any quirks I need to watch out for?

Is break in a long, drawn out ordeal?

(I'm a bit nervous running a new (1 day old) rig in a tournament. But that's the way the cards were dealt. Hoping the engine switch won't bite me in the arse.

[chico]

You will not regret it period.Break in is simple,if any issues Merc is right there no question.Only thing i would look into is if you have a certified Verado Tech. close by,incase it has to be hooked up to scanner.Verado scanners are for certified techs.only and are not like other outboards.Good luck with your decision Chico.

[Lake Wisconsin]

They are great motors. Very fast, quiet and as long as you are not WOT, good on fuel. A couple things to note, oil changes, even doing them yourself is pricy. When changing oil, fill to the low end of the dipstick. I have not been able to get all the used oil out, and once you run the motor again, the oil is higher than when I first filled it. I had an issue with a fuel float that I was able to fix myself. Believe it was caused by ethanol fuels and now only run 100% gas. As with all motors, let the motor warm up (I won't hit it until it reaches 120 Deg). If I were to buy today, this would be on my short list, as well as the Yammi HDPI motors.

And on another note, you can find a fix for every issue at Verado .com. Very helpful there.

[rwl]

Routine:

1)Change the oil every 100 hours or once a year, $80 DIY, with V-rod oil from Merc if you so choose.

2)change lower unit oil once a year

3)Add gas,

4)empty onboard water seperator, not sure of frequency, never did it.

Day to day life:

1)turn key, start

2)Enjoy.

[Burr]

All good comments above. The only thing that concerns me is your anticipated break in during tournament hours.

imho, break in is extremely important. Is there any way you can get on a body of water even the night before the tournament, and just drive your boat for 3-4 hours to seat the rings? Leave the motor tucked-in/trimmed-down, let it reach operating temperature, and just drive it around according to the manual for a few hours. You've such a great opportunity with a new boat to seat the rings correctly and limit your exposure to oil dilution in the future I would hate to see that opportunity pass you by.

Once that original seating of the rings is done, it's done. It happens in the first few hours of operation, and that opportunity is gone.

[Wade B AKA: Ruger2506]

Break in is EXTREMELY important. Be sure it is done by the letter. Even then the chances of the Verado making excessive oil is high.

Be sure to have a fully charged main battery every time out. Make it a group 31 if you are running electronics off of it.

Install a temp gauge and watch it closely. Make sure that thing gets up to proper operating temps every time you have it out.

Make sure kicker is operating properly. Don't want to depend on your trolling motors to get you home.