Mercury 300 hour service: anodes and thermostat

[andersaki]

Looking for thoughts on Mercury's maintenance schedule, specifically on replacing the anodes and the thermostat @ 3 years or 300 hours, whichever comes first. I run in Minnesota freshwater averaging 50 hours per year. There is no noticeable deterioration in my engine's anodes. It also seems excessive changing out a thermostat with only 150 hours run time. My 115 EFI is a 2011 and I've always done the scheduled maintenance myself, pretty much according to schedule. I could understand if I was putting the total 300 hours on it or running in salt or muddy water, but would I be pushing it to run the anodes and thermostat to the full 300 hours? I guess that the same would go for the alternator belt. I inspect it every year anyway.

Mark

[Bobby Winds]

None of that was required with my 300 hr or 3 year dealer maintenance. A plug into the computer for a software update, new plugs and new gear oil all done while the boat was still hooked up to my truck. The mechanic provided the service all while the Marina owner provided the coffee and conversation. Great 1.5 hour BS session.

I never heard of replacing the anodes or thermostats for maintenance reasons and not for repair reasons. Maybe Merc does things differently.

[7 Mag]

Originally Posted by andersaki

Looking for thoughts on Mercury's maintenance schedule, specifically on replacing the anodes and the thermostat @ 3 years or 300 hours, whichever comes first. I run in Minnesota freshwater averaging 50 hours per year. There is no noticeable deterioration in my engine's anodes. It also seems excessive changing out a thermostat with only 150 hours run time. My 115 EFI is a 2011 and I've always done the scheduled maintenance myself, pretty much according to schedule. I could understand if I was putting the total 300 hours on it or running in salt or muddy water, but would I be pushing it to run the anodes and thermostat to the full 300 hours? I guess that the same would go for the alternator belt. I inspect it every year anyway.

Mark

I'm a believer in being proactive with maintenance instead of reactive, If the manual calls for it i would take it to the shop during this off season and have it done.

[FishManDan]

Yep that is what the manual says. I have a 2016 and have added the vessel view which says I have 262 hrs on it. I have ordered the parts and will be installing them soon. Pretty easy job to do. Also note it also says to to the Impeller and a belt at 300 hrs.

[Snowking]

I would not bother with the anodes. Unless your boat was sitting in the water all summer. As far as the thermostat goes. I maybe would change it out myself. Then keep the old one as a spare. That’s what I did after three years. That way if you have trouble in the future. You could replace it yourself if the thermostat locks up on a weekend. I did change my belt out after the first three years. I am now on the fourth year with the same belt. I had two years of low engine hours in those four years.

[Mrxlh]

You can physically look at the anodes and see if they are degraded or not, simply put if they are not half gone, they don’t need replacing. At 300 hours I would replace the water pump and water pump can (housing), and have the gear case pressure tested to see if it needs seals yet.