Mercury 150 XL 4 stroke blown/thrown rod less than 3hrs

[matthew.prestine]

Well I must say that I am a bit heart broken. Just picked up my new crestliner nine days ago and tonight while I was out with the boat the motor threw a rod (what I believe). Less than 3 hours on the motor, what a pain in the old chest. On the long trek back in with the kicker I called the dealer and explained the noise while I was running around 3k rpm and bang sound I heard before the motor stopped. This dealer is Kens Sports in WI. Their reply was bring it in tomorrow so we can look at it. I said is this normal, they said no. I said I would like a new motor and they said not going to happen. They said they will talk with mercury and see what to do and probably approve a power head rebuild. I said that is BS and we will talk tomorrow.

What does a guy do? $15K on a new motor and 3 hours and poof?

Matt

PS: never took the cowl off but there is a nice outwards dimple in the side where something hit.

[SilverFox579]

Get it to your dealer and let them handle it. It's a warranty claim on the engine you have and Mercury will make it right. First step is dealer inspection.

Mercury isn't going to approve a "power head rebuild" on an engine that threw a rod and windowed the block.

[matthew.prestine]

The break-in was by the book, failure was @ 3K rpm so I am not concerned with anything that I have done. What they will see is what I have told them. I dropped the boat and motor off and took some pictures. I expressed my concern for a new motor only and the dealer went to bat for me. Mercury will be sending them a new motor from the factory, only 40 miles away, to replace the blown unit. I cannot say enough about a good dealer and Kens Sports have definitely held up to their reputation. Although I would have only expected it from Mercury, their support and warranty here has been very top notch. It is good to know that they care about customers and it sure eases my mind about them and their products.

[2500]

I deal with warranty all the time, first you asset the damage or issue then, work with manufacturer to resolve the issue. not all understand warranty. some warranties are based on levels. I'm glad Merc is replacing and was sure they would. Dealer is the main key to a happy end user.

[TritonTRXV8]

Wow thats unfortunate. Glad you are gonna get it squared away. Something must not of been right with that motor from the start then. Not all of them thrn out good. Out of all those pics what really surprised me was how thin the block material is made of where the rod busted out yikes.

[J Risco]

Wow thats unfortunate. Glad you are gonna get it squared away. Something must not of been right with that motor from the start then. Not all of them thrn out good. Out of all those pics what really surprised me was how thin the block material is made of where the rod busted out yikes.

That's what I was thinking! Sorry for your bad luck, glad its going to get taken care of also! Im sorry, but I def laughed when I saw the connecting rod laying sideways outside of the case! Ive seen a lot of engines come apart and they never cease to amaze me in ways they can ventilate themselves!!!

[Lowerider58]

The part of this that doesn't make sense to me is that the rod is broke at the crankshaft end but the piston end of the rod is hanging out of the block.

[iron banks]

Damm that had to be build defect. Glad Mercury is doing the right thing here.

[matthew.prestine]

Ya it sure was a interesting event to say the least. That is exactly how it was when the dealer took the cowl off, the rod was just laying outside the engine. One thing that boggles me is how does the rod come free of the wrist pin and piston and not have a single mark on it? Maybe the wrist pin was never there. New motor should be on by Friday so back to square one on the break in. The dealer (Kens Sports) has been excellent through this whole ordeal so that has sure been nice.