280?

[venus79]

plan to get a 280 in a couple months and will be putting on my lite weight HST. wanting to know the ups and downs one. how many hours can i get before having to rering and refresh. it'll be used as a lake motor with the occasional blast from sandbar to sandbar. i work away for 30 days and home for 2 weeks so it will take me a pretty long time to put alot of hours on it. Thanks

[patchesII]

about 150 hrs give or take. try to find one that already has top pinned pistons. i wouldn't run one too much without them. when a side pin comes out it can do some expensive damage quick. the 280 is a very strong motor. you'll enjoy it

[Euroski]

My 99 280 had over 200hrs before the second owner did a re-ring. I didn't run the crap out of it and had very little time above 6000

[Jay Smith]

I build tons of 280's a year ( I am building 3 at present ) , they are great motors if you do the preventitive maintinence . I also HIGHLY SUGGEST you use TOP PINNED pistons or suffer the fate of many 280's that have side pinned piston failures.A pin failure "CAN" cost you your entire investment ..Also the carbon fiber reeds that come in the 280's from factory I find to be an issue for rough idle as well as bad fuel economy , I use only the TDR reeds , I have found the performance and longevity to be the BEST on the market for 11,000 + RPMed race as well as 6,000 RPMed recreational engines I build. Also invest in a leak down tester and keep an eye on the leak down % I suggest when one gets to 8-10% leak down it will move rather quickly to a higher % and the bores can be damages then add $750.00 to the rebuild . Use a good premium oil , in a consumer motor mix at 40:1 and ROS at 32:1 ( I have had great luck with Penn. blends or 100% in the 280's ) ..Keep injectors serviced at least once a year ( Brucato is my choice for injector cleaning ) and I also suggest a regular dose of Sea Foam ( 1 OZ to 5 gallons or so ) to keep injectors free flowing ...All information above is my opinion gathered from what I find building and rebuilding these on a daily basis...

Enjoy your new toy,
Happy Holidays,
Jay

[Toffen]

Hi Jay,

Would it be possble to use Mercury Injector Cleaner regulary instead of the Sea Foam which is not available in Norway? The bottles I have standing are a few years old. Would that be a problem, or should I buy some new? I do injector cleaning every spring, and I also test my fuel system through out. To be on the safe side.

Do anyone know how many years a BlueTop battery will last? One of my batteries loose ampere very quickly compared to the other one. It measure ok when charged. My tech tells me that they can measure ok, but can be weared out anyway.

If I am correct you reccommend 40:1 spinning less than 7,500 rpms?

Soon boating season again!

Cheeers and thanks, ToffenG

[Jay Smith]

Sure the Quickleen would work fine.. Consumer motor at 7500 would be at 40:1

ROS needs to be @ 32:1

Jay

[venus79]

yep yep, finally ready to buy a 280.

[Djohns]

I bought a used 2000/280. Installed and ran for 30 hours. Smoked a motor. Rebuilt and smoked again. The fuel pump was only delivery 29 psi at the rail. 100 hours on rebuild to date. This engine would be have been perfect if Mercury would have put a fuel press sensor at the rail and allowed the computer to alert you. It monitors everything else under sun except fuel. I guess a dash mounted gauge should keep you safe. Check fuel pressure after you rig it.
Please find a used ddt on this site; you will not regret it. The ddt will even tells you which spark plug to change. No quess work:thumbsup:
Good luck.

280's sounds great!!

2005 Hydrostream Voyager. Top speed 93 mph. Scary fast bow rider

[3 Numbers]

I have on of Jay's motors and never any problems. Of course it will spin up the rpms, but it is also a top runner in the low end of the power band, is a rocket out of the hole, and even idles well. Jay is the best and a great guy.