Engine cover cracks on the rear of a 2013 mercury 300xs?

[Lake WI Steve]

I am fairly new to Scream and Fly, I just recently bought a 2015 Liberator, I am the second owner. The motor is a 2013, put into service in May of 2015. It has 34 hours on it. I found a crack on the right rear of the engine cover, there is also stress cracks on the left side of the cover (which I am sure will be a crack shortly). I took it to my local Mercury dealer to get it warrented, its under manufacturer warranty until May of 2017. They took pictures, told me it looked like a defect to them, and sent the pictures to Mercury. This boat and motor are immaculate, absolutely no signs of being hit or dropped etc. I just received a call from the dealer and they told me Mercury will NOT cover it!!!!! They would not say why, or what they think may have caused it, just no... I have not called Mercury myself -yet, but I will asap. Has anyone else dealt with this situation, I am sure mine is not the only one with this problem. Anyone from Mercury reading this? I would love to talk with you.... Thanks, Steve.
Like I said, Im new to scream and fly, not sure this is the right area to post this? Any help would be appreciated...

[JPEROG]

They are water suckers anyway. This is just a good reason for you to get an updated one from RGR. I am not trying to make light of it but you really do want something different that doesn't create the low pressure area behind the cowl at speed and coats your motor the way the stock XS cowls do at 90 and up.

Joe

[Lake WI Steve]

Where can I find/buy one? I just tried looking it up and didn't find anything. Thanks.

[Turborr]

I have 2 and both of the covers are cracked in the rear corner.

[Lake WI Steve]

Were they still under warranty? What did Mercury say to you? I'm

[Tripleflipper]

I am fairly new to Scream and Fly, I just recently bought a 2015 Liberator, I am the second owner. The motor is a 2013, put into service in May of 2015. It has 34 hours on it. I found a crack on the right rear of the engine cover, there is also stress cracks on the left side of the cover (which I am sure will be a crack shortly). I took it to my local Mercury dealer to get it warrented, its under manufacturer warranty until May of 2017. They took pictures, told me it looked like a defect to them, and sent the pictures to Mercury. This boat and motor are immaculate, absolutely no signs of being hit or dropped etc. I just received a call from the dealer and they told me Mercury will NOT cover it!!!!! They would not say why, or what they think may have caused it, just no... I have not called Mercury myself -yet, but I will asap. Has anyone else dealt with this situation, I am sure mine is not the only one with this problem. Anyone from Mercury reading this? I would love to talk with you.... Thanks, Steve.
Like I said, Im new to scream and fly, not sure this is the right area to post this? Any help would be appreciated...

I have a 2015 that cracked at the bottom right side back of motor. Mercury denied warranty coverage. Ordered new engine cover (not cheap) and it doesn't fit. They are way to tight. I suspect mine cracked during the winter during cold temps. Dealer now back to Mercury to discuss my issue.

[Lake WI Steve]

They obviously have a design problem here, and it doesn't take an engineer to see this. Please keep me informed with what happens with this go around with Mercury. I have never had to take anyone to court before, but it's starting to look like that may be my only option?

[Tripleflipper]

They obviously have a design problem here, and it doesn't take an engineer to see this. Please keep me informed with what happens with this go around with Mercury. I have never had to take anyone to court before, but it's starting to look like that may be my only option?

I'm from Ontario, Canada and purchased boat and motor from Dave at Liberator boats in Texas. Sent him a mail and he is going to check with Mercury. Local dealer is working on the claim again since the new cover does not fit. He said maybe they would have to change the mid section. But based on others having the same problem that will not be a valid solution. I will post up once i hear back. By the way it took Mercury 2 weeks to sit on and then deny the claim. Not impressed

[Turborr]

Were they still under warranty? What did Mercury say to you? I'm

Mine were out of warranty. I has to be a defect because many of them I have seen has the same crack the same place.

[Euroski]

Friend had one a new under 10 hr 300xs last year and Merc warranted it.

[Tripleflipper]

Friend had one a new under 10 hr 300xs last year and Merc warranted it.

Merc told my dealer it is a customer problem and that they often push down to hard on cover. That's really funny since I have never had the cover off myself and it has only been off twice both times by a Mercury mechanic. And replacement cover doesn't fit. Your friend was fortunate and I suspect because the motor was so new. Mine was 10 months old when I discovered the crack after pulling out of winter storage

[Rock_River_Marina]

Depends on the engine warranty; the XS stuff has a "limited" warranty now so Mercury makes the call on any kind of claim. I have a set in boxes that one of the plastic fittings is broke, but the cowl/pans are not damaged.

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthread.php?315460-Mercury-300-XS-Cowl-Pans

[jpf091959]

I noticed mine were tight from the factory and that the seal design was thicker on outside than the inside, so pulled the seal and reversed the direction. They weren't as tight that way.

I now have Mike Nass alien style cowls with ram air duct and love them.

[JPEROG]

Where can I find/buy one? I just tried looking it up and didn't find anything. Thanks.

Call Joe at DBR and see what he has available.

Joe

[Lake WI Steve]

I used to work for a local Ford garage as a technician, and I am just wondering how the customers that just bought a 40-50k boat/car/truck would react to finding they have a broken/cracked hood while still under warranty - when they took it in to get fixed they were told that they pushed down on it to hard, or opened it when it was cold out!!! WTF??? In one day I have found out that there is definitely a problem here, and Mercury would rather bury their heads in the sand and hope it goes away, than to man up and deal with their fu-- up! This is totally contradictory to what they told my local deal - " that they have never seen this before"!!! Please keep posting on this thread so if this ends up in court I have some backing/statistics. Thanks, Steve

[Tripleflipper]

An update on my issue. Mercury is telling my dealer to remove the engine mount gasket and replace it with a gasket from a 250XS. They say it is thinner than the 300. Best part is Mercury will not pay for the retrofit, the customer has to. It is beyond my comprehension how this is my problem when the motor is still under warranty. Original engine cover was to tight, a brand new replacement engine cover does not fit and i have to bear the cost of a retrofit that may not work as well. Will be calling Mercury in the morning then returning the replacement cover for my money back that I should not have had to spend in the first place. Beyond pissed off

[CUDA]

No one wants to be responsible for anything anymore, It's always someone else's ...

[Zero Patience]

I have one (stock) in the box if anyone needs it.

[MiamiStvEuro]

Hello Kirk, please call me if you still have the xs set up cowl! Brian 786 263 1515

[MiamiStvEuro]

KIRK, there must be something wrong with my inbox or yours as my messages won't go threw, please call me asap 786 263 1515 regarding the cowl. Thank you. Brian

[river rocket]

I have a 2015 and found the same issue on mine last week. I sent pictures to a dealer here in town and Merc is covering it under warranty. They are also replacing the gasket with a new one. I will compare it against the 2007 225 optimax I also have to see if it is thinner or thicker. I cannot see how this is an owner issue and I'm thankful Mercury is covering the new cowl.

[Scream And Fly]

Hi Steve, welcome to Scream And Fly.
Can you post some photos of the cracks? I can ask Mercury Racing about this issue if you would like.

Greg

[MiamiStvEuro]

hello Greg, either my inbox/outbox is full or this person Kirk is! I am trying to reach hime about his cowling, can you PM him to call me or something, thank you . Brian

[river rocket]

According to the online parts catalog the sport xs 250 and 300 share the same cowl gasket. 8M0043268. The pro xs has 8M0011984.

I played around with the cowl tonight and in my opinion it is too tight. You really have to pull down on it to get the latches to grab. My 225 sport XS is not this way. I compared the two today. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can adjust or shim the latches so it will latch easier. I don't want the new one to get damaged as well.

[Tripleflipper]

I have a 2015 and found the same issue on mine last week. I sent pictures to a dealer here in town and Merc is covering it under warranty. They are also replacing the gasket with a new one. I will compare it against the 2007 225 optimax I also have to see if it is thinner or thicker. I cannot see how this is an owner issue and I'm thankful Mercury is covering the new cowl.

They are now covering mine as well. They will swap out the gasket for one off of a 250sx. Hope it works. No doubt there is a design flaw