300 Mariner. Should I buy???????

[Tim G.]

I came across a nice boat with twin 300 Mariners..
I know very little about the Mariner/Mercury relationship..
Is this motor the same as a 300X, but grey???
How many hours are you getting out of 300s???

What years did they badge 300s Mariners?? The boat is an '03.

Thanks guys.

TIM

[WILDMAN]

Mariner 300's are 98's or 99's. Same as Mercs but the color. Every screw is the same. I've had a couple and they're great motors. Won't run with the X's though. I've seen them with 900 hours without ever being apart.

[Propster]

Listen to it run and check the compression. Should be close together. If possible, pull the heads and look for problems in the cylinder walls. It takes less than 20 minutes to get them off and about 30 to get them back on and torqued. Check for ring gouges or scoring. It will cost you 100 dollars in cylinder and water jacket o-rings, but it will be worth it.

[AlaskaStreamin]

Had twins and no problems. Make sure they have the grey plug wires. It was a problem they had (black wires had problems).