mid 90s mercury XRI 2.5 150hp motor.. Good or bad??

[CrappieCrazed]

I know that I may get a lot of mixed answers on this but I would like opinions no matter which side your on. Ive been eyeballing some mid 90's ranger boats and a lot of them have this XRI 150 motor. Were these motors prone to problems or were they considered to be pretty reliable engines??? I would rather find a boat with the newer merc EFI motor but those boats are a little out of my price range......

I posted in the mechanics corner to but wasnt sure if many folks would see this in there. Thanks and any info appreciated!!!

[Slabs Inc]

2.5's are great. The only prob I see is you must be looking at 18' boats if most have 150's I have NEVER rode in a 18 that rode anything near what a 20 rides like. Happy Boat Hunting

[Dutch552]

I would own one in a heartbeat so long as the compression checs out even across the cylinders. A guy I work with runs one without issue after some routine maintenance.

[MO QWACK]

Best motors made if...... You take the oil injection off!! It's alot cheaper to replace spark

[Barnacle Bill]

It all boils down to how well it was taken care of. By far the most important thing to check is compression. Check the condition of wiring. Look for signs of being ran hot i.e. paint peeling or motor being repainted. Drain just a little oil out of the lower unit to check for water intrusion. Take the boat out for a run. You get the idea.

[skeetbum]

I was once told that if a motor had been run alot or hot that the paint would be off the edges of the gaskets, like head and exhaust etc. Don't know if there's anything to this but it kinda makes sense. I have an 88 150 mariner and it does a fine job. Wasn't used much before I bought it and once the bugs got worked out it screams.

[Frank C]

Merc.XRI is a good motor. and a 18' ranger is a good ride . i had a 360 and a 361 . but do get a compression check.