As seen in Speedboat Magazine’s
March 2023 Issue.
565 With XR DRIVE
Dear Bob:
Q. I have 2019 Nordic 29′ deck boat with a Mercury Racing 565 motor package that came with the XR drive. After 200 hours, my drive has failed. I am not sure what’s wrong with it yet because I have not had it taken apart for inspection.
Is this drive too small? should I consider changing to a different drive? Will I get more life out of a different drive? play on Lake Havasu.
David Hutcheson
Garden Grove, CA
David, if the engine is stock, the XR is acceptable. The Teague Platinum XR version would be an improvement which includes an improved vertical shaft, (material and design), an improved 300M spiral shaft, a one-piece 17-4 SS prop shaft, often and at a minimum when the engine oil is changed. I would do this in about 25 to 30 hour intervals. A complete drive failure could have been prevented by changing the oil and observing the oil and the drain plug magnets for debris. Silver metal debris on the magnets is a sign that a gear or bearing is starting to fail. At that point, the drive could have been repaired before a complete failure occurred. Your drive can be rebuilt and upgraded to the Platinum version. The cost would depend on the condition of your upper and lower housings and what other parts are usable. a heavy duty billet top cap as well as other improvements. The Platinum XR drive, and the IMCO SC drive still use the Mercury XR gears which are the parts that usually wear first. IMCO makes an SCX upper that uses larger gears and has proven to be one of the options for higher horsepower applications. The SCX lower unit will hinder the top end performance on your Nordic Deck Boat. Combining the SCX upper with a TCM Platinum XR lower or an IMCO SC lower is a good compromise.
IMCO SCX Outdrive.
The Mercury Racing 565 does not have massive bottom end torque. But when you add the load caused by the wetted surface of the hull of a large deck boat loaded with people, drive reliability could be affected.
It is important that the drive oil is changed often and at a minimum when the engine oil is changed. I would do this in about 25 to 30 hour intervals. A complete drive failure could have been prevented by changing the oil and observing the oil and the drain plug magnets for debris. Silver metal debris on the magnets is a sign that a gear or bearing is starting to fail. At that point, the drive could have been repaired before a complete failure occurred. Your drive can be rebuilt and upgraded to the Platinum version. The cost would depend on the condition of your upper and lower housings and what other parts are usable.
Nordic 29′ Deck Boat
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