Mercruiser Diesel 220 shaft drive

[pwb12]

Hi ,
I am looking at potential boats one in particular, the Broom 36. It appears to be specd in the main with Mercruiser 220's on shaft. This seems to be the only model within the range that had so many Mercruiser engines fitted. Has anyone any actual experience with these engines, they are approaching 30 years of age so are they reliable , parts, etc what to watch out for?
Any thoughts on this topic?
TIA

 

[DAKA]

They are the 254 series, I have had two Cummins-Mercruiser 300D since 2006 ish , Ive done 1000 hours ish.
Mine are 300 HP but basically the same engine.

Fantastic engines
easy to maintain ( no tappets to adjust)
smoke free

Fleetguard have a full range of filters
Raw water pumps are jabsco with parts readily available
Air filters are just rinse out in a bucket of soapy water and put back on.

I ve not really needed any parts other than service parts

One developed a fault after 5 years and Cummins ( Mercruiser were sold by Cummins for a short while) replaced it free of charge as they had a 6 year warranty.
I have needed a gearbox but they are Hurth ZF , very common and easily availble ( same as Volvo/Perkins use).

 

[oldgit]

Chum bought a Broom 33 with pair of 180Hp Mercruisers.
Very quiet and refined engines bit of smoke on start up but nothing underway.
Sold on very shortly afterwards, with this hull/ engine combination, struggled to acheve 10-12 knots.
Previous owners (and this one) spent money on various prop tweaks which expensively failed to fix the problem.
Think the later 36 with 220 HP should be a faster boat but suspect you might want to check this out if you require any sort of fast cruise.