Pretty bummed out today and very disappointed in Mercury. My 2018 Pro XS 250 ( 2 stroke) blew up today. Was on the lake last Saturday and all was fine. Went to lake at daylight this morning and hit the start button and motor made awful sound. Turns out it came apart on the inside. All systems check were okay. Go figure.

Anyone have thoughts on this? Motor had 420 hours and well maintained . I'm very meticulous with my stuff and take very good care.

Going to get new powerhead and not sure if I should keep the boat / motor ?

Anyone else have this kind of strange bad luck?

it happens you are lucky its under warranty an not buying a powerhead its a miracle they run as long as they do with this crappy fuel.

stuck or dirty/clogged direct injectors are often the cause of a sudden failure like that
on the opti max engines. gotta pull em out and get them cleaned often.

I found out today that #6 cylinder on my motor has a hole in it. Mechanic said Mercury would be sending a new powerhead and be like new. Sounds great but what the heck causes this? I had the same thing happen to an Evinrude on another boat I had and thought I was making a better decision going to Mercury.

Should I sell it and get a four stroke? Are the four strokes better? Keeping the 2 stroke and just a matter of time before it happens again?