05 Merc 25m

[OneMoRude]

Hello,
I just recently purchased a 05 25m Merc that is about as new as one could expect. It runs great pushes boat 30mph. The question I have is about the exhaust gaskets failing and getting water into #2 cyl and killing piston and bore. I have read that was or is an issue in the past. I hate to remove exhaust plates on a seemingly "new" motor. It still has original plugs with black paint on them. Did they ever resolve that issue or what? I just want to avoid destroying an excellent outboard not to mention the last year of 25/2str.

 

[JDusza]

If designed right, the component failure mode will be predictable. If not, unfortunately, it'll be seemingly random among the other wear outs and failures. I would talk to a couple repair shops to see how prevalent this failure is.
Your problem will be breaking the studs of you try to pull the covers off.
That said, you may be better off not addressing the issue until something bigger breaks. (You may not get the failure at all.) Then you have no choice but to open it up and risk broken studs all around.
If you're running well now, ... perhaps let sleeping dogs lay.
J