Is there a general lifespan of reed valves?

[Aviator04]

Hey guys, going through my ‘06 90 elpto- carb clean & gaskets, new fuel lines, plugs, filters, etc.. was wondering if reed valves are something to be inspected? Mine, I’m sure are the original stainless. I have no reason to believe they’re bad..Do these have some kind of lifespan associated with them? I would think they’re more prone to go on the bigger hp motors. But, I’m interested to hear regardless of hp if you’ve you ever had to replace them or if your still on your originals...

 

[Chris1956]

As far as I know factory SS reed valves last longer than the motor.

 

[jimmbo]

The Factory Reeds are very durable and like Chris said last a long time. Aftermarket Fiberglass Reeds are a different story altogether. Those fail/wearout on a regular basis.

Why would you think they would fail sooner on higher HP engines? The only time I saw one fail it was on a lower HP engine, and even then, it failed because some backwater "HP expert" had 'Tweaked' it in an attempt to get a couple more HP

 

[racerone]

Why would you suspect more problems with them on big motors ???------I have seen reeds with chipped / cracked areas on the MERCURY 9.8 models.----Perhaps from sustained high RPM.-----And on some motors there are issues with rubber type material that reeds seat against.-------Other than that they give very few issues on most motors.------Many 60 year old motors running fine with original reed valves.----Reeds just sit there and do a fine job opening and closing up to 6000 times a minute.----Are you suspecting reed issues with your 2006 model motor ?

 

[Aviator04]

Good to hear! I wasn’t insinuating that they do fail on the higher hp motors- just came across a few v6’s on YouTube that had to be replaced.. but they were probably modified or something like you mentioned..Who knows..also, I don’t have any reason to suspect mine were bad..I just pulled my carbs to clean them and since the reed block is right there on the intake I didn’t know if I should pull it or not to inspect. I’ll just leave it then. My motor seems to run good. I just have this slight surge at idle. Almost like a small vacuum leak. I’m going to clean the carbs and go from there. Maybe rebuild the fuel pump next... glad to hear the reeds should last the life of the motor though. Thanks guys

 

[Texasmark]

Merc is proud of their "Flower Pedal" reed assembly on their mid range engines. They flaunt it in their sales brochures. My 2002, 90 and 115 engines still have the OEM reeds. Never had a reed problem on an engine in over 50 yrs of boating.