Originally Posted by Raylar (Post 3492586)

I think most of this is a sign of our economic times. In a depressed economy most of these lower budget-investment general boaters do not want to spend the money to take their boat to a qualified repair shop and they want to try and fix their engines and boat problems themselves without spending money on a real marine engine mechanic. They come on to the tech section and start pleading and trying to get all kinds of free advice and information on how to repair their problems without the services of a qualified mechanic or shop.

Most of them are not even qualified or capable of dealing with the issues and a lot of times I won't even offer assistance because I can tell by their descriptions and questions that they are over their head and ill equipped and trained to begin with.

How many self trained home style brain surgeons are there out there and how many of these would you let operate on your brain??????

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Originally Posted by TEXASRPM (Post 3493247)

Aren't these unqualified boaters the same folks that you rely on to purchase your engine parts? Where would the parts aftermarket be without us?

You comparison of engine building to a surgeon is funny:)

Originally Posted by SDFever (Post 3493289)

To some degree you could be accurate. However, a lot of those same folks try to do too much themselves after buying an aftermarket product only to then jump on the net and slander the vendor's name because the said diy guy wasn't smart enough from start to finish.

You actually want to stay away from many of the unqualified buyers because their warranty claims and complaints cost more than simply not making the sale..

There's always a ying and a yang.

Originally Posted by TEXASRPM (Post 3493329)

I have never heard of a parts manufacturer questioning the experience of a customer and determining whether a sale is warranted? How could you expect to remain in business not to mention reputation.

Originally Posted by anewway (Post 3492001)

I think part of it has to do with when someone does post something, they get two or three people beating them up for being stupid about what they did or didn't do.

Yes, in an ideal world if I heard a noise in the motor, I would tear it completely down and check everything and replace every part that could be even remotely suspect, but let's face it, most of us can't afford to do that.

Does it sometimes end up costing more, both in time and money? Sure, if you reinstall a part that looks solid, and it then breaks and takes out everything around it, you are going to second guess yourself, but its a shot you took.

Case in point, a guy posted a while back about a boat he picked up with some pretty high hours on the small block power. He asked what sort of hours he might expect before having to do any major work. He got a few people telling him they would probably last a while if he kept up his scheduled maintenance, but others started beating up on him telling him they would blow up tomorrow if he didn't go through them.

Where's the fun in that? He knows he's running on borrowed time, hell, we all are, but the doom and gloom predictions and accusations you get from some people make you not want to ask or even answer questions in an open forum.

And while I love GlassDave's optimism, :) I also tend to think it is more likely that fewer people are running them as much as they have in years past so they aren't breaking as often. I know the traffic on my lake is WAY down this year, even with the "cockroaches". (ski boats)

Originally Posted by Airpacker (Post 3493684)

All too often, the proper advice is totally ignored by the question poser because he wants the "Silver Bullet", the easy or cheap answer to his complicated or expensive problem. It only takes a time or two and the giver of said sound advice says "WTF" or why even bother.