fixx
 

tell your mechanic to suck your left toe...if your engines were to take on water through the rear main seal he would have gone through more then 10 qts of oil,most likely 30 qts..also if the rear main seals were really taking on water your bilge would be full of oil because it would be leaking...

Was he supposed to only fix the problem with the water in the engines? Looks like all he did to the engines was drain the oil and replace the starters. Looks like everything else pertains to the drives and trim system. Not clear as to why he would have done all the work he did to the drives unless you told him to. That would have had nothing to do with it not starting. The prices are probably correct according to merc prices but I don't understand why he did everything he did. I assume those are the drive bell housings he replaced. Those seldom ever need to be replaced unless you crack them by hitting something. New sender kits for the trim gauge? Did you request all these things be repaired? Just saying most of this stuff would have had nothing to do with the water in the bildge problem. Sorry to say but theres probably nothing you can do about it now unless you have the work order only stateing you wanted them to get it started.

Most likely they pulled the threads out of them removing them to replace the bellows. The hinge pins are installed with lock tite and need to be heated to remove them with out damaging the threads. Did you tell them to replace the bellows?

List price on bell housing are about 900 ea.

Just curious, if the boat filled with water from a storm shortly after parking it why did you let it sit for 2 years like that? Sure there was a lot more storms in that 2 years. Don't that boat have a drain?

I agree with you that the marina should be making some profit on parts but many of the parts he replaced were not in stock and had to be ordered... I absolutely would not have minded a 50% mark up if it gets me on the water in a few days but this is not the case as the mechanic had my boat for over 2 months after a 2 week wait list. Still, I'm ok with them making some money off my parts but I just wanted to make sure they were not outrageously over priced... it seems they are not... I just wanted some "expert" opinions so I know if I'm being taken advantage of... I've had my boat for 3 1/2 years but only been able to use it most of 1 summer. Thanks for your parts list link too.

I was under the impression that the rear main seal was basically a one way seal... it would seal the oil in but not the water out if the engine were to be submerged to the seal.

Yes, the drive bell housings. The threads were worn to near non existence on both sides of both housings. All the other work was just to fill the budget. After he "fixed" the starting and running hot issue, he found many other things that needed to be addressed. Bell housings, trim pumps senders, so on and so on...

when I took him the boat I told him that I had $1,000 to find out if it could be fixed and another $4,000 to spend fixing it up if he could do it. I guess I should have asked him to just fix the problems first and then take care of the rest after it ran. I took it out on Friday when he told me it was ready and it ran for about 15-20 minutes when the starboard engine got warm. I slowed down to idle and the engine started to cool slightly and then it died. After it died it would not start again. It acted like it was hydrolocked. I've experienced hydro-lock before and burnt out a starter in my noobie experience so I was very cautious and idled back to the dock on the remaining running engine.

Let me add that I have spent my budget for the year and then some. My wife will shoot me in my sleep if I spend much more. with that in mind and so that you can better understand my position and predicament please allow me to vent a little.

I feel like this guy is a competent mechanic. Though both motors were seized when I broght him the boat. It was the port engine that was overheating before he fixed it.... He took the boat on a lake trial and the engines ran fine for him without getting warm after he removed the thermostats. It was at this point I authorized the rest of the work. 2 months later he told me the boat was ready. That was Friday of last week. Part of the delay was the fact that the bell housings were on back-order from mercury. I verified that by spending several hours on google and calling several different marinas. When I took the boat out, I was understandibly excited. It had been over 2 years since the boat was running. As we all know sitting is hell on boats. The port engine ran perfectly and purred like a mean kitty when he gave the boat back to me. For 15-20 minutes the starboard engine did too... Then the starboard engine started to get warm. I did the boating equivalent to pulling over on the shoulder and let it idle for a while. Just when it started to cool down it died and would not start again.

After reading some of your responses, my fellow boaters, I feel much better about the price tag of the parts I purchased. I still feel frustrated that the boat is still un-usable. I got a pretty good deal on my boat at 18K and it ran great when I got it and it was in great condition with everything working except a couple of selonoids for the capts call and one of the trim switches. I really made a bad mistake when I left the boat outside without the cover and the plug left in the stern. I have been kicking myself everytime I see any boat. I basically threw away many thousands of dollars when I did what I did. When I put it in its un-covered parking spot on the storage lot on a friday over 2 years ago, I had every intention of taking it to another shop for work so I justified not putting the cover on it. I simply forgot to take out the plug. Well, something came up. Something always comes up. I wound up leaving it plugged and uncovered for several weeks when I opened the tail gate on my truck and saw my boat cover sitting there. Let this be a lesson to those of you who are considering not covering your boat. I will never do it again! And, I wont be forgetting to take the plug out either.

I've often thought I just had bad luck with the boat. I've had pretty good luck in most other things. I have a great wife, beautiful family, and a good job. I guess there has to be at least one outlet for bad luck in my life. haha! I know many of you are probably thinking I should cut my losses and get a different boat. I can tell you I have a hard time seeing myself doing that. I dont really have any other toys and I really like my boat. Its hard to find a boat under 30 feet, under 25k with twin engines let alone twin big blocks. And I really like the look of my boat over most others... Seems like with nearly every other brand theres a shape, angle, feature, or something that I dont like. The only thing I dont like about my boat is that it doesnt run.

I wish I had more options for boat mechanics but they are few and far between here in KC. I have considered going down to LOTO or up to omaha, but the drive is too long. With my half ton avalanche you could argue that its too dangerous! But thats another debate and thread all together.

Anyway, for those of you who read it all, thanks for letting me vent. Thanks to those of you who offered advice and opinions. Us new boaters really would be lost without your wisdom.

3 or 4 weeks before I realized what I had done.... then I drained it and covered it... the damage was already done...

yeah, when the mechanic quoted them to me he told me 750 each. I didnt argue when I saw 2 at 980 total, I didnt argue.

After he told me they were bad, I told him to replace them.

By my count thats 4 votes for taking the boat somewhere else. That wasn't really my intention in starting this thread, but I cant ignore that sort of response. Based on what you know now after my last few posts, do you feel the same way?

I found that the marina added a bunch to the list price of the parts needed to repair my boat. Like $100 to the price of a distributor and another $100 to have it sent overnight (didn't ask me if this was ok) after they had sat on fixing my boat while while working on other calls. If I go back to them for anything it will only be after exhausting all other sources. I feel you pain!

None of the prices seem out of line to me. It's an expensive hobby for sure. Older boats always have something going wrong. My advice would be to try and learn as much as you can. A lot of this stuff really isn't that hard if your at all mechanicly inclined. Many of us couldn't afford this sport if we didn't do a lot of this stuff ourselves. Hopefully you can get out a few more times this season and enjoy your boat.