If you want it done right the first time do it yourself, juast to give an example or two I purchased my boat and motor new and within a month or so hit something with the lower unit. I bring the boat and motor to the dealer for repairs which requires replacing the output shaft on the lower unit all goes well until I go for a test ride and the motor is cavitating so bad I cant even get the boat to move so I bring it back to the dealer and the problem was they didn’t put the seal that goes behind the prop back in so I pick the boat up again only to have a problem with the temp light coming on at trolling speeds. To make a very long story short I dropped off and picked up my boat three other times after that for the same problem temp light comes on at trolling speeds.finaly the fourth time I drop the boat off to have it looked at I had almost 300 hours on it so I told them to do the three hundred our check up low and behold they said they were able to duplicate the temp light problem and all is well now keep in mind they never contacted even rude technical support for the problem and my assumption is that when they pulled the lower unit to do the water pump for the check up they found the mistake they made when doing the previous work that I filled a claim on my insurance for the mishap I had a year earlier. This year my confidence in their ability to do anything has gone out the window so I decide to do my own water pump and guess what I find when I pull the lower unit? The o ring for the water pump seal is broken and pinched off for about three inches not even close to sealing pump from drawing water from lower unit in places it shouldn’t be drawing water from, see picture if I can get it to load I guess some dealers don’t care what happens to you once they make the sale and get the money in their pockets and one more thing the three hundred hour check up cost me six hundred dollars.
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Some people just don't care. Sadly a lot of technicians are under paid or paid well and just do not care about the work they perform. Its not the marina its the tech I went through this time and time again with mechanics. When problems like this do surface, the service shops usually have their hands tied as there are very few good caring mechanics and they risk losing the only semi good tech they do have. "Good"Outboard mechanics in our area are very tough to come by. I have worked for 2 reputable dealership and one stupid bad one. Out of the 3 placesin 10 years, I had one firmly consistent outboard tech. The other place it was a 50/50 chance of quality and care, and the other one had the world fooled. The come back ratios are normally on the low side and they just deal with them as they come and try to make good with the consumer. Being a service manager and writer for those years was the biggest headache I have ever dealt with as you simply can not find good techs, caring techs, nor have the proper budgets for staffing during peak seasons.
I would definitely express your frustration and problems with the service center they need to know about your entire experience and they "should" make good on something for you for all your troubles. Sadly not all marinas will but some do, I worked for 2 of them in NJ. I am sure your mad as heck just as I would be but approaching it calmly via a letter to the general manager not the service manger would and should do you some justice. Even if you don't want to be the complainer in a sense just sending your troubles in may alert them of a problem tech and might save the next customer a headache too. Most places have time card records on who performed what and can go back and figure out what happened and who did what just as we did.
Tryin' to be the man, my dog think's I am. marine diesel service owner
Pelagic,
Not trying to throw gas on the fire, but these word's are just as true today as they were back in the day: "good help is hard to find". It doesn't matter how much you pay a guy, if his heart isn't in it you've got nothing. Truth is just because someone is a "dealer", it doesn't mean they know what or care about what they are doing (other than taking your check). To become a "dealer" in alot of cases, simply mean's that you have to write a check to cover a part's inventory (sometime's not even that). It matter's not what color engine, boat, etc....... you have, it's only as good as the service. Ask around the dock's about who other's in the area use (and if they are satisfied). It won't take long for a common name (or name's) to pop up. Finding a good "tech" in your area is a worthwhile venture, it's also worth keeping him when you do. The guy's that are "good" are the one's that are busy and more than likely can't drop what they are doing to get to you right then when you call. In this line of work, if a man is not up to his armpit's in work, there's generally a reason! Frank
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Originally Posted by ElMar2530
