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Rustys84
USA
38 Posts |
 Posted - 10/19/2009 : 02:05:29 AM
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Hello all, just wanted to let you all know what I have been up to so hopefully it does not happen to you. I had a mechanic over to the boat about a month ago to talk about doing a few small projects that I physically could not do. He told me that the gate valves on my raw water seacock were old, frozen, and dangerous and that I needed strainer filters for running in seawater. He was to put in ball valves and strainers and three or four hoses that were iffy. Well... a week later he got to the boat and found seawater in the transmission. He said that the transmission coolers were shot and needed to be replaced. He flushed the trans six times to clear the seawater. He said it needed new belts so I put them on too, and finally I had him change the oil filters on both engines, but using my oil to refill.
I got down to the boat a week later to check things out and saw that he had replaced 90% of the hoses, painted the engines, and also done what we had agreed upon.
About 5 min into the cruise I came to the end of the no wake zone and put it up to 1300rpm. The stbd engine started squealing horribly and shut down. We limped back to the slip with one engine.
I started the stbd engine back up along with my dockmates and we thought the sound was coming from the front of the engine, (water pump, belts). I called the mechanic and he said he would take a look at it.
I just got his bill and phone call tonight... The bill is $4,300 and he said he started it and thinks the crankshaft is shot and we should talk about pulling the engine and putting a new one in.
I don't know if I should just pay the bill and run like hell or get into a whole big dispute over this thing. I am mostly venting but any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks-
1984 Mariner 2897
Dual 220 Crusaders 1200hrs
Walter V's
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Bob On This
USA
174 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 11:57:16 AM
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Wow, bummer.
I feel for you, every time I get something fixed, and pay for two, it's always more than I thought it would be.
On the crankshaft, what is your mechanic basing his diagnosis on?
If the front crank bearing is making that kind of noise, the bearing would need to all but gone.
I would be more suspect of a loose belt, or bad pump, alternator!
You said he put new belts on, I would look there first.
Good Luck
Bob
Diver Down |
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Jimbo Song
236 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2009 : 8:58:03 PM
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On the bill does it specify how much was for parts and how much was labor? For what you describe it sounds awfully high.
As for the engine I'd get a second and maybe a third opinion. It sounds ike a very hasty diagnosis without enough feed back as to how he arrived at his conclusion.
Good luck!
Bob
1987 Carver Voyager 28
"Jimbo Song"
Palm Coast, FL |
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Rustys84
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2009 : 12:59:00 AM
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Thanks for the replies, Bobs. I went through the bill and the parts were close to internet retail. The labor was 30hrs. at $85.00 an hour for a total of $2550.00. I don't know what labor is where you are but unfortunately here 85-95/hr is the norm. I agree that his diagnosis was a bit hasty and will be down there Thursday to take oil pressure readings at the engine and get a better assessment. My hope is that both myself and the mechanic are unhappy with the result and that he will do something to fix the situation. It is a relatively small harbor and word gets around. I will keep you updated and thanks again for your replies.
Rusty |
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Jimbo Song
236 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2009 : 7:35:21 PM
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Nope, $85 an hour is not out of line at all. Good luck with the engine diagnostics.
Break
Out
Another
Thousand
Bob
1987 Carver Voyager 28
"Jimbo Song"
Palm Coast, FL |
Edited by - Jimbo Song on 10/20/2009 7:37:41 PM |
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Rustys84
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 10/26/2009 : 11:58:47 PM
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Well I made it down to the harbor last weekend and brought an expert and some tools along to try find out what happened. We put an oil pressure gauge on the engine and it showed 12psi. 800rpm- 12psi, 2800rpm-12psi. Though this is bad, the engine actually ran great. I could'nt get it to make that horrible metal to metal squealing sound that shut down the engine last time I was out. So after running the boat for a good twenty minutes I thought we may be able to hear what was going on with the engine better if we got rid of the valve/lifter tapping sound. I added a bottle of Riselone and along with quieting the tapping, it shot the oil pressure up to 19psi and it would now run up to 40psi when pushed to 3000rpm!
I started up both engines and put them in and out of gear, up and down the rpm range. Only when running the good engine up to 2500rpm, dropping it down, then running the bad engine up to 2500rpm could you hear the difference. A high pitched metal to metal shearing sound was ringing behind the sound of the exhaust. After listening to every part of the block as best we could we think that the front crank bearing is damaged.
When I had the oil changed by the mechanic the fresh oil was just not able to get the pressure the old stuff with the additives had. I found a neat site that could pinpoint the problem by just chopping up my oil filter and sending in a sample, but I think I will just stay close to shore and run it till it pukes.
So thats how it ends... Thanks again for the replies, they let me get some sleep when I thought I was really getting screwed.
-Rusty
p.s.- Here's the site if anyone is interested.
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/ |
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Jimbo Song
236 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2009 : 07:24:56 AM
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Rusty, the only thing that comes to mind is that if you wait for the engine to take a dump it could cause far more damage and be MUCH more expensive to fix. As it is, the engine is probablyt rebuildable. If you wait for it to fail you'll probably be looking at a brand new crate motor.
Questions: 1) What was the oil pressure reaging for the failed engine and how does it compare to the other one? 2)Did the mechanic use a mechanics stethascope to probe around and try to locate the area the noise is coming from? If not, I'd give it a try. You can buy them at any auto parts supply house and they are excellent in localizing a problem.
If the "squealing and shutdown" problem was the crankshaft, as the mechanic suggested, I think it would have seized up never to turn again. That diagnosis just doesn't "feel" right. You may indeed have a main bearing or rod bearing going bad but that wouldn't account for the shutdown unless it just plain broke, in which case, the engine would totally seize up.
Bob
1987 Carver Voyager 28
"Jimbo Song"
Palm Coast, FL |
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OUCH!
