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Feedback wanted on a dealer repair

Remediation

Remediation

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Lake Cumberland KY - White Oak Community Dock
Our Bennington is new to us. It had over 600 hours on it when we bought it. The kids ran it for 3 days on the holiday. We made an appointment with the dealer to drop it off after Memorial Day. Told them the only history we knew was it came from a boat club in Nashville and the owner we bought from had winterized it. Ask the dealer to check it out and call with recommendations. One issue was the impeller in the seawater pump. Our answer was we did not know the history and replace it. The dealer made the comment that it looked like the boat had been in salt water from the corrosion on the wiring. We suspect the boat was never covered while at the boat club because the cover is in great shape and the stitching on the seats is gone.

The Problem: We picked up and paided for the repairs on a Sat morning. Put the boat in the water. Drove 10 mins, anchored for 2 hours and then drove 18 miles and the seawater pump locked up and spun the pulley off and broke the drive belt. I was a car mechanic for 20 years so I understand the you fixed the water pump and now I have a flat tire issue. My issue is that the pump it work fine for 20 hrs of running before the repair and locked up 1 hour after the repair. If I had taken the pump off , I know I would have spun it while putting the impeller on just to check things. If the bearings were so bad they lasted an hour, I think I would have felt it. The dealer is saying that "well you know there is a lot of corrosion in that engine compartment". The dealer wants to charge full price for the repair and I have a problem with that. I would have had no problem if during the original work they had suggested a new pump because the pump doesn't feel right. I have never had an I/O before so I don't know how often seawater pumps seize up. All feedback will be welcomed.
 
Remediation............

I've had 2 boats in my lifetime........both Mercruiser 4.3L V6 I/O's. First one I had on a 19 ft. Maxum bowrider that we had for 15 years and this one on our current Benny. I've NEVER had any problems with either motor's seawater pump. We used to put our 1st boat in brackish water but made sure I flushed it out when I got home. I do remember having the impeller changed on the Maxum and that's about it. No other problems..........sounds to me that the mechanic involved was lazy.............
 
Bruce, as a career mechanic, and current auto repair shop owner, i have to agree with you as far as the inspection of the pump bearings while the unit was off.

Your mechanic should have caught an impending failure during the repair, this happens way too often because the mechanic works flat rate and is in too big of a hurry to get on to the next job, but you know all about that ;)

Now it's a matter of what's fair to both parties, full price is not fair to you, free is not fair to the boat shop, i would offer half price if i where the boat shop owner, and hope to keep you as a customer. That way they can still make money off you in the future.

That's my 2 cents, let us know how it turns out for you.
 
Having worked for Porsche and Mercedes for 20+ years, also Audi, I would always look to upsell a job if I was into it and found something questionable. It was also easier to upsell the customer sayiong "while I'm in there you need this or that with only a minimal labor charge. I made a lot of money with "flat rate" but also had many customers that would request me to work on their cars. Something I'm proud of. The "half price" senario soulds like the right thing yo do to me. My $.02
 
Replacing the seawater pump impeller is a normal maintenance item, and I doubt most pull the pump to check the bearings. I will be honest, in 14 yrs I have replaced the impeller in my 502 Baja 2 times, and I never pulled the pump assembly to check the bearings. Both times I knew the impeller was bad, the broken blades were right there, and replacement did not involve taking the drive end of the pump off.

I understand your feelings, but you did have a concern, and told him to replace the impeller. Unless he screwed up that part, I am not sure how many would check out the rest of it if they found the impeller was bad and at fault for the condition you brought it in for.

Just my thoughts.
 
Remediation i deal with the same dealer your in question of . I would be very disappointed if they dont meet you half way.Have you brought this to the atention of the owner?
 
Remediation,

I also use the same dealer, in fact my boat is there now having some service done. They have always treated me very fair. Please keep us posted on how things are worked out.
 
Picked the boat up Saturday morning. I talked with the owner as I looked at the old seawater pump. The pump has two bearings on the shaft that drives the impeller. The bearing closest to the impeller seized up. The way the pump comes off the motor and then splits to replace the impeller, I didn't feel the Tech would have damaged the bearings on the shaft. It is possible that the impeller replacement hastened the failure but it would have failed at some time. There was rust on the bearings which should have been sealed from water. I think the seal at the impeller end of the shaft failed and let some water into the bearing cavity. The question then is, should the Tech have spun the pulley without the impeller on it and "tested" the shaft bearings. I think he should have on a boat with 618 hrs on it. There is no way to know what he would have felt if he had done that. There is no way to visually inspect those bearing. I now own a $1220 paper weight. Tow plus repair. I did not ask for any discount or refund. I bought a used boat with 600hrs (for comparison My truck has 52000 miles and 1600hrs on the engine)on it and things are going to wear out. After looking at the pump, I don't feel the dealership did anything wrong. They might have found the problem before it seized. I wish they had but I don't fault them. Paid the charges and watched the much needed rain all day. Launched at 8 pm Sat night . Sunday, Went water skiing and then floated at Mill Creek Waterfall all day. I will use Lookout Marina again.
 
Thanks to everybody for their feedback. I have never been on a forum before this Bennington site and I have learn a tremendous amount.
 
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Thanks for the update, glad to hear you would use the dealership again. We will be picking up our boat from them on Wednesday.
 
Glad to hear your problem was resolved. I bought my boat from them and all of my service has been completed by them as well.
 
Glad to hear your back on the water. If i understand it you now have a $1220.00 paper weight and some very expensive cozies.haha.Like to catch up with you one weekend i will drop you a line.
 
Mary Lou said:
Glad to hear your back on the water. If i understand it you now have a $1220.00 paper weight and some very expensive cozies.haha.Like to catch up with you one weekend i will drop you a line.
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I forget about the cozies. The beverages taste much better in them ;) Jill will be on the lake with 3 friends this weekend. If you see a Wineberry toon with 4 ladies having a great time in the White Oak area stop and say Hi.
 
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