Bust Out Another Thousand...

[Bryan]

That what boat stands for right?? I'm finding it to be true so far, and I'm only two weeks into ownership this time around. Took my new to me '03 22i to the local mastercraft dealer because they are the best around for working on these boats. I also figured their techs were probly a little more knowledgable on direct drives and their components than the many other I/O shops around. I wanted them to do all the standard maintenance and check alignment and basically just give me piece of mind that everything is good to go since I don't know the history of this boat. Well... they changed all fluids and filters and impeller and checked for ECM codes and all was good. When they checked alignment they found that the motor, the fiberglass, or something else, had settled a bit and the shaft was put into a bind and was hard to turn. So, they took it all apart and I got new thru hull bushings and strut bushings and they had to take strut off and rebuild with some fiberglass to get everything to line up. Shined the prop up nice and checked the pitch and cup and everything was good. They put it all back together and it looked slick. Mechanic test drive.. Transmission is slipping and needs rebuilt. I noticed a little slip when I took the boat out the first time, but it only did it once under hard throttle and I thought it was maybe low on fluid. Mech says it needs to come out and get a total overhaul. Great!! Any of you guys know what something like this should cost? Their shop rate is $95/hr and the service guy seems to be a great guy and says he'll do me the best he can when finding parts... Not looking forward to this. The only upside is, boat will have a completely new drive train once done... At least that's what I'm telling my wife...

[IDBoating]

great guy and says he'll do me the best he can when finding parts

I'm sure that's true. The question is, does his definition of "best he can" mean best for you, or for him?

"Do you the best he can." He's definitely DOing you, all right.

Haven't heard of fiberglass "settling". Let's presume that's real. Settling sounds like something caused by gravity. Which means, for example, that your engine is now misaligned with the hull. Why would they "build up" the glass over your strut? Wouldn't it be better to correct whatever this "settling" actually caused? Either we don't have the whole story, or HE doesn't have the whole story, or something.

I fear in this case B.O.A.T. may stand for "Bend Over Again, Thanks".

Sorry for being a downer, and I could be way off here, but it's not passing the smell test for me yet.

[Bryan]

He said either the engine has "settled" over the years or maybe somebody put a stump smack into the base of the strut and forced it up a bit... Probly the later if I had a vote... Either way, they took the strut off and built a layer of fiberglass onto the hull to push the strut lower and line it back up.... I know when I saw all back together it looked legit...

[boatwakes]

Wow...the ONLY reason to build up the strut base would be because the shaft was rubbing on the sterntube (where the shaft actually passes through the hull from inside) after alignment was done. Again the ONLY reason to do that. The correct way to reset large alignment discrepancies is to use aluminum spacing shims under the engine and transmission mounts.
As for the transmission, I'm assuming you have a Borg Warner 1:1. You can find new take off units on eBay for less than $900 and I can tell you how to remove the old and install the new in a couple hours. You will also need to change your transmission cooler (located next to the starter on the pressure side of the raw water system for that boat) before running the new or rebuilt transmission. The whole thing is a really easy job so it depends on how much you want to do and how much you want to spend having someone else do it. I would charge around $2800 for this same job and gladly have customers pay it but it's really not that bad.

[Bryan]

Well there was talk of shaft rubbing... But it was all kind of a blur as he was tellin me what needs done... I've heard nothing but good about these guys and they've worked on friends boats in the past and they're I small town dealer since 1983... I imagine if they were out to screw guys, they'd have been closed long ago.

This is the place: http://www.williamsskiandsports.com/default.asp

$2800... OUCH

[boatwakes]

Price includes new trans, cooler, fluid and labor with a year warranty. Not saying they're screwing people, this is what we charge for the same job on the west coast.

[Bryan]

Oh ya I understand what u meant... They aren't talking about a new trans though... He mentioned just rebuilding this one... Is that a cheaper option? Is it even an option? Gotta swing by the shop tomarrow and get it figured out. Is it possible to run a thicker fluid to keep it from slipping the way you could an old turbo 350 tranny, just to get it through the summer? I know nothing about these transmissions... By the way, thanks a ton for your input and info boatwakes

[boatwakes]

Rebuild is going to be cheaper if you can't find a new take off because a New unit costs about $2500, just need to know their way around that unit. It's not hard and I'm sure they've got the experience, they're very common units. You can try to run it with 5w-30 and it will help the heat issue that caused the original problem of worn clutches but they're just outta life. It's probably the sludge build up inside that's allowing them to engage now. If you flush out the fluid, you'll clean that sludge off the clutch faces and they may grip even less.

[Bryan]

So my service guy gave me a call today and said the rebuild will be about a 10 hour job and with parts and labor I'm looking at $1,100 and change... Is that anywhere near the ballpark boatwakes?

[boatwakes]

Yup. If that price includes removal, rebuild and installation, you're stoked.

[boatwakes]

Don't forget the new trans cooler and flush the old lines.

[Bryan]

Ha man that's for everything... I'll make sure to mention the cooler and flushing the lines. Thanks for your help