Is my boat shot?? Engine moving a bunch...

[SCove]

I dont want to even defend the work that was done for 6k and think you should be getting this issue resolved by the offending shop....there is one other thing to consider/ponder and I have to ask because I am a curious cat.

Alignment doesnt involve touching the motor beds, just the mounts. With the description of the work done, I have to ask if the boat had a run aground or other hard strike??
A lot of the work you listed would be standard with that situation. IF that was the case then theres a chance the bolts thru the aluminum L bracket motor beds damaged the stringer and that's where the slop is coming from. They would have missed it because running on a trailer shifting forward to reverse with no load in the prop MAY not have cause any shift(zero resistance on drive train so brackets wouldnt move). Put it in the water and it's a whole different story.

I'm just speculating and that's about the ONLY situation where I can see this happening where the shop gets any kind of "benefit of doubt". If all the said 6k worth of repairs were just done as maintenance to improve the boat then yes, totally unacceptable.

Thanks freeheel - here is some of the back story, because you are a curious cat This is a boat we bought used back in maybe 2011, from the same shop who has been working on it. They are the only local inboard dealer, but they carry Malibu, Nautique, Axis, etc. Nearest Tige dealer is like 3 hours away... It is a "camp boat" - I run a family camp for 5 weeks in the summer and we run the boat hard each afternoon for tubing, etc. We run in a tidal river (part of the Chesapeake Bay) so it can get really shallow at times, and we have trashed more than one prop over the years.

Last fall I got a kit to replace the shaft seal, because my drivers had said it was leaking some back there. I found that the shaft log was eaten away on one side, so the bellows would not even make a good clamp seal. The only thing that could have made that shaft log eaten away like that would be shaft rub, in my opinion, but the shaft was straight through the center. Which means it was probably that way from before? Here's a photo of that wear: (hope it come through ok)
20180815_125340_resized.jpg

So I figured I'd replace that shaft log and be good to go. But of course you can't get Tige parts like this (or I have not found the magic portal yet!) so I asked the local non Tige dealer when I had it over for winterizing. They said it would be bad for me to just replace the shaft log myself, that it would need alignment and all that. And then they observed this:

Shaft log is worn through to the strb side. by looking at the bottom of the boat around
the running gear. The boat appears to have had multiple minor impacts, this is evident by
the chunks missing in the gel coat above the prop (usually from something passing
between the prop and hull being pinched) and stress cracks around the front of the strut.
and rudder. Also the rudder is cracked down the side were the rudder post is cast in.

and

cutless bearing is bad and is coming apart in chucks. To replace the bearing is almost the
same as getting new complete strut. Existing strut could be bent.

So your hypothesis about impacts seems consistent with what they said they found. Your observation about trailer testing makes a ton of sense, but I know they had it out on the water to test it, so I don't know how they missed all that water coming in unless they never put it in reverse... Because it sure seems like damaged through bolts / elongated holes in the stringer would not be a recent development. It seems like maybe it has been this way for awhile, as the raw water pump has always been very close to the engine cover, and sometimes rubbed enough to wear the bolts down...

Anyway, the whole thing has been frustrating, I realize it is a 13 year old boat that we beat the heck out of, but I'm just trying to keep it going because it is what we have and I don't have 50k to drop on a replacement at the moment...

Thanks for your thoughts!

[freeheel4life]

Thank you Scove for the detailed response. I'd be curious of one of the rubber bushings in a motor mount is shot and its twisting a bit as well. Seen shaft logs wear like that because motors twist and sag under load/in gear. Or if it was prior carnage and the mounts were fixed up prior but not the shaft log.

Sounds like you are being a great owner and working thru some gremlins. Definitely a bummer this was not caught during a water test!! Sounds like you have more than enough ammo to go back and have this addressed. I would be in contact with the service manager directly.
Good luck