Going Insane with this Drive Repair!!!!

[payloan]

Allright I will keep it short.
Would you pay $100.00 for an estimate on a drive (off the boat drive only)?
Would you pay anything more?
What can one do if you disagree on an estimate (nothing in writing)?

[payloan]

I think what I am anticipating is that he is going to tell me that the guy want's more for the estimate (which I will not pay for) and he will not give up the drive.

[payloan]

No this was all verbal
He took the drive off the boat and said he would not charge me anything (probably because it was his fock up)
I SAID; " Just get me an estimate because don't want to commit to anything right now"
HE SAID " Yeah cause it could get expensive, he might charge us $100.00 to check it out"
I SAID; " $100.00 for an estimate I don't really want to pay that especially if I am pri=obably not gonna fix it"
HE SAID "Well probably not he will probably hook me up because we send alot buisness to him anyway.. we'll see"

[SHAKEN Not Stirred]

Max Machine in Havasu...... :wink:
Quit messin' around..... :boxingguy
Later,
CJG

[shadow]

Max Machine in Havasu...... :wink:
Quit messin' around..... :boxingguy
Later,
CJG
Go in tell him you got 1 min to get my drive.Or i can drive my foot up your ass!!
Then take it to Max Machine and be done with it.

[shadow]

If i remember correctly he just had the drive serviced with this guy and it wound up low or out of drive oil with no evidence of leaks. :mad:

[moneypit]

nope

[shadow]

:: nope :confused: :confused:

[INSman]

Go in tell him you got 1 min to get my drive.Or i can drive my foot up your ass!!
Then take it to Max Machine and be done with it.
I like Daryl's solution on this one !! :D
Let us HB boys know if you need some help :boxingguy

[sdpm]

Let me see if I got this right! I can bring my boat too you and you will pull the drive and disassemble it complete and give me an estimate and if I don't like your estimate or want to get another opinion you won't charge me? This sounds great. Can I get an estimate on my engine too. As long as it is free why not! :idea:

[shadow]

[QUOTE=payloan]No this was all verbal
He took the drive off the boat and said he would not charge me anything (probably because it was his fock up)
sdpm,
Nobody said anything about a complete disassembly.Key words is
(probablly his fock up) in the first place!!!
My point is,If Payloan feels it was the guys fock up in the first place go and take the drive out of there and don't for 1 second take any bullshit.
Take it to someone who he feels is qualified Like Max for example and quit dickin around with this guy who's charging him for diag and then sends it to someone else to repair.If he can't do the repair then why try an do the diag.Cut out the middle man and save some $$$$!!!!
Save your sarcasim for someone else!!

[payloan]

Let me see if I got this right! I can bring my boat too you and you will pull the drive and disassemble it complete and give me an estimate and if I don't like your estimate or want to get another opinion you won't charge me? This sounds great. Can I get an estimate on my engine too. As long as it is free why not! :idea:
Something tells me this guy knows a little too much. Does anyone know if this guy works @ a shop here in Orange County? Let me just put this whole story in short hand so that I can get some serious feedback on what I can really do.
I go in pay $300.00 for a COMPLETE service (nothing in writing as we never do it's all cash kind of like a side deal for the shop that he works for, but he does all the work right there at this shop), all batteries charged and all fluids from the drive to the engine topped off and/or changed out. At this same time of service he told me that I should replace the 4 small hoses at the bottom of the drive. When I picked it up I noticed that they were not the normal braided type but rather a black hard hose type. I questioned it and he said "ah that's what they sent me but there just as good" o.k. I take his word for it. Service is done and I go out for the first time 3 weeks later drives screws up. I get back in town and drop off one of my nephews and notice that the drive is all the way down and that fluid is leaking from guess where... those hoses that "were just as good as the other ones" (maybe they are maybe there not I don't know, does anybody here know) When I finnally get it over to him he sees the drive tied up with a rope and I show him the fluid stilled kind of bubbled around the hoses he gets his wrench and a couple are loose. Now I know this cannot cause a bearing to go but I Just thoght I would give the whole story. First thing he does is check the drive oil by unscrewing the screw at the top, you can hear the pressure being released as he is unscrewing, takes off the top plate and says theres no oil. He then takes off the prop and fills the drive up. MY QUESTION IS THIS; Can you fill up the drive from the screw at the top? I ask because I know the prop was never removed when he did the service. If it needs to be filled from the bottom then he never changed or topped off the fluid in the drive. Allright bear with me guys and let me finish the story, so he says let me pull off the drive and send it to my guy bla bla bla, and I won.t charge you anything just whatever the price of the drive is. Cool if he tells me $100.00 I will pay it but something tells me he is going to try and tell me something else and there for I wan't to be prepared and act immediately.

[Chase]

I want to say that you cannot fill the drive from the top....I was told and can only agree that it can only be filled from the bottom with the top plug out, so the air has somewhere to go... :notam:

[payloan]

:idea: :idea: man if this is true where the hell do I start and let me just confirm, does the prop have to be removed to fill it up?

[Chase]

It depends on the type of drive....as to whether the prop has to be taken off. I have a Volvo Penta SX drive on mine and the fill/drain plug is on the side at the bottom, but if it was the DX (dual prop) the props have to be removed to get access to the plug...I am unfamiliar with the Bravo drives, however I am sure that someone on here can lend thier .02.
Something else with reference to your post above, I have plastic bars that slide onto the trim cylinders, in case of a broken/leaky hose, the drive will not come down....

[XTRM22]

Prop definitely MUST be removed to fill drive up, but prop must also be removed to drain drive out. SO if the prop hasn't come off and there was no oil, where'd it go?
Chuck

[payloan]

That's exactly what I was afraid of. Last year when on my last rip out I wrapped some anchor line around the prop and we loosened the prop in the water and tightened it down it down when we got it out with a crescent wrench. I was never comfortable with it but figured that on the next service I would have him pull the prop and tighten it down right. I remebered exactly how the tabs were. When I picked it up I remembered about it and asked him if the prop looked o.k. as far as tightened down, he said " it's fine". At that time I did not know that the prop should have been removed to fill up/ change out the drive fluid if I had known that it would of thrown up red flag. Also when he did finnally pull the prop to check the oil you could tell there was no "blue gunk" whatever that is that they put on the shaft before sliding on the prop. What to do ... What to do....

[sdpm]

[QUOTE=payloan]No this was all verbal
He took the drive off the boat and said he would not charge me anything (probably because it was his fock up)
sdpm,
Nobody said anything about a complete disassembly.Key words is
(probablly his fock up) in the first place!!!
My point is,If Payloan feels it was the guys fock up in the first place go and take the drive out of there and don't for 1 second take any bullshit.
Take it to someone who he feels is qualified Like Max for example and quit dickin around with this guy who's charging him for diag and then sends it to someone else to repair.If he can't do the repair then why try an do the diag.Cut out the middle man and save some $$$$!!!!
Save your sarcasim for someone else!!
Payloan first says (drive off boat) that to me means a carry in bench job.
Then he says "HE" which I assumed is the shop or person working on his boat pulled the drive.
When I read (probably his fock up) I assumed he is THINKING AND PAYLOAN IS ASSUMING IT WAS THE SHOPS OR PERSON WORKING ON HIS BOAT FAULT.
Shadow do you know the person or the shop that payloan is talking about? I don't. How can you give an estimate without tearing down the drive? Again I assumed.
I am quite sure there are some other shops around that could fix his drive
Is his drive a stock bravo? I don't think everyone takes their drives to Max?
And yes I do have a shop in San Diego and have been a Mercruiser and Mercury dealer and certified rerpair center for over 18 yrs.
Sorry for the Sarcasim but we are always the bad guys. Nobody likes to work for free. I know I don't. $100.00 to remove and tear down and give an estimate on a drive. I wouldn't do it for that. I don't think Max would either.

[payloan]

No let me just clarify it.
My mechanic said that he himself would not charge me to remove and replace the drive. The Merc Tech guy that he sends it to.. "maybe he'll charge a $100.00 or so but maybe not since we (the shop that my mechanic works for) send him alot of buissness anyway" I am first to tell that nothing is for free even when my mechanic tells me that he isn't going to charge me anything.. do you really think I just fell off a dimp truck. $100.00 quite honestly is fair but my suspicions (and there are other things to make me wonder) that my mechanic is going to spike up the price from the $100.00 to make some money for himself. I honestly thinks he knows he focked up and knows that I am probably going to go else where and get it done for considerably cheaper which will probably sum up any and all suspicions that I have ever had.

[Beer-30]

Just so everything is accurate, and maybe I missed this part, but are we talking Bravo drive here? If so, what model? What year. Older ones took grease down below. It's not a Volvo or something else, is it?

[payloan]

Just a regular stock Bravo 1 '98 or '99

[sdpm]

Payloan, do you know what is wrong with your drive? Is it damaged if so what is damaged? Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new or reman'd drive from Mercury than it is to rebuild yours. You will get a better warranty also.

[Beer-30]

In that regard, it should be the same as my '01. You know FOR SURE that the prop was not removed?
The fill/drain plug is on the very bottom. After you remove the prop, it is just below the lower end bearing carrier.
It has to be filled from there to push the air out of all the nooks and crannys. After the oil starts dribbling out of the vent hole at the top/side. The rest CAN be filled from the monitor bottle. Personallly, since the pump is hooked up already. I like the insurance of putting the vent plug back in, and finishing the filling from the bottom. Push the oil all the way to the full line of the bottle.
Good thing it wasn't an airplane. The last authority after having work done is the pilot. After an oil change, if the pilot doesn't check the oil before flight, it's his/hers error. Sure one can yell at the mechanic for not filling the oil, but if it is flown, it's the pilot's mistake.
I do my own boat maint., but if I have anything done, I will check it over before running. I am sure you know this now, but it can help.

[shadow]

Payloan first says (drive off boat) that to me means a carry in bench job.
Then he says "HE" which I assumed is the shop or person working on his boat pulled the drive.
When I read (probably his fock up) I assumed he is THINKING AND PAYLOAN IS ASSUMING IT WAS THE SHOPS OR PERSON WORKING ON HIS BOAT FAULT.
Shadow do you know the person or the shop that payloan is talking about? I don't. How can you give an estimate without tearing down the drive? Again I assumed.
I am quite sure there are some other shops around that could fix his drive
Is his drive a stock bravo? I don't think everyone takes their drives to Max?
And yes I do have a shop in San Diego and have been a Mercruiser and Mercury dealer and certified rerpair center for over 18 yrs.
Sorry for the Sarcasim but we are always the bad guys. Nobody likes to work for free. I know I don't. $100.00 to remove and tear down and give an estimate on a drive. I wouldn't do it for that. I don't think Max would either.
I realize that mechanics in general have a rep as the bad guys.I'm with you noone likes to work for free.I'm a certified Ford mechanic and i get paid flate rate.But let me say as much as noone likes to work for free,if i do a repair and it comes right back with a check engine light,we don't charge the customer to diag the light.Or worse if i do a head gasket and it comes back knocking,we don't charge the customer to find out why.We diag first then determine if it was related."if i forgot" to put oil in the engine after a repair"or servivce.I eat an engine and the labor!! Thats what makes the difference between a reputable mechanic that stands behind thier work and the "bad guy rep"If the story is like payloan says his mechanic should pull the drive take it to his builder and eat it if infact he either forgot or neglected to change the drive oil.He was the last one to touch it and if there was a problem he should have caught it.Aaron @Absolute services my boat not that i can't but because i'm either working or boating and easier to pay and have it ready.I gaurantee you that if he just serviced my drive and first trip out it ran out of oil he'd pull it check it out and handle it if he forgot the oil or the fill plug came loose or hoses he just installed leaked the oil out.Thats why he's got such a good reputation.If ran the drive up on the beach and caused it thats a different story and there would be external tell tale signs.(But no oil in payloans drive after being serviced)Trust me i'm all for making money turning wrenches thats what pays for my boating and everything else.But it burns my ass when someone charges for a service and either doesn't do it,or doesn't catch potential problems in advance.No worries about any sarcasim :)

[1stepcloser]

I go in pay $300.00 for a COMPLETE service. At this same time of service he told me that I should replace the 4 small hoses at the bottom of the drive. When I picked it up I noticed that they were not the normal braided type but rather a black hard hose type. . I get back in town and drop off one of my nephews and notice that the drive is all the way down and that fluid is leaking from guess where... those hoses that "were just as good as the other ones" (maybe they are maybe there not I don't know, does anybody here know) When I finnally get it over to him he sees the drive tied up with a rope and I show him the fluid stilled kind of bubbled around the hoses he gets his wrench and a couple are loose.
Those four small hoses are for the trim rams. The fact they were leaking are why the drive was all the way down when you got back to town.
There is no relation at all to the drive oil itself.
Now I know this cannot cause a bearing to go but I Just thoght I would give the whole story. First thing he does is check the drive oil by unscrewing the screw at the top, you can hear the pressure being released as he is unscrewing, takes off the top plate and says theres no oil. He then takes off the prop and fills the drive up. MY QUESTION IS THIS; Can you fill up the drive from the screw at the top?
The loss of trim fluid will not cause a bearing failure in the drive.
Yes, the drive can be filled from the top vent screw, as well as right from the top with the bearing cap removed.
The recommended procedure is from the bottom though, to reduce the chance of air pockets forming.
Most late model Bravos have a reservoir somewhere on the engine as well as a low level alarm, did the alarm go off?
And just so I get it.... did the drive grenade? or was it making a noise? or ws the issue the leaking hoses?

[1stepcloser]

BTW, the hoses should really be stainless.

[Krumbsnatcher]

Max Machine in Havasu...... :wink:
Quit messin' around..... :boxingguy
Later,
CJG
He is concerned about $100 easy change compared to a Max drive 7 to 8K

[payloan]

[
And just so I get it.... did the drive grenade? or was it making a noise? or ws the issue the leaking hoses?[/QUOTE]
It was making "clangin" noise and they said the bearing traveled through all the gears. The casing itself is o.k.

[payloan]

He is concerned about $100 easy change compared to a Max drive 7 to 8K
Trust me don,t have money falling outof the bottom of my pant legs but t's the point of the matter because I know were not ging to end on good terms I just antd to make sure that I acted properly to the situation at hand.

[Beer-30]

Trust me don,t have money falling outof the bottom of my pant legs but t's the point of the matter because I know were not ging to end on good terms I just antd to make sure that I acted properly to the situation at hand.
Sounds like finding a $2-3000 rebuilt/exchange B-1 would be what you are looking for. If metal traveled through it, you are looking at a full rebuild anyway, head to toe. Just replacing the one bearing that failed will not work (well, maybe for a few more hours, but not long), so all bearings and seals need replacement. A rebuilt one will be about the same $ as someone rebuilding yours and you will save yourself the down-time.