lower unit obliterated

Hi, was running my 1999 21 ft bayliner capri when I hit something in the water. completely obliterated the lower unit. Ripped the drive shaft out of the engine leaving a hole right in the middle of the bellows. We started taking on water. Got the boat out and home. The only thing keeping the lower attached was one piston. Going to have to replace everything from the transom down. Has anybody had this happen. About what was the cost. I'm afraid this is going to be the end of my boat.

Re: lower unit obliterated

a picture would be helpful in determining what you need. is the gimbal housing damaged?

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Did you have insurance that may cover it?

Without knowing what all is damaged, an estimate is out of the question. I've seen it happen on several boats, and it's not cheap to fix. Usually a new transom shield aft is what is needed.
Take it to a Merc dealer and have them inspect everything and give you an estimate.

We can help you fix it if you do it yourself.
Assuming it's an Alpha I Gen II

http://www.michiganmotorz.com/mercruiser-2012-alpha-transom-assembly-p-375.html

http://www.sterndrive.cc/mm5/merchant.mvc?

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Unfortunatly I did not have insurance. Just got the the boat and it was my second time in the water. Here is a video I uploaded to youtube to help you help me..... Thanks....

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Yep, what Don says. I have seen that a couple times as an insurance adjuster. You are looking at a VERY expensive and labor intensive repair there.

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WOW. That must have pretty violent. What did you hit? Looks like you need everything from the transom back at least. Is there any damage inside the boat?

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Ahhh...tis but a flesh wound!! (Just kidding, and trying to get you to smile....). Where did this happen, so I know not to got there! Look at the bright side.... your prop looks great!

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No damage other than what you see. Aside from a small scrape on the rear of the hull. Happened in the deleware river on the new jersey side between deleware memorial and commodore barry bridge just east of fox point park. After we hit we were looking back and could see the water white capping over it. Maybe a sewer pipe? Was about 100yds long. We were definitely too close to the shore. Good thing was nobody was injured. Had my two kids with me, was bailing out water the whole time the fire department was towing us in. Hopefully s somebody here will have a knowledgeable ball park figure as to how much this would cost. Can't get it to the shop until tuesday. The suspense is killing me.

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ktbarrentine said:

Ahhh...tis but a flesh wound!! (Just kidding, and trying to get you to smile....).

Click to expand...

Lol!!
Funny...I was thinking the same thing! "What are you gonna do??Bleed on me?" The Black Knight rides again!

Re: lower unit obliterated

Wow.. Obliterated is the right word.

As far as cost. I think you're certainly going to need a new transom assembly (2K or so). And, if I had to guess, I'd think you're probably also in for a drive (or at least a rebuild of the drive you have now). I've never used them, but people here mostly seem to have positive things to say about SEI outdrives; an Alpha replacement will cost you about 2K there. Then you've got some labor, probably an engine pull and maybe some glass work if there's damage to the hull itself. Best case, 8-12 hours, worst case, closer to 30-40. Some of this work you may be able to do yourself, which would cut the labor bill down quite a bit.

So, my guess? Best case (you don't need a new drive, you do all the work yourself), you're probably looking at 2-3K. Worst case (you need a new drive, you have a mechanic do everything).... Ugh, 6-10K?

There's other stuff that's probably torn up in there that isn't visible on the video, but hopefully the engine is OK.

Honestly, if it were me, I might make this a project boat and try to source the parts from a used boat (a junk boat) and try to get her running again. The issue here, if you pay to have someone do this, it may wind up being close to the cost of buying another used boat of equivalent age.

So sorry for your situation. In the future (not that I need to say this) you should consider getting insurance on your boat. I had a 2005 Bayliner 225, the insurance was something like 400/yr for full coverage with a 1K deductible, and that's in Florida (with probably the highest rates in the country for boat insurance).

newbier said:

No damage other than what you see. Aside from a small scrape on the rear of the hull. Happened in the deleware river on the new jersey side between deleware memorial and commodore barry bridge just east of fox point park. After we hit we were looking back and could see the water white capping over it. Maybe a sewer pipe? Was about 100yds long. We were definitely too close to the shore. Good thing was nobody was injured. Had my two kids with me, was bailing out water the whole time the fire department was towing us in. Hopefully s somebody here will have a knowledgeable ball park figure as to how much this would cost. Can't get it to the shop until tuesday. The suspense is killing me.

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Re: lower unit obliterated

It definitely needs a new drive. The upper is missing pieces around the input shaft and the lower has a big hole in the front. The transom assembly with rams on ebay goes for around $1500 used but complete. Then put an SEI drive on it. Add a few hundred extra for parts to assemble and replace. Are you going to do the work yourself? If not it may be cheaper to find a boat with a toasted engine and swap yours in.

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Thank you all for the input. I am moderately mechanically inclined. Not sure if I could take on such a big job. I do like the finding another boat with fried engine idea and swapping them out. I will keep you all posted with my endeavor, I am sure I will be asking for more advice along the way. Will be sure next time to get insurance before I drop in the water next time.

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ouch

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No insurance?:facepalm:

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well hey, at least you know transom is solid.

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newbier said:

Thank you all for the input. I am moderately mechanically inclined. Not sure if I could take on such a big job. I do like the finding another boat with fried engine idea and swapping them out. I will keep you all posted with my endeavor, I am sure I will be asking for more advice along the way. Will be sure next time to get insurance before I drop in the water next time.

Click to expand...

Howdy,


At a minimum, you'll be replacing the drive and transom mount. You can probably find a used transom mount or enough parts to rebuild yours on on ebay .

Then I would buy a new SEI drive (about $1500)

If you're prudent, you might be able to do it all yourself for under $2500 or so.

In all the years I have had a boat, I have never had insurance. (other than standard liability of course.......)

It is a definite gamble. But I have never had a prop or drive strike.

I've had the Bravo III for about 5 years now and I think I am going to start next year with more than liability.
(Break a Bravo III and it gets a little expensive)


Good luck,


Rick

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Ok, the quote came in at $7,600!!!!!! Needless to say I'm not going to invest that much... With that said I may just try to get what cash I can out of what is left. Any suggestions on how to do that. Sell as project boat or maybe part it out? Or I could try to fix it myself. Ughhh dont know what to do.

Re: lower unit obliterated

stop and breath first.

then list it on craigs list

get what you can out of it

parting it out can be a PITA and you still would probably be stuck with the hull

then again if you really like the boat, roll up your sleeves and pull out the tools and start looking for parts.

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A little more info, like drive type, model, engine would help tons instead of us guessing.

Aside from getting all the parts you need for what you intend on spending, it's really not that bad of a job to do. Aside from getting the motor out, if you don't have the facilities to hoist it, and needing to build a gantry (or use a tow truck to lift out then in for you), the replacement job is basically a few weekend project with common hand tools and getting motor re-aligned before putting drive back on.

Not that bad at all. Just shop around on fleabay and other sites and find a good used setup. Is it an Alpha Gen II drive? Just make sure it's in good shape and gear ratio is correct. If a Bravo, they are more expensive, but that boat will take an Alpha no problem

Just saw a complete Alpha Gen2 transom / gimbal assy on fleabay for five and a half
Complete 1.47 upper for one fifty (still bidding)
Get an SEI lower for eight and a half

Or complete new SEI for fifteen.

So, for around + or - 2K and some work, you can be back on the water..

A plus is being a '99, you'll get to check everything over real good and fix stuff that you probably wouln't have checked before.