Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

[johndavidross]

I bought a 1994 Rinker a few weeks ago for $3200 knowing that it had certain issues and that I would be spending some cash on it. I took it into a Mercury shop in my city that was recommended to me by a couple boat owners so I felt safe in letting them do the work. I wanted to know if any of you think that the work that is being done is be priced fairly.

New battery, rebuilt starter and pulling the motor to replace starter bolts, tune up (ignition wires, cap/rotor, fuel filter, spark plugs), water pump and a new thermostat housing and thermostat.

They are charging $1230 for all the work. This is my first boat so I want it done right but also at a fair price. I'm also not extremely handy when it comes to engine work which is why I took it into a Merc shop.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Don S]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Sounds to me like you got off really cheap at only $1230.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

You ripped them off big time, nice work !!!

 

[kd7isf]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Careful there -- you might want to ask for the "total price" not just "what the work will cost". "What the work will cost" can easily be misinterpeted as "what will the labor cost".. You might find a bigger bill when the cost of parts gets added in...

If that does include the parts, good deal for having done in a shop!

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Just a recommendation ........ since I have heard this type of story before.

There are excellent manuals available and tons of expert guidance here on iboats. Now that the motor is "together" and had the maintenance performed ytou are in good shape. The BEST way to save $$$$ in the future is to do many maintenance items yourself.

You got a very good price!!

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

While I am here, is there an easy way to remove the back to back seats in my boat? I'd like to pull them out to clean them in my basement but I don't see an easy way to remove them.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Well, I cant see what they look like either.
That price is not bad.

 

[Don S]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

While I am here, is there an easy way to remove the back to back seats in my boat? I'd like to pull them out to clean them in my basement but I don't see an easy way to remove them.

This is just one of the IO repair forums, you might want to post that question over in Boat Topics and Questions (not engine topics) forum.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

While I am here, is there an easy way to remove the back to back seats in my boat? I'd like to pull them out to clean them in my basement but I don't see an easy way to remove them.

Cleaning them takes 10 minutes. The removal and reinstall could take hours.

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

I called them about parts. The price included both parts and labor.

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

I called them about parts. The price included both parts and labor.

Pretty good deal if they're pulling the engine to do this.....a fair amount of the labor will be R&R of the engine (which includes drive R&R and engine (re-)alignment)

When you said "water pump" you meant RAW water pump?

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Pretty good deal if they're pulling the engine to do this.....a fair amount of the labor will be R&R of the engine (which includes drive R&R and engine (re-)alignment)

When you said "water pump" you meant RAW water pump?

Is there more than one water pump?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Is there more than one water pump?

There's one on your engine in the front that circulates water around in the engine and heads (called the "circulating pump") and another one either in the drive (if you have an ALPHA drive) OR bolted to the starboard side of the engine (If you have a Bravo drive) that is called the raw (or SEA) water pump.

If that raw water pump hasn't been inspected or replaced recently it should be. The Merc shop knows this but I would ask them if it's included.

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Thanks. I'm going to call them right now and I'll post their reply.

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

It was the raw water pump that was bad and that is what they had quoted in their price. They did inspect the circulating pump and they said it looks fine.

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

They also said that while looking at outdrive, they found that the u bolts were rusted. What does that mean? I'm not familiar with out drive components as much as the inboard engine components.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Do you mean u-joints?

 

[johndavidross]

Re: Am I being charged a fair price on my Mercruiser repair?

Yes, I meant u-joints. I went into the shop so they could show me everything. I would have had to of torn the entire outdrive apart in order to see what was going on in there. The u-joints are rusted out but the movement in them is still good so I'm going to hold on on having that done until after this boating season.