I?d like to get some advice here too. I just bought a used 23? cruiser and on my 2nd time out it almost sank! Long story short the Gimbal or Transom house has a huge crack on the port side just inside the inner lip (I would have to train the leg to the right to see it better as the attached pic is an example - not actual). My guess this was from previous damage and finally rotted through. Of course it didn?t break during the sea trial before I handed all my cash over
The dealer gave me a 30-day warranty, so they are going to fix this. However I just found out they are "repairing" the Gimbal Housing, not replacing it. The mechanic himself quoted, "this would be a fortune to fix". So he claimed to have welded the crack (while still on the boat) and was in the process of putting some black epoxy resin over it "to keep the sea from eating the weld bead" when I finally showed up. Was there even a weld bead I couldn?t verify it? Hell, I didn't even notice a torch anywhere nearby. Could he have just gone and only JB Weld'ed the darn thing??? - lets hope not !!!
My problem is this: In my mind the transom/gimbal housing is subject to transferring thrust produced from the prop to the hull, right? This repair doesn't sound like a good thing. What do you all think?
I already plan to get this all in writing as another have suggested, but would any of you trust taking this boat out into the Gulf of Mexico 30-40 miles?
And, how much would this cost to get replaced? I priced used from $500 to new from $1,500. Engine would need to be pulled, so what would labor expect to run? [Mercruiser 5.7L Alpha one gen II (I think)]
~JR
The dealer gave me a 30-day warranty, so they are going to fix this. However I just found out they are "repairing" the Gimbal Housing, not replacing it. The mechanic himself quoted, "this would be a fortune to fix". So he claimed to have welded the crack (while still on the boat) and was in the process of putting some black epoxy resin over it "to keep the sea from eating the weld bead" when I finally showed up. Was there even a weld bead I couldn?t verify it? Hell, I didn't even notice a torch anywhere nearby. Could he have just gone and only JB Weld'ed the darn thing??? - lets hope not !!!
My problem is this: In my mind the transom/gimbal housing is subject to transferring thrust produced from the prop to the hull, right? This repair doesn't sound like a good thing. What do you all think?
I already plan to get this all in writing as another have suggested, but would any of you trust taking this boat out into the Gulf of Mexico 30-40 miles?
And, how much would this cost to get replaced? I priced used from $500 to new from $1,500. Engine would need to be pulled, so what would labor expect to run? [Mercruiser 5.7L Alpha one gen II (I think)]
~JR