How much for a carb repair on BF30 is fair?

[pwiseman]

I have and 05 BF30. Lower cylinder is not hitting, checked out all the normal stuff - fuel lines, new gas, spark plug. I ran 6 gallons of new gas with seafoam through it, and it is not clearing up.

Seems that the motor is tough to start, cutts out at low RPM, rough idle.

Asked a honda repair shop and they said they take all three carbs off, soak them, use an ultrasound tool to clean the small jets, resync the carbs and I am looking at $450 out the door.

Lot of messing around to get these off, so maybe this is fair. Thought I would check before I take it in.

 

[lexi]

Re: How much for a carb repair on BF30 is fair?

Before you agree ask them if this will cure the problem or if they are charging you as part of a process of elimination. Better to clear that up as they may charge you for the work that they do (justifiably) but it may not work 100 per cent for the problem. If it works it tends to ease the payment of the bill.

Alex

 

[zzzzz]

Re: How much for a carb repair on BF30 is fair?

here in our shop we charge an hours' labor per carb(we're at $85/hour)and do the same-ultrasound,etc.....as for the hard start-Honda has a new choke mechanism for the 25 & 30 hps....ask your local shop about service bulletin #60 titled "hard start 25 & 30 hp"

 

[pwiseman]

Re: How much for a carb repair on BF30 is fair?

here in our shop we charge an hours' labor per carb(we're at $85/hour)and do the same-ultrasound,etc.....as for the hard start-Honda has a new choke mechanism for the 25 & 30 hps....ask your local shop about service bulletin #60 titled "hard start 25 & 30 hp"

Ended up taking it to a differnet shop with a $90 per hour rate and they got it running for $360 including a new manifold gasket. Sounds reasonably close to what you charge.

Mentioned the cold start, but they did not say anything about the service bulletin. They a full line Honda dealer, but a fairly small shop that seemed to be selling a variety of stuff including merc, honda, yamaha and the new etecs.

Since I was a bit underpowered with the 30, I inquired about trading up. They gave me a $3200 trade on the 05 BF30 and cut the labor on the repair down to $180. Seemed reasonable to me and they cut me a good price on an 06 Merc EFI 40.

Boat planes decent with 3 people now on a 13 pitch prop and top speed went from 24 to 31 MPH. Had to swap between a 10 and 12 pitch with the Honda to compensate for the lack of power.

Out the door for about $2k and so far I think it was the right choice. Put about 15 hours on the motor this weekend. Boat behaves well with the extra 35 lbs or so. Very slight porpise at higher speeds with it trimmed up for max RPM.

Thanks for the advice.