I have a few very interesting updates. I got my boat back yesterday and launched it. All it took was a $9,027 check. A little less than I had expected, so I was actually surprised. Final kick in the balls was that I had filled the tank before launching it. Tank had been siphoned dry by the time I picked it up. I had the boat out in my driveway a few days before taking it to the dealer, so the gas could have been taken then, so I can't blame anyone for that. So, $163 later, I was gassed up again.
When this first happened, I was shocked and trying to figure out what the cause was. I had kind of come to the conclusion that the engine got too deep when launching, but was never able to verify that because the boat was at the dealer. I can tell you, that was NOT what happened. This time when I launched, I had the wife take video and pictures, and there is no way the engine got that deep. The lowest cylinder is roughly even with the lowest part of the engine cover. The water was at least 18 inches below that at the deepest point. Even if I backed in super fast, water would not have risen that high. Here you can see the water mark on the engine after launching. We backed it in an out a few times just to make sure.
This is about where that line is from the side where you can see the lowest point of the cover. No way water got that high launching it. For water to have risen to be level with the lowest cylinder, it would have to be over the back of my boat, and I am certain that has never happened, at least while launching it on calm water.
So, now my options are getting really interesting. Did the place that winterized it blow it up? Perhaps they put fogging oil or regular oil or something in the cylinder and it didn't cause a problem until I tried to start it. It did not rain the night I had it in my driveway between when I picked it up and launched if the next day, so it wasn't caused from rain ingestion. Maybe there was a leaky injector and gas flooded the engine so that when I turned the key, it hydro-locked? I know the odds of that happening are remote, but I think this whole situation is extremely unlikely to have happened, so one of these crazy things had to have happened.
Oh, and my frustration and disgust with Merc continues. I wrote them last Wednesday when they declined to cover the failure. I had not heard a word back more than a week later, so on Thursday, I sent another email and just asked if they had even received my correspondence. They responded right away that they had received my email, and had responded via US mail and I should hear back by the end of the week. Well, the Saturday mail just arrived, and I still have NOTHING. I mean, why use snail mail anyhow? What kind of customer service is it to not even send back one of those automated messages like "We got your email and will return your inquiry when we can" so I didn't have to follow up again and ask? Do they not care or respect how short the boating season is here in Minnesota? I mean, do they not care about customer service enough to get back to people in less than 2 weeks? Pretty sad. Just seems like a really bush league stalling technique aimed to accomplish one thing, wear me down so I give up. You can say what you want about whether you think the engines are good, but this is poor customer service no matter how you slice it.
By the way, any idea how to get that white/powdery residue off the engine?
