Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

[Mordekai]

Anyway, I was testing my trim tabs at the new location and decided to open her up and see how it would do handling 1' chops (great btw) when the alarm went off. Luckily, I was able to flag down a passerby who was willing to tow me to the nearest marina with the tube rope.

I opened up the engine compartment, water was everywhere, and then I saw this.

Apparently Tahoe went cheap this model year and went to a plastic design for the hydraulic cooler and the connection points were tack welded (on plastic?!). Noticed how cleanly it broke off? that's tack welding plastic for you for a part that's HEATED/cooled repeatedly.. Retards at tracker marine I swear.

Anyway, previous model year, this part was METAL and then for 2010 they decided to go to plastic to save money, this info was from the dealer.

The dealer actually informed me that another customer just brought in their q4 for the same exact issue and Tahoe sent them a full metal replacement.

Long story short, if yours is plastic, go tell your dealer you want a metal replacement before this fails.

 

[rdhawk1950]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

This is actually a Mercruser/ Mercury Marine issue, replacement of this cooler at the factory is only required only if it came apart upon Tahoe installation of the motor..Mercruser/Mercury Marine will be in charge of this warranty claim. All efforts were made at the Tahoe factory to do a 100% recall of this cooler. THIS COOLER IS NOT ON Q4S only.

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

I see ... Either way I wonder why Tahoe let mine slip thru considering the high failure rate or just issue a recall.

I still love my tahoe but I'm trying to warn people so they won't have to give up a weekend and get towed in

 

[rdhawk1950]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Tahoe acted on test procedures set forth by Mercruser/ Mercury Marine in an effort to avoid this situation. This can sink a boat and put lives in danger, based on this, I have agreed all along that this should have been a total recall and not on an as needed bases.Thank you for the pics and the problem WILL BE addressed more agressivly than before.

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

The dealer said I'll get a metal replacement like the guy before me. What bugged me the most was this boat was only 3 weeks old.

Everyone at the dealer acted like it was no big deal being towed in and having to go fetch my trailer 40 miles out of route. Does tracker have any type of compensation for this?

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Tahoe acted on test procedures set forth by Mercruser/ Mercury Marine in an effort to avoid this situation. This can sink a boat and put lives in danger, based on this, I have agreed all along that this should have been a total recall and not on an as needed bases.Thank you for the pics and the problem WILL BE addressed more agressivly than before.

What kind of engine damagen do you think can happen and if the dealer can check for it? I think I ran my engine for about 20-30 seconds dry before I realized what had happened

 

[rdhawk1950]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Usually it would take abt 3-5 minutes before heat up would occur and still no damage at that point , your safe

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Just update for those that may run into this and expect merc marine or tracker to ship you the part quickly.

Brought the boat to the dealer last Saturday, parts was ordered then but I figure no one work over the weekend, so was hoping parts would ship out monday and get here by wednesday?


Hell no, I guess I'm the only one that was this fixed quickly, I'm starting to regret Tahoe as a choice.

 

[mccownk]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Which dealer?

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Bradford marine in Springdale, Arkansas.

 

[mccownk]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Use the power of this forum.

Dear Bradford Marine,
It has come to our attention that you are in the position to receive some free advertising. As a member of the largest boating forum on the internet we would like to follow up on the customer service you provide at your dealership. A customer of yours has expressed some concern over the repair of a new boat purchased at your facility.
Specifically we would like to know your plan on correcting this problem in a timely manner. This new boat owner would like to enjoy the boat he has purchased and is currently making payments on. There is nothing more discouraging than having a new product have a problem and then be delayed in the servicing of that product. First impressiions are very important to any business.
Prior to this mechanical failure this boat owner was very pleased with their purchase.
We anxiously await your comments on this issue.
Sincerely,
Iboats Boating forum members

Please post your feedback

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Looks like the parts manager finally stepped up after speaking with him today. Mercruiser is dragging their feet and the part would be here next Tuesday. A full week! But he's gonna get it from else where and overnight it. Hopefully it made it on the shipment tonight. Worse case it will be here Saturday and installed then.

 

[mccownk]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Wow. Bravo Zulu to the parts manager. I only wonder why Mercruiser was taking so long in shipping? Makes me wonder if this part is in demand for some reason. Well done on expediting the repair and I hope you are back on the water and testing out those smart tabs real soon!. Enjoy!

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Well here's the crazy conclusion.

They got the metal hydraulic cooler in today. Got it installed.

Then the service manager showed me this.

HOLY F'ING RECALL.

The recall was issued on 8/10/2010. Guess we finally make a big enough stink.

The recall is so new that they had to it to fax over whereas they normally get recalls thru their merc dealer system.

 

[yourboatmyboat]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Good job gang from a former seaman

 

[mccownk]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

That's great. At the bottom of that notice it said models affected. Any way to get those numbers?

 

[yourboatmyboat]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

I would guess that this is just a cover sheet and addressed to Mercruser to cover ALL boat brands and manufactures that installed Mercruser Engines with this cooler on the engine which was not only one certain size engine.In most cases it is the part involved not what it is on. Mercruser will break it down and send recall notices to manufactures affected also to customers with boats involved. Such as the same process that car recalls occur

 

[Mordekai]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

That's great. At the bottom of that notice it said models affected. Any way to get those numbers?

Best bet is just to go and tap your hydraulic cooler, it should be metal, if its plastic, time to take it in.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

I have found Tahoe dealers are pretty lazy when it comes to helping boat owners. They jump all over you when you are buying a boat though.

You dont have to take that to a Tahoe dealer. Any authorized Mercruiser repair facility can work on it. Find one in your area and give them a try next time you need work. My buddy has a Volvo I/O and he kept taking it back to the dealer he bought the boat from and they would keep the boat for over a week and never touch it, he finally found another Volvo facility and they had it fixed in a day. It was a warranty issue as well, he only had the boat in the water twice and the trim pump blew out.

They all have issues. You cant really blame the boat builder for Mercuiser issues. Their lousy service, well yes. And Tahoe dealers see worse than others.

I ordered parts from the Tahoe dealer for mine and after 2 weeks of calling every few days they finally said they never placed the order. I also needed parts for the latch on my engine cover. They kept telling me they would find a part number and get back to me. I called every day for a week. Finally I went over to the Bayliner dealer(of all places) and the parts person was very helpful and got me exactly what I needed the next day. Unless it is Tahoe specific, I stay away from their repair facilities and parts counters.

 

[mnypitboat]

Re: Q4 Owners, check your hydraulic cooler now! My 3 weeks old q4 failed.

Oh and by the way, my 01 Q7 has a metal one. They must have changed that at some point, likely to save money on manufactoring.