This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities.. :eek:

[StarGazerI]

I was going sailing in Maine for a week with my wife. I took my motor to my mechanic to give it a checkout before the trip. Spent about 400.00 and the said it needed a new shifting arm F-N-R on the NS5B. We set sail and motored out of the harbor and set sail for islands unknown. As we approached our destination I tried to start the motor..it would not start. After pulling my arm off trying I did all the checks everything seemed good. Humm I decided to check for spark and found my spark-plug like this..

I have to tell ya! I had not a clue what this was. Proceeded to clean the plug and check spark was good. After reinstalling plug.. motor started first pull and away we went. The next morning went to start and the same thing, it would not start. cleaned the plug and go.. :facepalm: After our trip I took the motor back to the shop and the tech called me and said.. its DEAD He said it was running in the tank and just died and wont restart. he said "You need to buy a new motor" I said OK and proceeded to pick it up and try to digest it and take it apart piece by piece to find out what happened to it. Here are my findings to date:


Please note: That the reason the engine all of a sudden died.. was the filter got sucked into the carburetor see carb pic. What I found on the plug-sludge was the engine had a water leak from the water cooling system. The Tech took the motor apart to change out the Drive Arm and didn't change the gasket after opening the engine. Thus, causing the water to leak into the engine.
Soo!! This is why you should always check what they did and who's doing the work and their abilities to do the job... Oh! Buy the way a motor gasket is only $5.08. Rule of thumb "If it has a gasket when you take it apart.. Tell them to REPLACE IT! its not worth the the $5.08 savings. StargazerI

 

[StarGazerI]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

Here is some more pictures of my Nissan 5 HP NS5B


StarGazerI

 

[tpenfield]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

So, you only had to pay $400 to have your engine destroyed?

Sorry to hear about that. Did you have any prior experience with the mechanic?

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

StarGazerI

Sue the "pseudo mechanic", but before you start that process, dump him inside his oily water testing barrell...
And always change important gaskets that deals with water passages when removing for maintenance issues.

Happy Boating

 

[55evinrude]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

Thats such a shame that the mechanic did that just to save a few bucks!

sorry about your motor man, that picture of the piston threw the exhaust port looks bad! I would be going back to the original mechanic asap, show him the damages and demand a new motor!

One thing to do next time is to have the mechanic save every part, gasket or piece that he takes off the motor. That's what I do as a mechanic because the customers like to see all the old stuff so they know what they paid for on the bill!

Nathan

 

[StarGazerI]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

Yes, I have been using them about 20 years of small stuff. like flushing motor for end of season clean-ups and or repairs. I never went out back to the shop to see what a mess it was. I mean "Parts all over the place and unorganized". Looking back at all that happened to it over the years of service.. Like screws missing, the gas cap was not mine, but someone else's and the wrong spark plug installed or wire left off, and who knows what else! The bottom line is that we all should examine our repair shops that they are on the same page as our needs. If the mechanics work table/area is a mess with all kinds of parts, screws, and debris... Chances are thats what you will get back.. Debris

AS OF TODAY! I will be giving any shop a "written check list" of what needs to be done on my motors. When I pickup the motor I also will make sure they signed off on all items of completion. Any additional work or items added to the list will be added to the list by the tech and not a verbal "Oh ya! I did this and that." StarGazer You might think this is extreme.. but, I depend on its performance..
Especially when your out on the water.

 

[pvanv]

Re: This could be YOU! If you don't check out your repair shops abilities..

That's strange all the way around. There is not supposed to be any air filter at all. So who installed what that eventually was sucked into the carb? Hmmm.

As for replacing the shift lever... the only gasket that would have to changed would be the base gasket (yes, it's about $5.08 for a new one), and in our shop, we always, always install a new one whenever we pull the powerhead. But... while a leak there might cause exhaust to load up the cowling, or if a leak was really bad, it might cause a cooling water leak, again, into the cowl, or straight down inside the exhaust. And the loss of cooling water pressure might cause the motor to run too hot... But... It would not normally allow water into the combustion chamber.

In the pix, I'm seeing that you have some significant crud accumulation in the cooling passages, and a possible leaky head gasket. THOSE things could let water into the combustion chamber, and might well cause the motor to run too hot.

So, while your mechanic clearly was not thorough (I'm NOT defending him), your motor also had other issues, beyond what was done to install the new shift lever. Maybe he never did a thorough diagnosis, or maybe at the lighter loads in the test tank the motor didn't have plug fouling symptoms. Dunno. Is the mechanic to blame? Yes. But... age and neglect are also contributors to your problem.