Should the marine shop be held responsible

Good Afternoon,

This is my first time posting but i am looking for advice from people that may have had similar experiences. I have a 2001 270 Sundancer with a single 454 mercruiser and bravo III drive. The engine was having trouble getting up to speed and had a miss all summer. I had intercoastal work on the boat. They took it out and said they found the issue and it was a part in the distributor and fixed it. When i went to take the boat out to see if it was fixed, there was a new noise in my outdrive and would rattle loudly when i would turn to either side...that was not there before they took it out and burned a whole tank of gas and to top it off the boat still would not get on plane. I asked them again if they could see if they can find the issue. They take the boat out again, use almost a full tank of gas and then tell me they found the issue and it was a coil. They said the boat runs great but my engine sounds like it has a slight knock to it now. I go down and start my boat to take it out and see if its fixed and there is a LOUD knocking that was never there before. I have no idea if they actually fixed anything because i was never able to use the boat after they brought it back. I have another mechanic look at the engine and he says the engine is done and will either need to be replaced or rebuilt. Am i out of line in my thinking that Intercoastal should accept some of the responsibility for this? Both times they took the boat to fix it, it came back worse and then the 2nd time it was brought back the engine was blown. How should i approach this?

I would at least point it out them and ask some questions - like why they needed a whole tank of fuel to troubleshoot and just how hard did they run it. In the cases where my boat has gone to a shop, the hours are noted on the work order when I drop it off. A reputable shop is not going to take a customers boat out and run it that long without a good reason. But let's say they did and ran the sh*t out of it and caused this problem, practically impossible to prove - now we are back to the honest/reputable thing. The other thing you have to at least consider is it's a 17yr old boat, things happen. Reason why nobody takes my boat out without me there.

This is a tough call....you did tell the repair shop that the engine was not reaching it full rated rpm's.....so of course the shop ran the engine at WOT (wide open throttle) as part of their troubleshooting and attempted repairs.....as far as running a full tank of gas is concerned, at WOT the engine drinks 'A LOT' of fuel very quickly so a full tank on a 270 would not last long when the engine is run full throttle...IMO it will be very difficult to hold the repair shop responsible for the engine damage in this situation....

sorry and good luck....keep us posted....

and by the way welcome to CSR......

cliff

BillK2632 said:

I would at least point it out them and ask some questions - like why they needed a whole tank of fuel to troubleshoot and just how hard did they run it. In the cases where my boat has gone to a shop, the hours are noted on the work order when I drop it off. A reputable shop is not going to take a customers boat out and run it that long without a good reason. But let's say they did and ran the sh*t out of it and caused this problem, practically impossible to prove - now we are back to the honest/reputable thing. The other thing you have to at least consider is it's a 17yr old boat, things happen. Reason why nobody takes my boat out without me there.

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Thanks for the response. I do understand the boat is older but the engine was solid. In the last year I had new risers and manifolds put on, had a compression test done, new distributor cap and rod, new lines, all new plugs, new fuel water separator, new oil pan and seal, and new impeller. The mechanic said he had it WOT up to 4600 RPM and then the engine made a knocking noise. In the last two years we have only ever been able to get the boat up to 4000 RPM. Intercoastal is a highly recommended shop and is not cheap by any means so i expected quality work. They were very odd how they casually mentioned they fixed it but now the engine knocks.... I plan on going to speak with the own and see what he suggests. My idea is that i buy all of the parts and engine for my replacement from them ( i will have another mechanic do the work) but i want it at cost. That way he is not spending money out of his pocket to correct this but he certainly isn't going to profit off me.

CliffA said:

This is a tough call....you did tell the repair shop that the engine was not reaching it full rated rpm's.....so of course the shop ran the engine at WOT (wide open throttle) as part of their troubleshooting and attempted repairs.....as far as running a full tank of gas is concerned, at WOT the engine drinks 'A LOT' of fuel very quickly so a full tank on a 270 would not last long when the engine is run full throttle...IMO it will be very difficult to hold the repair shop responsible for the engine damage in this situation....

sorry and good luck....keep us posted....

and by the way welcome to CSR......

cliff

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Thanks Cliff,

Glad to be part of the club

Baycation said:

In the last two years we have only ever been able to get the boat up to 4000 RPM.

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IMO, this statement works against you. If the reason for problem was in fact in the ignition system, then it would be fair to assume that your engine has been consuming fuel that wasn't being burned. That can result in washing your cylinder walls, wearing the rings, allowing fuel into oil... Misfires can also put the firing cylinders into an overload condition, as they're being forced to make up for the mis-firing cylinders. None of this is good even short-term. After 2 years I think you would be hard-pressed to say the mechanics are responsible.

On the flip side, knowing the engine hasn't been running well, I can't imagine keeping at WOT for long at all. Ouch.

Wonder if they screwed around with the distributer cap?

When I changed out my distributer cap and rotor button on my old VW the rotor button was miss manufactured and was hitting something inside the cap and it made the engine sound like a rod was knocking. It scared the crap out of me. After I installed another new rotor button and cap the tapping was gone.

I had a drive issue that sounded exactly like a connecting rod

"there was a new noise in my outdrive and would rattle loudly when i would turn to either side.."
Sound like universal joints, does it do this in idle when wheel is turned hard over?

SloBurn said:

"there was a new noise in my outdrive and would rattle loudly when i would turn to either side.."
Sound like universal joints, does it do this in idle when wheel is turned hard over?

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I was thinking the same thing.

How did the second mechanic in come to the conclusion of condemning your engine? Was there contamination in the lube system/filter or possibly on or damaged plugs?
It does sound like you had a flag being raised as far as a drive line is concerned.
I would also be interested in the hours added while in their care if it were mine. Any competent mechanic knows not hold a any I/O gasser WOT for any length of time. Especially a sick one or if it is a customers.
For around $30, there are bore scopes you can get for smart phones/tablets that will allow you to look into your cylinders for damage as well.

Going to be a hard one to prove but I do believe in throwing the poop against the wall and see what sticks. Nothing to lose in asking. However....it might be a good time to just write these clowns off and take your business elsewhere. I would be surprised if they would sell you a motor at cost if they are not installing it. And ant this point, do you really trust them for anything.

Since you already have so many new parts on your motor I would either have your block rebuilt or buy a re-man short block. Michigan Motorz has a re-man short block for under $4000 and all of your parts will fit. This is of course, assuming the engine is the problem. I would get it to a new shop for a full evaluation. I wouldn't tell them anything....I would let them tell you what is wrong and see if it matches what the other guys are saying.

Keep us posted
Shawn