trflgrl
Active Member
- Jun 23, 2014
- 982
- Boat Info
- 1989 Sundancer 300
- Engines
- Twin 350 Merc/Alpha 1 Gen 1; Quicksilver 4.0 gen
Perhaps more of a vent than anything....but perhaps another learning experience thanks to the collective brain power and experience that make CSR the great resource it is.
Got boat hauled for a sticky shift cable, and am having outdrives serviced at the same time, so went over all the "might have tos" with the mechanic, then he returned to shop to build the quote. Service manager emailed that the mechanic "Can't do the shift cable," with no explanation, so I asked for more info.
"The reason he can't do the shift cable is because in order to do it he has to remove the boots from drive, the boots are old and should be replaced, he isn't confident that he could get the boots put back on and sealed, the only way he could do that shift cable would be to do the boot job on that side."
The boot in question is 2 years old, and the mechanic hasn't disassembled that drive yet for full inspection. As far as I can tell from this forum and other reading, being wet slipped/used on fresh water for 2 years without anything odd happening (like otters who seem to think they're a delicacy) wouldn't exactly destroy a boot, but of course I'm still pretty green over all and definitely am not a mechanic. (This boot actually replaced one that was only 2 years old. During routine outdrive service/inspection the mechanic found a pretty clean hole in it, which he surmised may have happened when it was installed, possibly from being pinched between other components or perhaps a slip of a tool the installer didn't notice at the time. Dunno--sounded plausible because the hole was so clean vs. a split along one of the ridges, not a weak/worn spot....and there were no claw marks. )
Am I oversimplifying by thinking it's kind of like an auto tire: there's a general life expectancy (30k tires, 55k tires, 100k tires), but in real life the tire may not last as long--or may last longer--due to variations in environmental conditions, driver habits, maintenance or lack thereof and other factors?
Is 2 years "old"?
Is it common/best practice to replace the boot, regardless of age, when replacing the shift cable? I haven't seen mention of this in parts lists/descriptions of shift cable replacement process.
TIA!!
Got boat hauled for a sticky shift cable, and am having outdrives serviced at the same time, so went over all the "might have tos" with the mechanic, then he returned to shop to build the quote. Service manager emailed that the mechanic "Can't do the shift cable," with no explanation, so I asked for more info.
"The reason he can't do the shift cable is because in order to do it he has to remove the boots from drive, the boots are old and should be replaced, he isn't confident that he could get the boots put back on and sealed, the only way he could do that shift cable would be to do the boot job on that side."
The boot in question is 2 years old, and the mechanic hasn't disassembled that drive yet for full inspection. As far as I can tell from this forum and other reading, being wet slipped/used on fresh water for 2 years without anything odd happening (like otters who seem to think they're a delicacy) wouldn't exactly destroy a boot, but of course I'm still pretty green over all and definitely am not a mechanic. (This boot actually replaced one that was only 2 years old. During routine outdrive service/inspection the mechanic found a pretty clean hole in it, which he surmised may have happened when it was installed, possibly from being pinched between other components or perhaps a slip of a tool the installer didn't notice at the time. Dunno--sounded plausible because the hole was so clean vs. a split along one of the ridges, not a weak/worn spot....and there were no claw marks. )
Am I oversimplifying by thinking it's kind of like an auto tire: there's a general life expectancy (30k tires, 55k tires, 100k tires), but in real life the tire may not last as long--or may last longer--due to variations in environmental conditions, driver habits, maintenance or lack thereof and other factors?
Is 2 years "old"?
Is it common/best practice to replace the boot, regardless of age, when replacing the shift cable? I haven't seen mention of this in parts lists/descriptions of shift cable replacement process.
TIA!!