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Posted by Jake on 7/21/2008, 1:56 pm
Hey everyone let me run something by ya'll. What should my expectations be on this? I went to a professional marine repair center and had my motor rebuild last November. I have put less than 10 hours (sinful, I know, but I have had a busy year) on the motor and followed all the rules the mechanic gave me.
A little background, this it isn't a fly-by-night guy or a home garage, it's a good reputable mechanic with a nice shop and a stable business. In fact, I have been going to him with my last 4 boats for over 10 years.
A piston burned up in my Scout and he rebuilt the motor for me, a 1992 200HP Mercury 2-stroke. It was a little over $2,000.00 between the machine work, the parts and the labor. He found that a magnet came loose from some part on the flywheel assembly and caused the timing to advance and he believed this was what burned up the engine the first time. I replaced that part on a different bill outside the rebuild. He also rebuilt all the carbs while he had everything torn down and replaced the jets that were part of a recall for a crappy idle. I have broke-it-in (honest to goodness) exactly as he instructed.
On the 9th hour of running, the motor locked up again. I drug it back to him last month and he pulled off the head and it was the same cylinder that went out the first time. Standing on the ground and looking from the back of the boat, it is the middle one on the right-hand side. He said he would "do me right" but I am not sure exactly what that means. He said he may eat the labor and work out parts. The motor did not come with a warranty so he could technically tell me to go away and there isn't much I could do about it. I am a reasonable person and I certainly want to be fair with him, he has treated me right over the years, he’s a good fellow and I trust him.
I have never been in this situation before so would someone help me set my expectations. I want to be fair and reasonable. If it were me, I would have to say that I missed whatever made it go out the first time and eat the second rebuild, but that’s just me. This may be an unreasonable expectation. Maybe he should eat the labor and I should buy the parts again? Maybe I should cut him another check for the full cost of a 2nd rebuild? I sincerely do not know. I want to do what is fair and right. We haven't discussed any payment and I am waiting for him to break the engine down to see how bad the damage is this time.
If you were in my shoes, what would you expect as a long time customer?
-Jake
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