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MAINTENANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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So here it is. i get a boat to work on today at our shop. guy says its not running right. and there is an engine code. so hook it up to the laptop. find engine fault code. the boat has 134 hours on it. also has 7 engine fault codes in it. misfire and low oil pressure. so i check the oil, 3 quarts low. holly sh-t it only holds 6. and is black as all get out. so i looked for the cause of the miss fire. pull off the cap and it carrosion build up all over it. pull 2 spark plugs and they were bad too. so we call the guy and he says no to the full service then tells use that he just had the oil changed. well whoever did it, didnt do a good job.......... so i cleared the code and sent it on its way. cant fix a boat thats going to stay broke. and i dont mean the motor, im talking about the owner...... :cry: so end to the story, get your boat serviced when its time to. it will pay you back in the long run. its worth the money. :whistle:

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What does clearing the codes do for him? Does it just turn off a dash warning? I assume the ECM still has this data...??? Another reason to have a used boat professionally inspected before buying. Please tell us it wasn't a Malibu!!

Edited by Ndawg12
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So here it is. i get a boat to work on today at our shop. guy says its not running right. and there is an engine code. so hook it up to the laptop. find engine fault code. the boat has 134 hours on it. also has 7 engine fault codes in it. misfire and low oil pressure. so i check the oil, 3 quarts low. holly sh-t it only holds 6. and is black as all get out. so i looked for the cause of the miss fire. pull off the cap and it carrosion build up all over it. pull 2 spark plugs and they were bad too. so we call the guy and he says no to the full service then tells use that he just had the oil changed. well whoever did it, didnt do a good job.......... so i cleared the code and sent it on its way. cant fix a boat thats going to stay broke. and i dont mean the motor, im talking about the owner...... :cry: so end to the story, get your boat serviced when its time to. it will pay you back in the long run. its worth the money. :whistle:

I have ran into a similar situation (cars) guy just wanted a free diagnosis. I have noticed that the people that don't maintain are the cheapest of them all...

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oh i forgot to say that he got charged a half hour for diagnose. all hell broke when he had to pay for that. if you take you truck to ford or chevy they charge you a diagnose fee and thats just to hook it up to the computer... just wanted to vent.we get people like this in our shop weekly but this one rubbed me wrong.

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Around here just getting your engine codes read costs at least 50 bucks (codes or not) and unless the shop doesn't find anything wrong diagnosis is never free(assuming more than just codes are read). I don't see a problem with people paying for a diagnosis and then doing the work themselves under this situation. It is extremely difficult to find a mechanic who is perfectly honest, I just don't trust them. By the sounds of it you are legitimate though so don't get offended because I am sure you know a few shops that aren't.

P.S. I've always done my own diagnosis, I am no mechanic though so sometimes I get help from places like the crew :thumbup:.

Edited by Wakes
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Keep a copy of your findings and contact with the owner. He sounds like the guy who will blame you for his future troubles. :whistle:

My thoughts too. I can see him returning in a couple of weeks screaming about why his boat won't start after you worked on it. I think I would tell him to go find another mechanic and refuse him as a customer.

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9 times out of 10, the diagnosis is the most difficult part of the repair. It's frustrating when people don't realize that and complain about having to pay for diagnosis.

On another note, hooking up and pulling code is not a diagnosis. All that does is give you a fault code. It doesn't tell you what to replace. All it does is give you an idea of what may be happening. It's stil the repair technicians responsabilty to check the related circuits, monitor voltages , pressures, ect. to come to a cause of failure. I hate it when people say,..... "it had an o2sensor code so replaced the o2sensor and the light came back on" not realizing that most of the time those codes are caused by either a rich or lean run condition, or shorted/grounded wiring.

The other side of the coin from the repair shops point of view, knowing that the diagnosis is usually the hardest part of the repair, when you encounter a customer that is not willing to pay for a proper diagnosis, what makes you think that the customer will even pay for the needed repairs?

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I would suggest you document your findings and provide him with written evidence of what you discovered and make sure you keep a copy. That way you can prove you indicated the issues you found with that boat.

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So here it is. i get a boat to work on today at our shop. guy says its not running right. and there is an engine code. so hook it up to the laptop. find engine fault code. the boat has 134 hours on it. also has 7 engine fault codes in it. misfire and low oil pressure. so i check the oil, 3 quarts low. holly sh-t it only holds 6. and is black as all get out. so i looked for the cause of the miss fire. pull off the cap and it carrosion build up all over it. pull 2 spark plugs and they were bad too. so we call the guy and he says no to the full service then tells use that he just had the oil changed. well whoever did it, didnt do a good job.......... so i cleared the code and sent it on its way. cant fix a boat thats going to stay broke. and i dont mean the motor, im talking about the owner...... :cry: so end to the story, get your boat serviced when its time to. it will pay you back in the long run. its worth the money. :whistle:

You mean to say that after i buy the boat i should check the oil level before each use and have it serviced once in a while and checked out once in while to make sure she is running good. Well that is good common sense. The problem is some people are born without a drop of it and unfortunately when this happens they also get the JACKASS gene as well. Big Jay you will go home to a great home beautiful girl and a nice dinner. that guy is going to go home and kick his dog yell at his wife scream at the kids say wheres my dinner and then sit in front of the TV and feel good about himself. Oh yeah his boat will still be jacked up too.Tongue.gif

Edited by Rhino
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This is the type of thing that scares me when thinking about my next boat, and whether to buy new or used. Makes me lean towards the new!

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This is the type of thing that scares me when thinking about my next boat, and whether to buy new or used. Makes me lean towards the new!

But if a brand new boat is $55,000, I bet that same boat can be purchased used for less than $40k in 2 years. That's $15,000 or more gone - that's a lot of money that you can spend on service if you had to. You could put in a brand new engine for that I'm pretty sure. I appreciate all the folks who buy new though - cheers to all who buy new!

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But if a brand new boat is $55,000, I bet that same boat can be purchased used for less than $40k in 2 years. That's $15,000 or more gone - that's a lot of money that you can spend on service if you had to. You could put in a brand new engine for that I'm pretty sure. I appreciate all the folks who buy new though - cheers to all who buy new!

Depreciation isn't quite that bad, but if the MSRP is $55k and someone pays $55k they deserve to lose that much.

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