Blown Engine / Exhaust ? Please Help

[Lance B. Johnson]

At best I say its a 50/50 Blame.

[ibelonginprison]

I'm in the middle of all you guys.

if the dealer winterized it, they would assume the customer would bring it back to them to summerize it as well. Putting the responsibility on THEM to make sure it was safe for the water. Winterizing a boat just makes it safe for storing over the winter. So the dealership will likely say "we winterized it, why didn't you bring it back to us to summerize it?"

I also think that a good dealer would say "have you ever owned a supercharged boat before with a closed cooling system? If not, here's a few things you need to know that's a little different than what you're used to." But again, if the customer didn't ask, the dealer could just shrug their shoulders and say "should've spoken up."

I learned my lessons about winterizing and summerizing a boat this season. Such as the necks off the impeller housing... you have to make sure to get the hose clamp ALL the way above the bead and crank it tight, because the bead doesn't run all the way around (a flat spot on each side) and will spray water. I learned this while running the boat in the driveway, checking for leaks.... and I found one.

At the start of the season the first time out I watch everything like a hawk for the first hour. Before I even leave - I have all the hatches open, look for leaks, noises, and check the bilge in the center for excessive water. I check to make sure both batteries start the boat individually at the dock, I check oil pressure at idle, give it a rev in neutral to make sure it rises as expected. Hit the switches, horn, lights, bilge and of course - radio. Make sure voltage and temps come up to normal before I pull away. Then I check the oil pressure at cruise, and WOT. Make sure temps stay 155-160, and hit the ballasts up to about 20%, then drain them. Yes, it's a little more tedious, but it's the only way the mechanic side of me will relax any.

My wife is a great help as well. I've taught her the basics of what to look for if there's a problem. Too much water in the bilge, noises, smoke, bow sitting too low, or the boat spraying too much while at cruise speeds. She always checks, and lots of time she'll ask "is this normal?" and I'm like "yup, we're good!" And I don't mind that at all.

We also both have a routine that each of us check the two plugs (rear and center) before putting in. We never take it for granted the other person thought about it. We always each check to make sure the rear hatches are open while in the staging area, and the blower is on. (watch one boat burn on a launch, and that'll become a concrete part of your launch routine, trust me!) And we each check to make sure that I switched the batteries to "off" after we put the boat away each session.

Long and short of it is... this was just an unfortunate situation of miscommunication and misunderstanding. I REALLY hope that the LSA itself is safe and sound and it's just a few things that bolt up to it that need replacement. It's such a wonderful motor, that I would actually pour a beer out for you, if it ended up being completely toast.

#superchargealltheLSmotors

[ibelonginprison]

And Pistol Pete's signature is really close to what I tell people that ask me about owning a boat.

My quote is:

"What they never tell is you don't buy a boat and become a boat owner, you buy a boat and become a boat mechanic."

lol

[DAI]

Maybe it's just my dealer, but they have summerization service when pulling the boat out of storage, which includes removing the antifreeze and and getting the boat lake ready. For those who have their dealer do the winterization, is this not a service that is offered in spring?

[85 Barefoot]

Maybe it's just my dealer, but they have summerization service when pulling the boat out of storage, which includes removing the antifreeze and and getting the boat lake ready. For those who have their dealer do the winterization, is this not a service that is offered in spring?

I agree and many do. In fact, that may be the crux of the issue here. If the dealer filled with antifreeze, it should have gone back to them for removal before it all got dumped in the lake.

[Falko]

That picture shows green anti-freeze. Do they make green RV anti-freeze? I've only seen red, that's why I brought that up.

[Lance B. Johnson]

I don't think that the coolant in the closed system is green either.

[3sport]

Wizard lake in Alberta - at least on a vtx with the 350 - you pay for the winterize and its ready to drop into the water come spring. There is no "summerizing" that needs to be done. Curiously (for me anyway), everyone has assumed this isn't how things work at the OP's dealership and appear to be blaming OP for failing to make sure the boat was properly summerized. Also, if you're paying the dealership to do things, I don't get where this perceived responsibility to suddenly become a mechanic comes from. My $0.02 - none of which helps the OP unfortunately.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DAI]

I'm not blaming the OP. When I called to pick up my boat for the summer, they asked if I want to have them summerize it. I asked the question back to them what was all in that service. If the OP's dealer winterized the boat, and did not prepare or offer a service to prepare it for summer, I would fault the dealer for not providing adequate information on what to do to safely operate the boat after their winterization service was performed (punch list, warnings etc . ..).

[ibelonginprison]

Well, it's bad customer service to not do it, but it's not "required."

So, just poor communication and a misunderstanding. With a very, very unfortunate outcome.

[DAI]

IMO it's beyond bad customer service, more liability if not performed, offered or informed of what needed to be done for summer prep (if this was the case).

[The Hulk]

THERE IS HOPE!

I'm EXTREMLY THANKFUL the Service Dept. actually OWNED UP to the mistake here. they openly admitted it was simply their mess up no sugar coating it..... so honestly i have major props for them. I understand s*** happens but owning up to it and covering it takes one hell of a dealer IMO, i dont think many other dealers would have done that and or couldn't of afforded to..... so again major props to the dealer on the situation here.

They are covering / Fixing Everything

and putting me at front of the service line. many of you probably dont know how much that means especially in the midwest when we say the boating "season" is 12-14 weeks/year off "NICE" weather.

FYI those with SC engines this is what happened to it:

• SC has to be replaced and they are going the extra mile to overnight it. major props again to the dealer doing this!
• Compression test they said shows like new at 120-125 (is this correct?)
• SC was damaged as the antifreeze in the SC engines are cooled by the water intake which in my case wasnt there and thus the bearings melted..
• they said the Engine is mostly cooled by the oil and ended up ok aka compression test 120-125 which they said is in range with a brand new motor (any insight to that with 37hrs on it)???.
• Exhaust manifold obviously needs replaced as well as some hoses/seals/new impeller on pump etc..
• Lake temp gauge they will check as that might read at the intake and could or may need fixed or may not have been reading with no water correctly.
• AIR temp they said normally runs hot since the sensor is up under dash and not a lot of airflow and sun makes dash area hotter etc.

FYI those who "think" unhooking a hose and NOT reconnecting it is standard practice is absolutely WRONG. the Dealer openly admitted it was just a mess up brain fart and they would never NOT reconnect it..... which is what i assumed, as i would not expect many of the "grandpas" out there or divorced lake ladies who buy 80-150k boats and are "NON-Mechanics" to know much about that without any big ol warning such like the drain plugs.

Anyways despite the F-up i will still upgrade or purchase the next BU in 2 years from this dealer, since they have proven to own up to the mistake, and customer satisfaction/service seems to be a priority, and they are doing everything humanly possible to put me at the front of the line to get this fixed by weekend. Many of you may not realize this is probably the most busy time of the year for dealers up north. Also i dont think i would have gotten such fast service at one of the smaller places near me so its well worth the drive.

Being in the Marine business i know s*** happens during the rush of spring and fall but again im very grateful this is getting resolved, and FAST, boat should be ready tomorrow night or sat. morning so possibly we'll get the first ever surf session in with the family sat or sun!

I very much appreciate all the insight on things to check and input from everyone on here. Obviously i will be checking that hose like a hawk every year and or time i go out! haha

Anyhow GOOD NEWS the NIGHTMARE Shall disappear and everything should be resolved by weekend!

AGAIN MAJOR PROPS TO THE FAST RESPONSE OF THE DEALER / SERV. DEPT HERE and fixing the issue at hand,

Despite whats happened, honestly i'd still have to highly recommend this Dealer, since they have proven more than honest and willing to make customer satisfaction their priority.

Edited May 28, 2015 by The Hulk

[DAI]

Awesome to hear the start of a happy ending!

[Malibuzer]

Good news and a good dealer as well!

[shawndoggy]

• they said the Engine is mostly cooled by the oil and ended up ok aka compression test 120-125 which they said is in range with a brand new motor.

I'm not calling B.S., but.... if the engine is mostly cooled by oil, and if the pic of the hose you showed indicates that it was an oil cooler not a tranny cooler, and water was rushing up that hose and cooling the oil and keeping the engine happy... what about the transmission, which would've been going dry?

Also did they clarify whether the engine itself is close cooled, or just the intercooler?

[oldjeep]

Nice that they put you at the head of the line, that is huge.

[DocPhil]

I'm not calling B.S., but....

sure sounds like it....

Edited May 28, 2015 by DocPhil

[85 Barefoot]

great news hulk. I was optimistic. It actually sounds like the supercharger lock up prevented further damage. I'd suggest while you're there and this is (very) fresh on your mind that they show you the cooling system plumb from intake to exhaust so that you can check every connection in the future. There's of course more connections than just this one.

[Deven]

great news hulk. I was optimistic. It actually sounds like the supercharger lock up prevented further damage. I'd suggest while you're there and this is (very) fresh on your mind that they show you the cooling system plumb from intake to exhaust so that you can check every connection in the future. There's of course more connections than just this one.

This. Get to know your boat and how to prevent things like this from happening. The bilge pump should never come on under normal use. Surely not after a few minutes in the water. Your dealer stepped up and is taking care of the you, but you could have stopped this from ever happening by shutting down when the bilge kicked on. I'm sure you would have had more fun last weekend even if you had to connect the hose yourself.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Deven

[ibelonginprison]

maaaaan... I'm glad I don't have to waste a beer in that motors honor. lol

Factory boosted motors are pretty tough. 120-125 seems lowish, but at least it's consistent - within 5 points difference across the board is the best you can ask for, AND - being a boosted motor it runs a lower compression ratio anyway, so I wouldn't expect upper 190's or low 200's.

"mostly cooled by oil" is probably a bit of a line of BS, unless you're running an external oil cooler. But that's possible with a supercharged motor, depending on how it's setup. I mean, the LSA's run oil squirters on the pistons I think, but that's not so much in the "cooling department."

But who cares. They're covering it, you'll be on the water in a couple of weeks, and your blood pressure is probably sitting at normal now, compared to the heart attack level it was yesterday.

btw - we now demand a video of that thing screaming on the water once you get it back.

[bamabonners]

Thats great news!

And Doc was trashing that dealer....

[ibelonginprison]

Thats great news!

And Doc was trashing that dealer....

He had his reasons... but they stepped up when it counted for Hulk, so it worked out.

[bunji169]

I would try to get something from them in writing admitting fault so if you have any issues in near future, they should be covered too. I bet they just warrantied it to Indmar and didn't tell them what really happened. Otherwise Indmar would say no way. Either way, glad to hear it's being fixed quickly. Hopefully you'll still get $85k worth of enjoyment out of it.

Surfin USA [emoji570][emoji475]

[ahopkins22LSV]

Hulk, I have been following this thread since it started and I am glad the hear they are taking care of you. I know the dealer as they are my dealer as well. I recomend them without hesitation because of my similar experiences you have had with them. We had engine problems as well and though it was not their fault, they did everything in their power to make and keep us happy.

to both you and the dealer for handling the situation well! At least what I can tell from this thread

[DocPhil]

Thats great news!

And Doc was trashing that dealer....

Trashing?

I don't believe I was trashing them.

All I said was I wouldn't be surprised if they screwed up

AND GUESS WHAT?!?! THEY SCREWED UP!!

So I guess I was justified in my "trashing" then? No?

Edited May 28, 2015 by DocPhil