84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

[JustJason]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

i've had experience with them. They do what they are supposed to do.
and they are definitely the way to go on an older boat.

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

Talked with the shop today and they said they could pull the upper unit apart and replace all seals for 1.5 hrs. labor and $50 parts - about $200 and they'd straighten the prop shaft, put in a water pump kit and reassemble everything and put in on the boat for in the ballpark of $450 (total for all the work assuming the prop shaft is straight enough to be straightened)...which seems reasonable.

I took the boat over and dropped off the upper after cleaning all the gear goo out of the bellows - tech said that would save them time and me money. The tech looked at the gimbal bearing and said it and the bellows looked brand new. He said the boat looked familiar - he's going to look it up and see if he serviced it for the previous owner.

They're going to call on Monday or Tuesday with an official quote. I'll let you know if it tuns out as cheap as it appears.

Thanks for your input!

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

Ok, I'm starting to have second thoughts about the shop I took the boat to. It's now 1 week after I took it in. I didn't hear anything on Monday or Tuesday, so I gave a call and left a message at the end of the day Tuesday. The person took a message and said the owner (not my original contact) would call me back in a few minutes.

I didn't hear anything, so I called back the following afternoon. The first thing he asked was if this was supposed to be a rush job. Then he explained that there had been the death of a family friend and another person was very ill. Which sad and understandable. But then he said that he could go ahead and get it done, but that he didn't have time to put together a quote. If I wanted a quote, I'd have to wait. Then he talked with me on the phone for the next 30 minutes about what he recommended doing to the drive.

Ok, so now it's Friday and it's been raining a lot here, so I go down to make sure the cover is not pooling. He sees me and takes me into the shop and we look at every piece of the drive that's disassembled and in a box - and yes they straightened the prop shaft. I generally agree with him about what components probably need to be replaced. Things seem ok on that front.

Again he tells me that he doesn't know how much it will cost to fix, but that if I give him the go ahead now he'll go ahead and get the work done. I tell him that I really need at least a ballpark figure - if it is $500 vs. $1000 that makes a difference.

He just stares at me.

Finally he says that he still doesn't know when he might be able to put together an estimate. Then asks me if I'm in a hurry to get it done. I tell him that I have no reason to be in a hurry other than I want to finish getting the boat ready for the season.

He comments that the weather is getting pretty nice and people want to be on the water.

I ask him when he finishes the estimate how will I get that info. Will he just call me with it or will it be written? He said it would just be what he scratches down on a piece of paper...then he'd call me.

This all reminds me of why I quit letting other poeple work on my cars and learned how to do it myself!

I'm inclined to call again early next week and let him know that if I don't hear anything from him in 48 hours, then I'm going to come and collect my drive (parts) and boat. It's seems like he's so obviously trying to just see how long I'm willing to wait before I give the go ahead for a mystery $ amount of work to be done.

What do you all think I should do?

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

On a related note, he said that he thought the reason the shaft was bent in the first place was because it had a stainless prop. He says he always runs aluminum, swears by them and that most lower unit problems are related to the heavy stainless prop. Is he just trying to sell aluminum props?

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

So he called me this morning and quoted $1051 for the whole thing, including 3 new bearings...says I've got "a couple hundred" in it right now.

I can see you that you guys are reading the post! Any ideas on what I should do?

The SEI drive looks tempting...

 

[Fishermark]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

If it were mine there is no way I would pay that much to have work done on the outdrive when you can buy a brand new one for comparable money. Especially given what this mechanic is saying.

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

After thinking this over it seems like my best option would be to at least see if he'll come down a little. He quoted $900+tax ($985) reusing all old bearings, or $960+tax ($1051) using 3 new bearings.

I can get a new SE106 to my door for about $1250, plus I'd have to pay him something for the work he's already done - putting me at $1450 (ish).

I would be happy if I could get out of it for $750. Do you think the prices he's asking are reasonable or has he left some room in for bargaining?

 

[JustJason]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

All you can do is throw him an offer and see if he bites.
If he's hungry enough he'll take it.
If he's got work comming out of hit behind then he will pass.

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

He agreed to do it including the bearings for $850+tax. I found used take-offs available for $750, but I think I'll probably have a better unit when I'm all done going this way than just putting on a used one.

I guess I'll never know, but hopefully this will all pan out ok.

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

Brought it home today - I had them put on a spare aluminum prop that I had to see how it would do. He was true to his word at $850 + tax. Came to $935.

It's trying to snow here in tennessee, so it will be a day or two before I can test it, but the prop spins straight now!

Another interesting thing is that the previous owner replaced the gears so it isn't a 1.5:1 ratio, it is the next one up 1.63:1 or something like that. It seemed to work ok with the SS prop that I've been running. We'll see how it does with the aluminum.

I've got boating fever! Ready for some nice weather to get out on the water!

 

[84Monaco]

Re: 84 Sea Ray Monaco - Bent Prop Shaft.

Finally got it on the water today. Way underpropped with the aluminum prop. 35mph at 5000 rpm. Outdrive seemed fine though. Unfortunately the thing started idling rough and I could get it in to the dock without stalling - finally got in the water and used a line to bring it in. Now more troubleshooting!

Thanks to all who have contributed to the post!