got the bill from mechanic. is this reasonable?

[roffey]

Anything boat or marine related is expensive. My grand kids knocked one of the marker lights off the bow, plunk in the water, lol. $120 to replace. I think marine is so expensive is due to the high over head. They have prime waterfront and really only operate 7 months a year or here in Canada they do. Just my 2 cents. I buy as much as I can afford from them.

 

[gmajorabm]

oldjeep so i shouldnt run the boat anymore until i get the esa fixed?

 

[oldjeep]

oldjeep so i shouldnt run the boat anymore until i get the esa fixed?

If the esa isn't working you run the risk of damaging the gears. You'll hear it grinding if it is an issue.

 

[gmajorabm]

there was no grinding, just a klunk noise when engaging fron nuetral to forward, as well as nuetral to reverse. but no grinding just a klunk noise

 

[jkust]

I'm late to the party but the hourly rate is the same rate I pay in USD at my lake house and the rate is higher the closer you get to the city. I don't like charge for diagnosis but I've noticed even the places i get my cars fixed now charge for diagnosis when they never used to just a few years ago. I generally try to negotiate that away or down assuming I actually got the work done. The bigger issue is it can be impossible to get marine service work done because the shops can be booked out for several months. It becomes not an issue of how much it cost but just that it can get fixed at any cost...again, depending on what part of the state.

 

[bruceb58]

Your ESA is fine. The ESA only operates when going OUT of gear. If the ESA wasn't working, you likely wouldn't even be able to shift OUT of gear.

Mercruiser works the same way except all it does is use a switch to interrupt the ignition instead of a switch and a module which pulses the ignition.

Clunking going into gear is NORMAL. Just make the shift between neutral and into gear swift to minimize it.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

another sidenote. something i think you guys would get a kick out of. launched the boat today only to find tons of watee in my engine compartment and ski locker.....you guyys can get what happend! lol had to jump in the damn cold *** water and screw the drain plug in! something i told myself it would never happen to me! lol i know i know what a damn noob haha.

It's gonna happen. If a boater says it has never happened to them A) they haven't been at it for long or B) they lie. You got it over with early on. I've been there done that and my pals actually had a T shirt printed for me with the date on it with a cartoon of my boat 1/2 under the drink. Funny guys. It was my 60th birthday Musky trip, boated for 40 years, 1st time is a charm.

Grinding is bad, many boats I have piloted clunk going into reverse and forward, newer and older. I wouldn't sweat it myself.

 

[gmajorabm]

thanks again everyone! super helpful as this id my first boat i appreciate all the replies. just dont want to run the boat if somethings gunna get messed up. what do you guys think about what the mecanic said about the esa. he wants to replace it to help it shift better and also get the idle rpm down. right now its idling around 800 rpm. also i will try and see tommoroe if there is any grinding. but im prettt positive it was the clunk noise. pretty loud clunk but i have nothing to reference it to as how loud is too loud. the noise the makes me worried cause it something you never hear in a car unless tranny was jacked up. but im sure a boat works a lil different thanks guys

 

[Scott Danforth]

on both of my transom tie downs is a single word in sharpie.....it reads "PLUG!"

 

[trailking82]

Hard to compare it to a car transmission, as both sides of the transmission are not engaged when you switch gears. Unlike a car transmission, your lower unit is engaged at all times. Its similar to putting a mnaul transmission into gear without using the clutch. The only reason it wont stall is because the prop slips in the water. The way the gears are engaged is why you should always make a deliberate and swift shift into and out gear. Do not slowly shift in and let it grind away away.

There is a way to test the ESA, i think it was somewhere in the link i sent you. As OMC did have a recall on the springs that were installed on a few.

 

[bruceb58]

what do you guys think about what the mecanic said about the esa.

If you can get it out of gear with little effort, its working. When you are shifting from forward to neutral or reverse to neutral, is the force required with your console shifter similar as it is when going into gear? If so, it is fine.

As far as the grinding going into gear, that happens if you don't shift fast enough. It's going to have a clunk. That is totally normal.

If you want to do the test on the ESA itself, it's very easy. With the engine running, depress the shift switch on the plate where the 2 shift cables meet. The engine should stumble.

Here is a picture of it:

 

[gmajorabm]

update:
thank you bruceb58. the boat is shifting fine all the way around after testing it yesterday. had a interesting thing happen thought you guys would get another kick. pulled up to a marina to grab sum drinks and eat. soon as i tied the boat up. a fellow boater on the water needed to get towed in!....oh man this is only my 4-5 times operating a boat lol anyways long story short it was quite and interesting tow back to the marina. haha i almost didnt do it but seeing i was the only one around there was no choice. also the guy had confirm that the clunk noise was also normal. so im glad to hear that.

one more thing: my boat also seem to not be able to start without sum gas being poured into the carb. just during a cold start. boat will turn over but engine wont run without sum gas in carb. but once it starts up the first time,the boat can be turned off and restart all day without having to put any more fuel in the carb.what could be going on here?

 

[roffey]

My uneducated guess is choke is not working? Try some carb cleaner? (Seafoam carb cleaner)

 

[Maclin]

What happens if you pump the throttle 2-3 times first?

 

[gmajorabm]

yah there is a way to prime it by pumping the throttle. tried it and it worked once. but this last time i pumped it about 4-5 times it would turn over and run theb die down. i didnt wanna keep trying so i just threw wum gas in the carb. its took a few tries to start but then fired up. also while it was fired up the boat was vibrating and kind of bogging down for like 30 secs to 1 minute. then once it was past that the boat was fine all day

 

[bruceb58]

Look down in the carb throat while someone pumps the throttle and verify that there is gas squirting. If it isn't you need to rebuild the accelerator pump.

BTW...you should update your signature to include all the info on your boat/engine including year and engine model. This will help people help you out in the future.

 

[gmajorabm]

ok will check out the carb, also how do i update the signature?

 

[bruceb58]

ok will check out the carb, also how do i update the signature?

Go to post #4 in this thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/other/iboats-forum-and-website-issues/10492209-signature-question

 

[gmajorabm]

thanks for the response everyone. however im getting a error message when trying to update signature on my phone. will try it on my computer laters

update boat: idles at 600-700 rpm so i believe eveeything is in order. the reason i said 8-900 before is because i was looking at the rpm when the engine was actually putting around a little bit. so at full idle in nuetral its 6-700 closer to 600 rpm. now i jusr need to figure out this cold start problem. im assuming it night need sparks plugs. and new wires. thet look pretty old. and being as the mecanic said the boat looks like it hasnt been serviced in years. i mine as well buy new sparks at least.

 

[dcolmer@cogeco.ca]

The clunk is likely your cone clutch engaging and the solid clunk is an indication that your transmission is in good shape and is doing a firm engagement when the clutch cone engages into the gear receptor .
My Volvo Penta has the same clunk.