Help With Lower Unit Question

[bojango541]

Hello,
I am from MA, and sold a lower unit online to a gentleman in Oklahoma for a force 125 HP motor. The gear oil was clean, and it shifted by hand into all gears easily. After he installed it and got on the water, he told me the motor was jumping up and down and would not go into gear.

I then sent him a second lower unit. He just called me today and said for the first day, he had no issues. The second time out, he shifted into reverse and it started grinding, and the motor was jumping up and down again.

I have sold probably over a hundred lower units online and have never had an issue. I thought it was strange that he had a problem with the one he sent, but I did send him a replacement regardless. Now hearing he is having a similar problem with the second lower unit, it just seems like something is up. He seems like a genuine older guy, and I really do not think he is trying to scam me.

However, the way he ruined his first lower unit, was being caught in a storm, and having 4-5 ft waves slam his boat onto shore on top of rocks/boulders. Could this have caused some other damage to his motor that is causing the present issues? If so, what should he look for?

I'm pretty sure I sent him 2 good lower units, and now I might have to refund him on top of that....I'm just wondering if something else is causing these lower units to go bad. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[glenn property of pam]

grinding on shifting could be his cable set up is out of adjustment. Jumping could be a problem with his transom mount maybe hydraulic or physical especially if he hit it hard enough to have it swing up (tilt and trim I believe has a valve that unlocks the motor if it hits something solid but I may be wrong). Another thing that might be worth asking is weather hes nursing it into gear or weather hes just pushing it in to gear. Ive seen a lot of people try to slowly engage the gear which is bad for them. (this may be the problem especially if hes nervous of the engine jumping).
sometimes you also just have to except that its better to refund and pay return postage on the lowers than to fight uphill on the phone.

 

[Frank Acampora]

That is the difficulty about selling on line: You have no way of knowing what the buyer will do and if he is actually causing the problem. You should be up front and sell as-is or with a 30-30 guarantee----30 steps or 30 seconds. It is highly unlikely (assuming you are a reliable and ethical seller) that you have sent two bad lower units. Buyer is doing something when mounting the lower unit or has a problem with the shift linkage or cables to cause the problem.

I personally would not refund money.

 

[bojango541]

Thanks for the responses. I am a reputable seller on ebay with 1500 feedback 100% positive, power seller, top rated seller, all that jazz. Like you said frank, I feel like the buyer is doing something wrong here.


Do you think possibly the shift rod/linkage could be bent and this is causing it to not fully go into or out of gear? The jumping could be it popping in and out of gear?

 

[jerryjerry05]

~~Sounds like something was done to it and the owner isn't doing something right.
Tell him he needs to have a mechanic look at the boat, motor before you do anything else.

 

[glenn property of pam]

ask the owner if he can grab the lower and pull it up while its on the boat. If he can lift the engine then theres a problem with the catch