New Boat Motor questions

[randy30655@gmail.com]

I just got a 2013 Crest 23' with a 2012 115hp Mercury 4 stroke. Is there a problem with the 2012 engines? I have noticed that the water flow when I hook it up on land is very little but in the water it seems to be better. Is this an impeller problem or is there a seperate water pump. Does the impeller just run when the boat is in gear. I was told the boat was serviced last year and has not been used much, my mechanic wants about 800.00 to do service is it worth just getting a new impeller or water pump? There are no temperature guages on boat.

[jrolin1]

I just got a 2013 Crest 23' with a 2012 115hp Mercury 4 stroke. Is there a problem with the 2012 engines? I have noticed that the water flow when I hook it up on land is very little but in the water it seems to be better. Is this an impeller problem or is there a seperate water pump. Does the impeller just run when the boat is in gear. I was told the boat was serviced last year and has not been used much, my mechanic wants about 800.00 to do service is it worth just getting a new impeller or water pump? There are no temperature guages on boat.

If the impeller has not been changed in a few years it is probably time to do it. There is not a separate water pump. You can check the pee hole to make sure it is not obstructed. The impeller runs whenever the motor is running even in neutral. 800 seems high for a new impeller and housing. Does that include other services?

[randy30655@gmail.com]

That is to do a complete service plugs, change oil etc
So if you are not getting hardly any water when you start it on land at idle but if you speed it up to about 2000 rpm you get a small stream then it is a good bet it is the impeller?

[steve1313]

That's not a bad price for complete service.

My total for this service was just over $800. Obviously, it's for a Yamaha, but this will give you an idea of what they did and what they replaced

service.JPG (63.66 KiB) Viewed 5965 times

[bansil]

For me personally I do an impeller 1st year and save the old one as a spare, then every 2 years I swap it out(cheap insurance) then I compare the old vs older and keep the best....or two

[randy30655@gmail.com]

Thanks for the replies very helpful

[ROLAND]

I just got a 2013 Crest 23' with a 2012 115hp Mercury 4 stroke. Is there a problem with the 2012 engines? I have noticed that the water flow when I hook it up on land is very little but in the water it seems to be better. Is this an impeller problem or is there a seperate water pump. Does the impeller just run when the boat is in gear. I was told the boat was serviced last year and has not been used much, my mechanic wants about 800.00 to do service is it worth just getting a new impeller or water pump? There are no temperature guages on boat.

If the impeller has not been changed in a few years it is probably time to do it. There is not a separate water pump. You can check the pee hole to make sure it is not obstructed. The impeller runs whenever the motor is running even in neutral. 800 seems high for a new impeller and housing. Does that include other services?

I've always lived by the rule to change the water impeller every 2 years, 3 at the most... that price of 800 is extremely high.. I don't have the paperwork in front of me, but I had my impeller changed out 2 years ago plus had the motor serviced.. things like oil change, plugs, filters etc and I think the whole thing including the impeller was around 350 or so..

[steve1313]

I've always lived by the rule to change the water impeller every 2 years, 3 at the most... that price of 800 is extremely high.. I don't have the paperwork in front of me, but I had my impeller changed out 2 years ago plus had the motor serviced.. things like oil change, plugs, filters etc and I think the whole thing including the impeller was around 350 or so..

If you had a similar parts list to what I showed above, $350 is crazy cheap. That's less than $150 worth of labor. Somebody is severely undercharging for their time!

[jrolin1]

That is to do a complete service plugs, change oil etc
So if you are not getting hardly any water when you start it on land at idle but if you speed it up to about 2000 rpm you get a small stream then it is a good bet it is the impeller?

Or an obstruction in the pee hole. Spiders, dirt daubers and other insects like to cause issues there. You can push a little weed eater line in there to try to clear it while it is running. I have had to disconnect the water line from the pee hole once to clear it when the crap would not come out. It happens more often on my waverunner.

[zoom650]

Ouch .. 800, seems high to me. Back in the day, I was getting hundred hour service for twin 200's done for 600 per engine. If you're coastal, the impeller needs replacement when you service.

[ROLAND]

I've always lived by the rule to change the water impeller every 2 years, 3 at the most... that price of 800 is extremely high.. I don't have the paperwork in front of me, but I had my impeller changed out 2 years ago plus had the motor serviced.. things like oil change, plugs, filters etc and I think the whole thing including the impeller was around 350 or so..

If you had a similar parts list to what I showed above, $350 is crazy cheap. That's less than $150 worth of labor. Somebody is severely undercharging for their time!

Steve, off hand I couldn't remember what was on the parts list... I don't have my phone with me right now so I'll just have to list what he put on the bill....

1 Oil Filter.............................12.99
1 Impeller............... ..............43.90
1 Impeller gasket..................... 5.20
1 ( can't read his writing............11.99
4 spark plugs..........................23.44
1 gear lube............................15.00
1 fuel water sep. element..........13.84
5 qts. engine oil..................... 32.90

Parts total............................159.26


Labor charges ( $70 per hour )

change out water impeller & Gear lube @ 1.5 hrs..............105.00
change oil and filter,, 1/2 hour.................................... 37.50
change fuel water seperator filter, clean engine fuel
filter and change spark plugs 3/4 hr............................. 52.50
Grease wheel bearings on trailer................................. no charge

Total Labor........................................................... $195.00
Total Parts........................................................... 159.26
Tax................................................................... 33.12

TOTAL BILL............................................................387.38

[steve1313]

Roland-
Looks like our parts lists and pricing are reasonably similar. Your big savings are on the labor.. I didn't know anybody was still charging only $70 an hour for labor. That's a great price. I'm guessing it's a one or two man shop? Or a trunk slammer?

It's unfortunate (for him) your guy doesn't know now much he's truly worth.

[Steiner]

Location, location, location.

[ROLAND]

Roland-
Looks like our parts lists and pricing are reasonably similar. Your big savings are on the labor.. I didn't know anybody was still charging only $70 an hour for labor. That's a great price. I'm guessing it's a one or two man shop? Or a trunk slammer?

It's unfortunate (for him) your guy doesn't know now much he's truly worth.

Steve.. you nailed it. He runs a boat / motor repair shop from his residence. He has a small shop out back and does all the work himself. Every time I drop my boat off I'm amazed at how many boats he has sitting in his back lot.. He's located out of town off a small 2 lane hiway... kind of hard to find him, but yet he's always busy and been there for years.. and he doesn't advertise either. only reason I know about him is I stopped at a gas station near my house about 4 in the morning and there was a guy on the next pump filling up his bass rig.. we got to chatting and I asked him where he had his service done and he told me about this guy. Been using him ever since... To be honest I used to take my boat to the dealership for service the first couple of years I had it, but on one such trip I noticed they charged me 25 bucks to put air in one of my trailer tires... I blew a gasket and never went back... hey, I know boat maintenance charges are excessive, but to charge someone 25 bucks for air, especially when you bought the boat from them, is criminal... really pissed me off. ( can you tell. lol )

[Marc K]

One of the local mobile service guys charges $105.00/hr to come out and work on a boat. If I recall, it cost me about $700.00 or $750.00 for upper/lower oil change, water/oil filters, plugs, impeller replacement, and injector cleaning two years ago.

He intentionally moved slowly and talked me through the process in order to teach me what to do and what to look for. Now I pull the boat up on my ramp and do it myself.