Taking the Pontoon out for the first time in two years

[mike]

Yep, the tech said to treat every gallon of ethanol gas you put in the boat with a stabilizer or it starts to lose its octane within weeks.

[mike]

Boy, if you guys have trustworthy boat mechanics be sure to treat them like gold! Try to wrap you head around this one... I dropped my boat off on Saturday and the service manager said they would get it done on Tuesday. I asked him how much for the carb cleaning and he said $350 to $400. I get a call this morning and he says I owe him $915. WHAT??? I say, sorry but I am not accepting that figure, you should have called me when you went over your original quote. He then backs off and says we will work with you on the price??? HUH?? SO I get to the shop and he brings out my bill and its $425.00... I am really confused at this point and pay and drag my boat home. The kicker is, I had called on Tuesday afternoon and actually talked to the tech and he said he was almost done and explained that the carbs definately needed to be cleaned but didnt imply that it was out of the norm... How can they possibly spend 10 hours cleaning out carbs?? He said they had a hard time getting the gaskets off and were really dirty. Lets just hope it runs, I opened it up and they definitely had worked on it. They also replaced the spark plugs and fuel filter which had about 2 hours on them total??? I am feeling a bit pissed and a bit relieved.. Was I being unreasonable to not pay $900+ for the carbs to be cleaned?

[curtiscapk]

not at all Mike! If I could get 900 bucks to clean 4 carbs I would switch careers!

[cwag911]

not at all Mike! If I could get 900 bucks to clean 4 carbs I would switch careers!

Me too and I'm retired.

[dunny961]

If I didn't tell them to service the plugs and filter, I wouldn't pay for them. They can remove their parts from the motor at their expense. Dealer on all equipment, whether it's auto, farm, atv, marine, etc. try to get a little more out of you by doing the extras that they can talk the average Nancy into. I leave specific instructions about the difference on an estimate and actual cost. I've had an atv dealer remove an overpriced air filter, $48, push it pn the trailer, and order a $16 filter on Amazon when I got home. If I didn't tell ya to do it, then don't do it!

[teecro]

They also replaced the spark plugs and fuel filter which had about 2 hours on them total??? I am feeling a bit pissed and a bit relieved.. Was I being unreasonable to not pay $900+ for the carbs to be cleaned?

No you were not being unreasonable for not paying 900 when quoted a max of 400 and that's why the dealer backed off and adjusted the bill to 425 dollars.... But I will tell you from years of working on motorcycle carbs doing them right is not an easy task namely after letting them sit a couple of years.... If they are done right and your boat runs good once you get it wet then no you have not overpaid with your adjusted bill..... Can't tell you how many times I've seen people attempt to clean their own carbs and how many times it takes them to get it right; if they get it right..... I consider my time to be worth at the least 50 bucks an hour and to remove, rebuild and install a bank of 4 nasty varnished up carbs on a bike will eat up closest to 6 hours time; boats are no better I would say....

[mike]

Holy crap, we just spent a few hours running around the lake and she ran great!!! Pulled the kids on the tube for a while with out any issues. I guess it was $425 well spent!

[curtiscapk]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Alright Mike!

[mike]

Now I am thinking "Quick, sell it while you can!!" but my kids would be very upset so we will just use it and hope I dont have to shell out another $400 any time soon to get the carbs cleaned! Maybe I should learn to clean them myself???

[RcgTexas]

Is Non ethanol Gasoline available where you are? If it is it may be more expensive but I use it now for all my small engines and outboard fuel. That and a little gas treatment and it may solve your carb problems. Hope that is of some help.

[mike]

We have two stations here that have it, I will be trying to use that exclusively from now on!

[dunny961]

Just use a little stabilizer that has carb/injector cleaners in it and you'll be fine. Just remember that you have to use it every time you put gas in the tank. Seafoam is great and not too expensive. And I quit running my carbs dry after each use, it'll dry out the gaskets and what not. Leave them wet and let the stabilizer do its job.
Glad you got it running great and the kids got some enjoyment!

[mike]

Good advice, thanks!

[playcat]

Be grateful you have a tech/shop that can do good work on carbs...that's what got me laid up for a year. Carb was flooding bad, but i have NO carb experience and the shop owner was a racing tech for Mercury. Too bad he didn't do any of the work! Three times I go towed in by Boat US after they "fixed" the carb.

After the second tow job, the shop owner had me go along on the sea trial. When I arrived, he had his tech start it up while we watched the engine. It started right up, but gas was pouring out around the base of the carb and from the carb fuel inlets! I asked the owner (sarcastically) if it was supposed to do that... he said, "Ah no. Cut it off!!!"

When I got a bill for over a grand for a carb rebuild, I hit the roof and told him to check his numbers or we can discuss this in front of a judge. He said it was for all the extra hours they spent fixing the carb problems. I told him I was not going to pay extra for his mistakes.

[mike]

wow, that really sucks! I hope the shop will work with you...