Boat owners...

[cmb396]

Do you guys work on your own boats or take it somewhere? Give me a car, truck, tractor, or piece of farm equipment, and I'll go to town on it. The boat, those things are bs!!
My boat guy was backed up 3 weeks, so I decided to change the exhaust manifold gasket myself, it's a 2010 Rinker R w/5.7 Merc. Taking it off, no sweat. Putting it back on was a mofo!! Pretty much had to take the entire captains choice exhaust system loose to get the manifold to bolt back up. Finally, got it done. Total time was about 2 hours.

So we go to take the boat out saturday, and man does it run like chit!! Good news was tho my exhaust leak was gone. I limped back to our dock, started inspecting, and noticed a plug had broken off. I must have cracked it when changing the manifold. Well, it was a mofo to change due to the manifold!! Finally got the right combo of extensions to get it out, took it out, ran much better, but still sputtering badly, but atleast felt like it was running on all 8. Next step is to check the other plugs for cracks or to see if they're fouled. I also put some sea foam in as well. I ended up having too much fuel leftover from last summer, about a 1/2 tank, so I'm guessing moisture could be an issue too.

Anyhow, working on boats effin sucks!!!

[longhorn341]

Are you releated to War Eagle Z06?


But to answer your question... it depends on the job. Sometimes its worth the $$ to let someone else have the headache.

[Norm]

What do they say about owning a boat........the happiest days of owning a boat is the day you first bought it and the last day you sold it. Also the hole in the water you throw money in. Ask me how I know..........

[War Eagle ZO6]

I do all the basic stuff on all mine. Bigger stuff like replacing exhaust manifolds and risers(just had both engines in Trojan done last spring)...I pay to have that done. That is hard...you have my respect.

I bought a new oil change pump this spring and it makes oil changes a snap now.......beats the old DC POS I used to use.

[GRN ENVY]

I fix them my self, but I have an advantage. I have a really good friend who owns a marine repair company. He's usually backed up so Ill go and help with some repairs to get him back on schedule. Boas can be tricky but he's taught me how to fix that stuff fairly easily

[Fastguy]

I do all my own work but some boats are a pain due to the layout. My Monterey is very tight. I had to tighten the starter cable and it required me snaking my entire body into a weird position and cramming my hand and a tool up under the manifold. My brother's boat is similar sized but has WAY more room to work, I can see the starter no problem.

My boat came with the Captain's Choice Corsa exhaust but I never would have done it. It crowds the engine compartment, adds more BS joints to leak.

[cmb396]

I agree about the Captains choice Fastguy. More hoses and places for the exahust to leak. I actually don't even have the option now, because the baffle came out of one of the sides, which leaves it open all the time, so I just run them both open.
If this job would have been on the other side, it would have been a breeze, but it was on the side with the walk thru, and VERY LITTLE room to work in. TBH, I cannot even see the plugs or manifold bolts, had to do it all by feel.

[Bucwheat]

The only thing I know about boats is Royal Caribbean makes a good one.

[Joecooool]

I don't keep a boat out of warranty, so I have the local dealer come to my house to work on the boat.

Since my boat at any given time is relatively new, I've rarely paid for anything outside of a normal engine / lower end service. I expect them to pay for anything else under warranty.

[Fastguy]

Originally Posted by cmb396

I agree about the Captains choice Fastguy. More hoses and places for the exahust to leak. I actually don't even have the option now, because the baffle came out of one of the sides, which leaves it open all the time, so I just run them both open.
If this job would have been on the other side, it would have been a breeze, but it was on the side with the walk thru, and VERY LITTLE room to work in. TBH, I cannot even see the plugs or manifold bolts, had to do it all by feel.

That would be obnoxious on my boat, a 454 with open exhaust is crazy loud. On my brother's 26' Sea Ray, I was able to lay down next to the engine and remove the exhaust manifold and MIG weld a stud to a broken stud in the head. On my 27' Monterey, I can just barely get my arm there. Both boats are 454 cabin cruisers but the Sea Ray has more room due to having less "stuff" in the back of the hull. My boat has AC and a big battery charger where his batteries are, so my batteries are in the back corner.

[RED-85-Z51]

I had a 1994 CorwnLine 18BR, 4.3LX, Aplha1 Outdrive, etc...

Wasnt too bad, i had to rebuild the 4V carb, had to tune it up, new plugs, ignition, replace the water pump...stuff like that. It pushed that boat up to 60mph and loved it...also had to replace all of the floor, and 1 crossbeam...

Fun boat, will never have another boat....too much ****ing goddamn mother****ing shitty fun...

[xXBUDXx]

You definitely picked a tough project.

I learned from my C5 that if I have to pull the manifold/headers, new plugs are included. Hell, my C5 sounds like it had more room.

Remind me to tell you about getting the drivers side exhaust manifold stuck upside-down. No clue how the Hell I did that.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by cmb396

Do you guys work on your own boats or take it somewhere? Give me a car, truck, tractor, or piece of farm equipment, and I'll go to town on it. The boat, those things are bs!!
My boat guy was backed up 3 weeks, so I decided to change the exhaust manifold gasket myself, it's a 2010 Rinker R w/5.7 Merc. Taking it off, no sweat. Putting it back on was a mofo!! Pretty much had to take the entire captains choice exhaust system loose to get the manifold to bolt back up. Finally, got it done. Total time was about 2 hours.

So we go to take the boat out saturday, and man does it run like chit!! Good news was tho my exhaust leak was gone. I limped back to our dock, started inspecting, and noticed a plug had broken off. I must have cracked it when changing the manifold. Well, it was a mofo to change due to the manifold!! Finally got the right combo of extensions to get it out, took it out, ran much better, but still sputtering badly, but atleast felt like it was running on all 8. Next step is to check the other plugs for cracks or to see if they're fouled. I also put some sea foam in as well. I ended up having too much fuel leftover from last summer, about a 1/2 tank, so I'm guessing moisture could be an issue too.

Anyhow, working on boats effin sucks!!!

You worked on your boat and you didn't put muffs or the "fake lake" hook ups on to check your work?

I do a lot of my own work but certain major PITA jobs are left to the dealer.

Originally Posted by longhorn341

Are you releated to War Eagle Z06?


But to answer your question... it depends on the job. Sometimes its worth the $$ to let someone else have the headache.

[cmb396]

Originally Posted by JRD77VET

You worked on your boat and you didn't put muffs or the "fake lake" hook ups on to check your work?

Of course I did. Fired right up, I first checked for exhaust leaks, and there were none. Revved a few times, sounded fine. Let it idle til it came up to operating temp. Don't really know how to diagnose a bad plug from that, seemed fine.

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by cmb396

Of course I did. Fired right up, I first checked for exhaust leaks, and there were none. Revved a few times, sounded fine. Let it idle til it came up to operating temp. Don't really know how to diagnose a bad plug from that, seemed fine.

OK, you probably cracked an insulator which failed on the way to the water.

I didn't read about the check at home.

[yell01]

I follow the very wise advice my dad gave me...

"you can do it yourself or you can pay someone to do it right".

[C5Nate]

Originally Posted by yell01

I follow the very wise advice my dad gave me...

"you can do it yourself or you can pay someone to do it right".

Nope, If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

You cannot rely on other people to do things properly for you. No one cares about doing a good job better than yourself.

[Millenium Vette]

Originally Posted by C5Nate

Nope, If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

You cannot rely on other people to do things properly for you. No one cares about doing a good job better than yourself.

While it is true that the marine mechanic didn't care as much about doing a better job than I did, at least he fixed a few of my fuk-ups over the years when I first tried doing it myself.

[GS Ragtop]

I usually do all of my own work, but do think about PITA and Risk ratings. If either is way too high, I write a check for the work.

Changing manifolds would be borderline for me. Low Risk, high PITA. Swapping a powerhead pegs the Risk scale, so that kind of work goes to a dealer.

I've done the manifold thing before, but it was on a roomy 36 Sea Ray. I can't imagine doing it on a 16-20 footer...

[cmb396]

This was first of anything maintenence wise on the boat, while it was a pain, it wasn't ridiculous. Just a learning experience I guess. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Here's my boat...it's 24'