I bought a '98 SeaPro with a 115 Yamaha off of Craigslist. Before buying, I had the boat inspected at Texas Fishing and Marine in Granger TX. I only spoke with the mechanic on the phone. He told me that the compression was good, but the boat needed a tune up and the prop had braided line in it and needed to be resealed. He said it starts and runs and is overall in good condition. Now that I've got the boat home, Plano Marine says that they cannot get the gear case off to reseal the lower unit and it has to be completely replaced. Also, there is water in the gas and they have to drain the tank and go through the carbs and completely rebuild them. Costing me $3k. I can see the mechanic missing the lower unit problem, but not the water in the tank. What do you think? Seller isn't returning calls and I haven't heard back from Texas Fishing and Marine yet.

How do they get ot off to replace it if tey can't get it off to reseal it?
The line around the prop shaft and the seal should be accessible by removing the prop. Changing the lower unit grease and inspection will tell you if the lower needs to be rebuilt. No water in the grease, no leaks, no rebuild.

The tank is easy enough to pump out and fill with fresh gas. Install a Racor water separator filter. They are around $100 and you should be using one anyway. If the motor starts and runs, and compression is good, the carbs may need to be stripped and cleaned, no more than a 4 hour job by a competent mechanic. If they aren't too bad, a few cans of seafoam might clean them up. If they need kits, thats extra, but I don't see what you described as a $3K job. My first thought is that you are being hosed. Get an opinion from another shop.

I agree

Using Plano Marine. He said he can't get the gear case off. He said he took a torch to it and can't get it. When I googled 115 Yamaha gear case I mostly get lower units coming up. I'm not sure what the difference is.

The original mechanic said there was a little water in the oil and the prop seal needed to be replaced. Once Plano Marine got the lower off, they said every seal in it is shot and that the can't get to one to replace because they can't get the gear case off.

The only other thing I'm having them do is change the impeller and all filters. He quoted $2900-3000 over the phone.

I will call another shop in the morning. If anyone on here wants to give me a quote on what I've talked about, feel free to PM me. (Impeller, filters, new gear case, reseal lower unit, drain gas, go through carbs)

On the Racor filter, which model for the 115 Yamaha 2 stroke?

62-120RRAC01? 30gph is enough right?

Gear case I am guessing because of heating that it is the carrier assembly that they are having trouble getting out. You will not need an impeller, re-seal and a new lower unit as they are the same. New lower SEI 1200.00 installed. Service the poppet and thermostat, Pump out fuel, clean the carbs, replace the manual fuel pump diaphragm, replace the inline fuel filter, replace any fuel hoses necessary and install a water-fuel separator. 850.00 + 1200.00= 2050.00

I would take it somewhere else. Bob Landry is correct there is no reason why they should not be able to replace the seal. Even if they have to cut the old one off as long as they don't damage the threads it will be fine. Check the lower unit grease yourself.

Drain some lower unit grease into a glass jar. Any water will come out and settle in the bottom and you'll be able to see it. Go from there.

i just replaced seals on my yammi. look on youtube for instructions. cost 50 dollars for 4 seals. water pump kit is around 60 dollars. card rebuild for 2 carbs 80 dollars. replaced all new fuel lines and new water filter, fuel pump. Cost around 250 for everything. Im slightly handy but by no means have any mechanical skills. U can do it. Took 2 days. one day to research on youtube and the another day fumbling around. BTW u donot have to tear the lower unit apart to replace the seals.

sounds like ya might be a little confused with some of this....



Ya might wanna give Tommy or Gary a call...........

Yea, I took a guy with me that had been around boats for many years, I had had boats before, and both of us missed stuff. It's a used boat, so there will be 'stuff'. Take a deep breath. You can either get a service manual and learn to turn wrenches if you don't already know how to do so or pay someone. If you are doing it yourself, you'll make mistakes. You are just hoping not to make a big one.

To spend what you need at the right time, you should go about it piece meal. If the boat is really running fine, then tackle the water in the fuel and lower unit first. As Bob suggested, drain some of the gear oil and have a look at it. If you find no signs of water, your seals may be fine for now, so you can put them on the future list. If you find signs of water, then it's seal time. Changing an impeller once you pull the lower unit is not too difficult. There's many YouTube videos on doing it. There are YouTube videos on replacing the seals without pulling the bearing assembly. You have to be careful though since that is one place where you can make a big mistake.

A neighbor was talking to me about getting a boat. My advice to him was that if he wasn't willing to turn wrenches, it could become a costly proposition real fast. It's not cheap to have someone work on a boat. Don't get me wrong, they earn every penny. After spending some time upside down and pulling batteries, oil tank, and plate to work on a livewell pump, there is good reason why it costs what it does when you pay someone.

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Ok tech said needed a tune up (so hinted something was up with the carbs(water such))

Then the braid seal issue was noted.

He did as he was payed to do. Why would he be pulling the lower unit and charging 3hrs labor to just (inspect it). He would have no idea without tearing down. And he might be able to get it apart. Every tech is different. If they can sell you a new one they will that's how a shop makes money.

And evey time your tear a unit apart or anything you charge for a whole seal kit to cover your own [censored].

Get your boat out of Plano Marine as fast as possible.

The inspection doesn't sound bad but Plano is hitting you as hard as possible for the work they are wanting to perform.

The lower unit had water in it. I don't need to recheck it. Both shops confirmed that.

I do understand how he missed the lower unit problems. I don't understand how he missed water in the gas. Even though he did tell me it could use a tune up, he should've cought the water.

I paid a guy $125 to tell me nothing basically. I could've checked the lower unit oil myself. I know how to do that. I thought by having a mechanic look over it that he might notices something that I wouldn't, like water in the gas. I know its a boat, I know its going to cost money. But I wouldn't have bought this boat had I known it needed $2-3K in work.

Either way, I've got 3 other quotes for $2k using an SEI lower unit. It would cost me $300 to pick up from Plano Marine for "diagnostic fees" and taking the lower unit off. They've already got the boat and the unit ordered, and they're using a new Yamaha lower unit. I'll just let them finish the work and put a water separator on when I get it back.