hey guys & gals, on the hunt for any info or past experience with any of y'all blowing an engine and whether any of y'alls insurance took care of it.

the hose to my oil pump on my Mercury 150 EFI came off while i was running on CC. i recieved NO alarm and BOOM, no more motor. anyone else have something similar happen? any info will be greatly appreciated. thanks, GOFISH

Unfortunately, most insurance companies have a mechanical failure exclusion as the very first exclusion listed in the policies. I've never seen a company pay for a rebuild unless the engine was running when it when under water. Then they are going to look for hydrolocked parts, not an oiling failure.

I feel your pain man!

I disconnected the oil pump and alarm on my 90HP and went back to mixing my fuel the old way.

How old is your motor?

NTF is right about the mechanical failure clause in the insurance claims. Your insurance covers accidents, I.E. ripping off the lower unit when hitting an under water object, damage to prop and t-n-t, when this happens. But very seldom will insurance buy you a new powerhead unless you can prove that the failure is caused by an accident or vandalism. That is what extended warrantee is for, to cover mechanical failures such as what happened to you. And just for a heads-up...some policies have a wear-user clause where they can depreciate the unit by as much as 10% per year. for instance a 5 year old motor can be reduced 50% off the repair bill and thats before your deductable.

Think "ice bag"

Think again.
Been tried (not by me) and failed.
Worth a shot but don't get any hopes up.
Have you been successfull with "ice bag" Pat?

i'm not too hopeful about the insurance, only hoping.

Pville - buddy of mine did the same thing with his. the motor is a '96

Pat - what's an "ice bag"?

With a 10 year old motor you would probably be better off doing what I did. I traded my old 90HP Mercury with an exploded lower unit in on a new Honda 115 4 cycle. Best move I ever made. It doubled my gas mileage and the motor (now 3 years old) starts every time and runs perfectly.

Also, I could only find two places in Texas were you could buy a Honda motor w/o it coming on a new boat. Some place in Clear Lake and Tropical Marine in Marble Falls. They made me an excellent deal. A VERY excellent deal.

http://www.honda-outboard.com/

Think outside the box and you'll get them to cover it!

Seen the icebag at a boat shop before and it was covered.. 15 years ago though

what is the ice bag

Think water intake.

Jerry sometimes wake boarders will throw ice bags in the water, after they cool down their beer.. If you come boating by, and scoop up that bag and it covers up your water intake, you will blow the motor...

The only way you could say a ice bag caused the problem is if the engine went because of a overheat situation some mechanics and adjusters can tell if it went down from heat or lack of oil and or a ignition problems.If you find a mechanic that will bend the truth just to get your or the insurance money then good luck with the work they do for you.I've been doing this for 20+ years and have never done this .It is just not worth it customers have gotten pissed at me for not doing this but I like to sleep at night...OPTI

Opti,
You are indeed THE MAN!!