Ok guys, here's my pickle. My boat went down last year and I finally got the money to have the motor rebuilt around July. I took my boat to a guy I thought was good. He got the boat the last week of July and I did not get it back till the last week of September. I broke it in properly and it ran ok till the second week of December. He didn't want to take it back till after Jan 1st, so I took it back to him Jan 23rd and he still has it. I called today and he said it would be ready next week. And to top it off, I'm going to end up paying more money out of my pocket for something he said that should have been done in the first place. I guess I'm just TOO NICE about the whole thing. I can probably answer my own question, but am I being done wrong? How long should it really take to rebuild a V6 boat motor? And what should I do if it goes down a 3rd time?

Two weeks turn around is what it takes me, with shipping. And it should only take once, if done wright. 281=312=9856= cary

just what went wrong after the first "rebuild"

Before I took it out, I did a compression check and everything looked ok to me. I closely followed the break in procedure recommened and always kept my eye on the temp guage. Mind you, the water temp was in the upper 50's to lower 60's. It lost power in December. Idled ok, but lack of take off power. So I did a compression check once more and that #1 cylinder was around 80 pounds or so. My mechanic said he saw nothing wrong, so he sent the block off...according to him. Whoever saw nothing wrong and said it was the piston. So according to my mechanic, he not only bored out that cyclinder and replaced that piston, he had all of the injectors cleaned and whatever. What's funny is I paid for a brand new injector for that #1 cylinder in the first place. Now, I'm having to pay $250 for the cleaning of all the rest...I guess. I just feel helpless at this point....and I definitely can't go out and just buy a new motor. Like I said, I'm just too nice of a guy. Maybe that needs to change. And another thing, if you plan on charging anything over what the rebuild is, wouldn't you ask your customer first before doing so? The first rebuild added new reeds and an injector....this one is adding cleaning to all injectors...I assume cause this is what he's telling me over the phone. It's just totally frustrating!

That would be standard practice to clean ALL injectors or ALL carbs on a rebuild, even if it was "done" two days before. Also on a standard rebuild is new thermostats, water pump housing and impeller, spark plugs. Not common on a rebuild is new reeds, unless when the motor went down it tore one up , or you want to change to Bosseen reeds,(which i don't like for a pleasure motor) Also during a rebuild, there might and can be some umforseen things that don't show up on the outsided and would not be included in the usual estimate. Such things like a bad bearing, or gaulded crank or bad ignition box or falty fuel pump. Things like that cannnot be tested until the engine is either torn down or has been reassembled and ready to fire. Which in that case, the owner should have been notified if some problem has arrisen and given the oportunity to make a decision on that problem.

This boat came in the shop with #1 piston gone and no sign of why,rebuilt the motor and replaced the injector on #1,lean injector maybe but also damage from piston.customer picked up the boat.calls back 2 or 3 months later at christmas when we are closed for christmas and new years and was told to bring it back after the first (Jan.)comes back 3 weeks later and drops it off. tore down the motor checked fuel for water,impeller no sign of why went down again,so not wanting to have it go down again sent all injectors to bucato to be checked,said none of injectors tested lean everything on this motor is good.then customer tells me he has run about 60 to 70 gallons of fuel,in my 17 years of exp.if there is a problem its going to happen in the first few trips out not months later.then i find out from 4 people that fish the lake with him and know him that the first few days out he was running it wide open all over the lake also found out he loves to throw rostertails,makes me think the reason #1 keeps going out is low water pressure(motor to high)not my problem!maybe needs to learn how to operate a boat correctly.

Yes, I probably need to learn how to operate a boat....it's just soooo tempting to run wide open (after dropping that much money on a rebuild) on my little ole 1700 acre lake. Those bass are very fast!