I picked up the boat Friday after work and couldn't wait to get on the water. After a full day of "honey do's" Saturday I finally got to the ramp around 5:30. I launched and almost made it to the no wake bouy before my alarm started sounding again. I turned around, put the boat back on the trailer and went home with my 3yr old boy crying all the way.

I've got a new water pump, new vro sensors, a lighter bank account and the same problem I started with.

I'm taking the boat back in tomorrow. Guess we'll start with the thermostats and temp sending units this time.

I'll keep everyone posted on this weeks repair outcome.



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Gig'em Fighting Texas Aggie Class of '94

If it did it that quickly then you're certainly not overheating. Time to look for loose wires and other things that would trick the alarm. The good news is that it sounds like you don't have a "real" problem.

Did you consider getting you a pair of "earmuffs" for the motor and running it in your driveway to try to isolate the problem?

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Save the Lake Bridgeport Hybrids!

Texas Fishing Info

I think I'm going to give Barber another shot. I called the service tech from the lake so that he could hear the alarm. He apologized and sounds like he really wants to help.

If this were an old car, I'd have no reservations about digging into it in the driveway, but I'm a little hesitant with an outboard. I just don't have any experience with boat motors and I sure don't want to cause a bigger problem.

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Gig'em Fighting Texas Aggie Class of '94

Did the PDF's I send help you identify the alarm any better? If it's not solid, on all the time alarm, it may indeed be related to the VRO. I think once the mechanic actually recreates the problem, it will be a quick fix. Sorry to hear about your experience.

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steve pine

Thanks Steve for the pdf's. They helped me understand that my alarm is not typical to anything listed in the manual. This leads me to believe I just have some kind of electrical fault like tree bass said earlier. Hopefully they can nail it down this time.

Thanks again for your help.

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Gig'em Fighting Texas Aggie Class of '94

Here's the latest if anyone's interested.

I took the boat back to Barber Boats at lunch time today.

They just called and it turns out that my problem was a bad sending unit in the oil tank.

Looks like I'm going to be out another $260 for the additional trouble shooting and the replacement of the oil tank assembly.

That brings the grand total up to $634.

I don't know whether I should be happy or not.

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Gig'em Fighting Texas Aggie Class of '94

You need to talk to the owner at Barber. They owe you some consideration for what they did that didn't fix the problem. A good starting place would be for them to eat the labor on the first job. I wouldn't have any problem on paying for the parts, but the tech should have found it first go around.

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I agree. It doesn't make sense to take the parts out, but they should give you a break on the labor that didn't fix the problem you brought it in for.

You might want to direct them to this site and these posts. There's a lot of people reading this and their working with you would be a positive instead of a negative for others who consider bringing their boats in for service.

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steve pine

Thanks guys for the replies.

Sorry, I didn't mean to torch Barber. I think they are trying to be fair. Here's the rundown.

New water pump $60 plus 2 hours labor @ $70/hr. (not part of the problem but needed to be done)

First time around at fixing problem $10 parts, 2hrs labor @ $70/hr

Second time around at fixing problem, $115 for new oil tank, sending unit etc. and 2 hrs at $70/hr

Basically on the second trip they say they spent 5 hrs tracking down and fixing the problem and are charging me for 2. So basically I'm getting the original 2 hours back plus 1.

I just have to trust them on the 5 hrs claim until they give me reason to do otherwise.






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Gig'em Fighting Texas Aggie Class of '94

Nope, don't buy it. It shouldn't take any self respecting mechanic five hours to determine it was a bad oil sending unit. I call BS on this one. Secondly, did they have to replace the oil tank to replace the sending unit, or is it just that the sending unit makes up the vast majority of the cost?

From looking at your breakdown, it looks like two hours of labor are all that need to be knocked off. However, the TWO HOURS it took to replace the water pump, was that also "troubleshooting" or just work on replacing the pump? I assume boat labor is much like automotive labor, it's a standard given time, however, you're getting reamed on their labor times. I would think all things considered that could work with you.

Two hours to replace the water pump, two hours to replace the thermostats and five hours to "troubleshoot" and replace the oil tank? Am I reading that right?

I also recommend you direct them to this post. I don't think anyone's flaming Barber, but we're definitely questioning some things. I think we all remain open to Barber's side of the story, there may be more to it than they fully explained to you. If not, God help them LOL

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Save the Lake Bridgeport Hybrids!

Texas Fishing Info