The great grandchildren of the Robber Barons have gone into the outboard repair business.
The Tallahassee dealer tells me it involves 3.4 hours work at $75 an hour. They are insistent about supplying their own parts. The motor can be fixed for $1,359.
The Panacea dealer tells me the parts will run $950 and that labor will run between 6 and 8 hours at $70 an hour.
I call the dealer in Perry (sixty miles east of here). Hes so busy he hasnt time to figure it out. He says, Drop the lower assembly and bring it over so I can take a look at it.
Drop the lower assembly?
Yeah, theres just three bolts, comes right out.
I go down to this shade tree mechanic in Ochlockonee Bay, whom I usually go to, and he says, Yeah, happens all the time. Ill weld a piece of aluminum on to replace the lost casing and that will take care of your cavitation problem. Might have to replace the carrier and then shim in a new one, theyre all different. Could run $600, but Ill see what I can save.
I can get an entire lower unit assembly from Central Florida Yamaha (boatsnet.com) for $874.35. I confront the Tallahassee dealer with this and he says they are refurbished parts from other motors and it will fall apart. Central says the assembly is brand new from Yamaha and itll take a couple days to get a hold of one.
I wonder where truth lies. I can hear little horns going off in the background. This is from a skit on a radio show I listened to in my childhood. I think it was Jack Benny. Every time a lie was told a horn would go off. I cant remember who Jack was talking with, someone between a used car salesman and a politician. It would start out with little trumpet toots. Then the trombones. Worked its way up to tuba blasts. Finally, the whole wind section.
The adjuster from USAA said dealers mark their parts up 40%. Hes sympathetic, helpful and friendly. I wonder if he knows Im on three years probation with the auto claims section. That was for destroying a Kia Reo while backing out of a parking slot at Wal Marts. Didnt even knock the mud off my GMC fender. The three years is if this happens again, Ill be back with the 19 year old males for premium assessment.
Id like to go the simple inexpensive route of welding. I dont know if this a rare operation that could fail, or could only be considered temporary. Or, if it would make it good as new.
