I hate that this is the subject of my first post but I need to know something from you experienced mechanics, especially those that work for a Mercury dealer. If this isn't the right place to post this, please feel free to move or delete it mods.
Here's my problem. I took my 2007 115hp Merc Optimax in because the a long alarm sounded when I hit 1500 to 2000 rpm. It would then go into guardian mode and start slowing down.
I called around and finally found a Mercury dealer who would work on it and said they had a computer to diagnose it. They said it sounded like an impeller. I asked how much it would be to repair and they said a minimum of one hour to diagnose and an hour to repair. That sounded reasonable to me so I unhooked my boat and they said they would call when they found out what is wrong. I specifically asked for the to call me before doing any work on the boat and the Owner told me they never work on a boat until they get the okay from the customer. This was on Thurs. and they said it would probably be next week before they got it fixed and I said that would be okay.
Got a call this afternoon (Fri.) and said everything had been fixed and was ready to go. The guy said it took 6 hours to diagnose and fix the problem!! I liked to have had a coronary! He said they had to "get it in water" to make it go into Guardian mode. I wondered why since I told them on several occasions that it would do that and they even wrote it down on the ticket. I also wondered why the computer diagnosis wouldn't have told them that!??
The final analysis said that the impeller needed replaced, a sensor and seals. Less than a $100 in parts and almost $500 in labor.
Do you really need to "get it in the water" to diagnose a water pump and sensor problem? Why wouldn't the computer pick this up? I've never had a problem paying repair bills, but this just doesn't seem right to have taken so long "diagnosing the problem".
Here's my problem. I took my 2007 115hp Merc Optimax in because the a long alarm sounded when I hit 1500 to 2000 rpm. It would then go into guardian mode and start slowing down.
I called around and finally found a Mercury dealer who would work on it and said they had a computer to diagnose it. They said it sounded like an impeller. I asked how much it would be to repair and they said a minimum of one hour to diagnose and an hour to repair. That sounded reasonable to me so I unhooked my boat and they said they would call when they found out what is wrong. I specifically asked for the to call me before doing any work on the boat and the Owner told me they never work on a boat until they get the okay from the customer. This was on Thurs. and they said it would probably be next week before they got it fixed and I said that would be okay.
Got a call this afternoon (Fri.) and said everything had been fixed and was ready to go. The guy said it took 6 hours to diagnose and fix the problem!! I liked to have had a coronary! He said they had to "get it in water" to make it go into Guardian mode. I wondered why since I told them on several occasions that it would do that and they even wrote it down on the ticket. I also wondered why the computer diagnosis wouldn't have told them that!??
The final analysis said that the impeller needed replaced, a sensor and seals. Less than a $100 in parts and almost $500 in labor.
Do you really need to "get it in the water" to diagnose a water pump and sensor problem? Why wouldn't the computer pick this up? I've never had a problem paying repair bills, but this just doesn't seem right to have taken so long "diagnosing the problem".
