mariner outboard gears stripped

[warren feldstein]

A Marina near where my boat is docked, winterized my outboard engine at the end of the 98 season. At this time they also changed the oil in the lower unit. late in the 99 season, the oil drained out of the lower unit and water filled in. Upon investigation, it was determined that the drain plug had not been tightened. Water replaced the oil and ultimately, the engine made grinding sounds and would not stay in gear.We drained the water and a large flow of metal particles poured out with the water. Oil was flushed through twice and then the lower unit was closed. The engine appeared to work fine and soon after put away for winter storage (Oct 99).This year while still using the remaining fuel left in the small dingy tank from the prior season, the gears stripped entirely.I spoke to the marina and they said that it is not so unusual for mariner outboard to fail like this. " it just happens sometimes"They want to take no responsibility for the problem and feel that they are not responsible. They billed for all of the labour and parts to replace the gears, bearings etc. in the lower unit.Does this sound reasonable to anyone.At first I offered to pay half.I am offended that they billed 100% and do not want to take an unreasonable position.If they just fail sometimes, when no water is present and the gears are lubricated, then, I would accept responsiblity. However, I do not feel that I am being given the straight goods.Are Mariner motors that bad.

 

[Steve Dion]

No one wants to accept responsibility.

Warren:I think that you have a time problem here. The marina that serviced the engine may take some responsibility if this happened in the first few weeks after the service but not after 1.5 - 2 years. Don't get me wrong, I am not sticking up for them. I have no idea what the cost of the repairs were but obviously there is a cost of getting this resolved through legal channels and that may be more expensive that what you paid (and you could lose). I have had similar incidents in life and just chalk it up to a lesson learned. Either use a different source for these types services or do it yourself. When you do it yourself, you only have YOU to blame and save a lot of money in the short term (maybe long term in your case).As far as the quality of your engine, I would not question it. Mariner motors may not be the same quality as some of the others but there are thousands of them out there that just do fine.

 

[warren feldstein]

timing not a big issue

they serviced the outboard at the end of the 98 season as part of winterizing. The defect in their service was clear and was discovered at the end of 99 season. Beginning of 2000 season and less than 10 hours running time on the engine and the gears in lower unit strip.Thus, I think that the relevant timing is 10 hours or less of engine time.Thanks for your comments