My O/D is being held hostage

[Ex-Calif]

Hell of a learning opportunity. Here's what I learned.

"How many of these have you overhauled?"
"Oh, plenty. No problem."
"Great! Can I see your invoices for a few of them and references from the owners?"
"Duh......"

[Boracay]

You have the parts on the workshop bench and are scratching your head?

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by Boracay

You have the parts on the workshop bench and are scratching your head?

It's kinda like the first time you tore an automatic car transmission apart in auto shop class! Blank stares and plenty of transmission fluid soaked page flipping in the service manual!

Anyow after a very sleepless night of trying to figure out what to do I've decided to just drop all the crap. I have all the parts back and will deal with getting them back together later. We've resigned ourselves to the fact that our season is over. The headaches, sleepless nights and chest pains just aren't worth it. What I've learned is I have a nice new set of very expensive bearings (which are available from GBS, 3 day lead time & VP MSRP pricing). But it's a moot point now. Time to winterize it and stick it in the back yard. There is a couple that are possibly interested and they'll see a "complete" boat albeit one that won't go anywhere. If they're truly interested then we can get the drive put back together in 3-5 days at a nearby VP dealership.

Once the ball gets rolling in these situations it's harder 'n h*ll to get it stopped. That's what I had to do by taking the drive back and gaining control of the situation. Other lessons learned:

1. Make sure you sign a work order stating exactly what is to be done
2. Make sure the mechanic has all your contact info so that he can reach you for approvals etc. (I did that but forgot to pin it to his forehead)
3. ANYTIME you're faced with pulling one of these units off the boat it's ok to hope for the best but realistically expect the absolute worst. There are a lot of very expensive components in these things and you must be mentally prepared for what might come your way. I wasn't.

Anywho, thanks for listening to my b*tching and whining. It's not like me to do that. Just needed to vent a little. Hopefully we'll be O/D Free in '08 when we start to build our lil' trawler! Straight shaft, single diesel, no trimming, tilting or counter rotating! ;-)

[markpj23]

Rick - glad to see you at least got your out drive back! Sorry to hear your boating season is over... but hey, maybe you can tackle the job in the basement workshop over the winter?

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by markpj23

Rick - glad to see you at least got your out drive back! Sorry to hear your boating season is over... but hey, maybe you can tackle the job in the basement workshop over the winter?

You've been talkin' to KnottyGirlz ain't ya? My usual answer to her when we discuss the basement workshop is: "Yes Dear!"

[OldSarg]

Better luck next time. I hope you find a decent Mech you can stick with in the future.

[rewell6]

VP's are supposed to be difficult to repair. I rebuilt one last year, not too bad and it was the first outdrive I rebuilt. Check out these sites if you want to try to do it yourself

Here for parts
Volvo Penta Parts

Here for diagrams of the outdrive
Drive (Lower Unit) - Volvo Penta

[coot]

Originally Posted by knottybuoyz

I can't wait to see the invoice!! My laywer is kinda anxious to chew into this one too! Stay tuned it ain't over yet!

If your lawyer is already involved, you might take the next step instead of waiting. You used to have a working machine, and now you don't because he disassembled it without authorization. I would think you could at least demand that he pay you the cost of having a competent mechanic re-assemble it. That could include seals that would not need replacing if he had only done what you asked.

It occurs to me that if you go after him now, maybe it is less likely that he will try to make a claim against you 6 months or a year from now.

[knottybuoyz]

Just dropped the drive off at a qualified VP repair shop. What a world of difference dealing with true professionals. The service manager and mechanic went through the inventory of parts and listed what would be needed for the repair and gave me a "near firm" estimate. Only problem area they saw was maybe a new yoke & u-joint (+$300). They listed everything they'd do on the work order. What a relief! A week to 10 days and we'll be back on the water!

Cheers

[Whimsical]

Looks like you were lucky and got all the parts back.
Mike

[knottybuoyz]

Originally Posted by Whimsical

Looks like you were lucky and got all the parts back.
Mike

Well not quite. Found out this afternoon there's a few small but key pieces missing. No biggie they can order them. So this chapter in the saga goes something like this....

Talked to service manager this afternoon to see how it's going. Drive has been reassembled minus the couple of missing parts. They'll have them this afternoon or tomorrow then they'll pressure test it. Barring any leaks we should have the drive back early next week.

Two mechanics worked on the drive. Both noticed problems with the new bearings. Apparently they were set into their seats with what appears to be a center punch and hammer. Definitely not the way it's done. They pulled them and pressed them back in and don't expect any problems. They also didn't have any problems shimming the gear sets to factory tolerences (that's the problem the other guy was supposedly having)

Both mechanics also looked at the old bearings and guess what? Nothing wrong with them!!! The service manager also had a quick look and all three, being factory trained with their credentials hanging on the wall, agreed there was no need to change the bearings. Now I'm doubly mad as hell!

[Ex-Calif]

Don't be too mad about the bearings. Service mechanics often have differing philosophies. I subscribe to the "If you are going to get it disassembled to the bare bones level, change the bearings" camp.

Engines, drives and so on. The bearings are the backbone of these systems. I think it's good insurance to change them if they aren't stupidly expensive. And if you don't change them and you missed a spalled bearing or something you could start generating chips and flakes very quickly.

In your case it appears he bought non-OEM bearings which I wouldn't do but if I had the drive down and any significant time on it, I would change the bearings. Even a factory trained guy would have a hard time inspecting for wear, burnishing, pitting and spalling - all bearing killers.

[OldSarg]

The more bad news the new mechs give you about the last work done the more likely you are to stick with just them. Why hadn't you gone to them in the first place?

[knottybuoyz]

of getting back in the water this year. Although it was a beautiful day. Fall boating is the best when the leaves are changing and all the idiots have long since disappeared from the river. Only 4 or 5 hrs on the boat this year so I didn't even change the oil! Hope that doesn't come back to bite the new owner in the azz!

It was a sad day but it had to be done. Still a few more wraps to be put on the front of the boat but this is how she gets through the winter.





Oh well, onto bigger and better things next year. House is running out of space to store boat parts!

[Morgan Paul]

The two most widely-used sayings about boats are that they are "holes in the water, into which you throw money" and "the happiest day of a boat owner's life is the day they buy the boat and the day they sell it."

Sorry Man. Good luck with the next Boat.