48 spl story/ripoff (long)

[longshot]

I have ask for help in the past about my 48 spl. This summer I finally put a tack to it and got 5300rpm WOT empty with only me with a 12.25X15 prop with LOTS of cup. I changed to a 12.25X 15 prop uncup. Got 5750 empty with just me. <br /><br />I also had the seals changed in the lower unit because it was leaking this last winter. I thought GREAT I got everything right now. BOY WAS I WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!<br /><br />So I ask the mech. to check the lynch and synch because there was a slight jump at WOT last trip out. This jump only seemed to happen about 1/2 the time. <br /><br />He came back and said the motor was WAAAAAY out of adjustment to just get it to run. The top carb was 2 turns out and the lower carb was over 4 turns out. THe skip sometime at WOT was caused by the fact that the spark advance arm was to floppy to hold adjustment and the carb linkage has to much play and this allows too much air to leak in the carbs. <br /><br />The mech ask if I had ever checked the compression. No, so we checked it and found 110 top 115 bottom. We decided to take it to his house and pull the head to see what kind of condition the cyl were in. Pulled head and the head gasket was shot. The cyl had a ring in the top that was probably .010 deep all around. THe pistons had a LOT of play. OH.....there was no thermostat in it either. <br /><br />We decided to replace the head gasket and put a thermostat in it. We are also going to get a new spark advance arm. Then we are going to get it running again. The reason for this decision is the fact it ran "fine" before (33.2mph and 5750RPM WOT). Also the lower unit reverse gear will pop out if it is not held in place. THe dog and gear are rounded over. We are really just putting a bandaid on cancer. <br /><br />I dont think it would be smart to rebuild the motor since it needs a new set of gears and new carbs along with the other worn out parts. I had $1100 bucks invested @4 years ago in the first place. From what I have gathered I seem to have purchased a worn out junker fron the dealer. Since the motor has always had issues. I just now took it to someone other than where I purchased it, and got the truth. <br /><br />thanks for letting me complain........ <br /><br />What are some of your opinions on this? <br /><br />thanks<br />longshot

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 48 spl story/ripoff (long)

Hmmm...so you bought this outboard 4 years ago...how old was it then? You don't tell us the year of the outboard.<br /><br />How many hours a year do you use this outboard? It sounds to me like it was running pretty well for you until just recently. <br /><br />So you decided to have a tech look at it and he found some wear. You still had decent compression, and, apparently, it was running your boat just fine.<br /><br />You could put a new clutch dog in it to fix the other problem and be back to having a good-running outboard.<br /><br />It was running good when you bought it, right? It's run for 4 years for you, right? It was used when you bought it, right?<br /><br />I guess I don't see where the dealer is at fault here. Four years after you bought a used motor, it needs some work done on it. Sounds pretty typical to me.

 

[longshot]

Re: 48 spl story/ripoff (long)

The motor is a 1996. It never ran fine......Needed "adjusting" several times a year every year. I wanted to take it to another mech, but the local mech that i got it from lives by me. He always insisted that I take it to him so he could adjust it for free. That makes me wonder. <br />I have worked in a marine dealership the last 3 summers and am learning more and more things about outboards. The more questions our mech ask the more I realize that some of the things we are finding were there when I pruchased from the dealer.<br /><br />The day that I got the motor it acted up at WOT just like it is now. I took it back and they fixed it by adding "cup" to the prop with a punch and hammer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THis would not allow the motor to get up in RPM and show the Problem as much. How about other things that we found while in the motor. No termostat, missing bolts in the water pump, & gearcase. also... I hit a stump and broke the bolts that hold the motor to the mount 1.5 years ago and took it to the dealer in question. after the impact the only thing that was holding the motor together was the shift rod......guess what?????the shift rod was bent in two extra places when we took the lower unit off to fix the leaking seals. Now......to me those thing raise a LOT of red flags about a dealer. <br /><br />I put about a 100+- hours a year on my boat.<br /><br />later<br />longshot

 

[CATransplant]

Re: 48 spl story/ripoff (long)

I see from your other messages that you bought this motor in 2002, about 3 years ago. When you bought it, it was 6 years old. Odds are the dealer took it in on trade. He gave it a compression test, probably, which it passed just fine, and maybe a carb cleaning and an impeller change. Then he sold it. Pretty typical. No thermostat? Not the best thing, but, unless he checked that, he wouldn't have known.<br /><br />Now, you've put another three years on it, about 300 hours. In the process, you've smashed it into a stump hard enough to break the transom mount bolts, according to your other posts. That's a serious hit. Then it was running again for you.<br /><br />It's still running, but you're fixing up some stuff on it. Sounds typical for a 9-year-old outboard that has seen some hard service. Banging stumps is hard on outboards.<br /><br />Dealers don't do a teardown on a used motor very often before they sell it. If it's running good and peeing a good stream, they'll often just sell the thing as it is...maybe change the lower unit oil.<br /><br />Maybe the previous owner changed the impeller and messed up the job, but it was still peeing OK.<br /><br />I wouldn't be blaming the dealer on this one, three years after buying the outboard. Your cylinders have a ridge. Not uncommon after a few hundred hours of service. The thing still has decent compression, according to your message. It's still running that new prop at 5750 RPM.<br /><br />You didn't say anything about it running badly in this post. It jumps out of reverse. Odds are someone already had turned the clutch dog around sometime in the past. Now you'll have to replace it. It's 9 years old and has had a rough life, it seems.<br /><br />Seems to me you can either fix it or junk it. But I don't think you can blame the dealer you bought it from for what has happened three years later to a 9-year-old outboard.

 

[Goodoleboy]

Re: 48 spl story/ripoff (long)

I have to agree with CAT on this motor. Heck if I had a motor that would turn 5750 for four years I would sort expect to be wore some.<br /><br />110 and 115 aint half bad for a 10 year old motor.<br /><br /> You made it sound as if the pistons were about ready to swap holes....they were so lose. No way... not with that kind of compression. <br /><br />The very worst thing you can find with a motor is when the pistons have NO play at all.<br /><br />If your turning 5750 with that motor...you dont have wore out throttel shafts in you carbs... No way.... no how.<br /><br />Repair your clutch dog...and keep on strokein.<br /><br />Your lucker than most guys on here...Heck they cant even get away from the launch ramp...Or worse back to it.<br /><br />Good luck!

 

[longshot]

Re: 48 spl story/ripoff (long)

ok......so maybe I was just venting.....a tiny bit <br /><br />but<br /><br />The dealer that I got the motor from has a VERY long rep of doing things like this. I have learned a lesson from it. I found a new mech. Just another example.....should it take 3 trips to get a carb cleaned and make it run????? It usually takes at LEAST 2 trips and most of the time 3 trips to get it "right"..... I could go on.<br /><br />We got the motor running again. With a trusted mech. He got it runnig. We have to water test this week. Got it set up on the hose for a starting place. Hopefully we have eliminated the wot cut out .<br /><br />thanks<br />longshot