Triple 2019 Verado 400HP Engines w/Joystick Piloting - Alignment

[Canisbay]

Hello,

I took delivery two weeks ago of my 2019 Boston Whaler 345 Conquest with triple 400HP Mercury Verado engines with Joystick Piloting. Overall, I’m a man in heaven on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron.

However. When using the Mercury Joystick Piloting feature when docking/undocking, I find it is frequently finicky when I disengage the joystick at realigning the three engines. If I engage and disengage it repeatedly I can usually get it to properly realign all engines after a few tries, but this is tremendously irritating. Obviously a brand new boat and engines should not be having this issue and if defective it is certainly covered under warranty. But my only two options are to haul the entire boat to my Whaler dealer, which is over 150 miles away, or to go to one of two specified Mercury authorized service mechanics at two marinas that Mercury has authorized to investigate this for me. The trouble is, while they are both on Georgian Bay, I’m looking at one a few hours ride to the north or another a few hours ride to the south. For whatever reason, the three authorized Mercury dealers and mechanics in the Port of Parry Sound are not places they will allow me to obtain warranty service.

Let alone the fact that that makes no sense, obviously I’m hoping this is an easy fix like a loose wiring job or something and that ideally I can find and identify it without having to bother with this hassle. Does anyone know what may be causing this and where I should begin?

$882K on a brand new boat and I have to jump through hoops to get warranty service only two weeks after delivery. To be quite frank I actually expected that they would offer to come to me to take care of this at my own dock given the money I’ve given them.

Anyway thanks for any thoughts. I don’t want to start giving these brand new engines exploratory surgery on my own without having a good idea of what to look for. Worst case I’ll make the trip and make my thoughts on this ludicrous process known once they fix it.

Kind Regards.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

Don't touch anything or Merc can use that a reason to fight you on warranty claims.

Who won't allow you to use the Parry Sound dealers? And why?

 

[MTboatguy]

That much money, don't touch anything, start talking to Mercury and see what you guys can work out to get it repaired correctly in a manner that will not give them an excuse to deny coverage...

 

[Canisbay]

Welcome aboard.

Don't touch anything or Merc can use that a reason to fight you on warranty claims.

Who won't allow you to use the Parry Sound dealers? And why?

Yeah I do agree. Just frustrated.

And it’s Mercury North America customer support. Thing is, when I contact the Merc dealers locally they tell me they are officially licensed dealers and service providers and they can do it under warranty. But when I contact Merc directly and they check my engine serial numbers, they say that while those dealers are in fact authorized service providers, they are not authorized in their system for official repairs or warranty service on this specific engine type. I didn’t realize such limitations on individual dealers existed however maybe for certain heavy duty engines and options they require special training and certification?

Honestly I think I’m going to call up Boston Whaler and get them to sort this out for me - and if I need to make a fuss to get it to happen I will do so. As they literally only just delivered a built-to-order new boat I personally feel like this is on them to coordinate and fix for me. They cover the entire boat - including engines - under warranty, but as the engine serials are registered with Mercury it’s technically approved to deal with Mercury directly. But given it’s only a few weeks since delivery I think my safest bet is to have Whaler deal with this and have it all officially on record with them for my own protection.

I mean in the meantime I can simply not use Joystick Piloting, but that in itself is frustrating as I specifically paid for the Joystick Piloting and Automatic Active Engine Trim upgrades. These are both Mercury OEM upgrades and not Boston Whaler features. Fortunately the auto trim has been working great and the only issues seem to be related to the joystick realignment of the engines after disengaging it.

Thanks for the advice. Agree with you that messing with brand new engines is probably inadvisable. I’ll do this the right way and not try to rush it. I’m just afraid of having been teased with my new craft only to have to go without it while they do repairs now

Cheers

 

[GA_Boater]

Getting with Whaler is probably the best way since they put the boat package together even if the issue is with a Merc system. Maybe Whaler will send a tech to you since you gave them a pile of dough directly whereas Merc was paid by Whaler. :noidea:

Merc dealers make a big deal about certifications because it's a good selling point that they have factory trained techs to service what they they sell. It seems the joystick certs or lack of same is the issue with the nearby dealers. Again, I don't know.

Right now you're like a cat chasing a ball of fluff on a string and Merc is yanking the string. LOL

 

[racerone]

Mega dollars invested.-----The WHALER factory set this up.-------They should send a rep I would say.------You mean ----" GORDON BAY MARINE "---Can not help you ??----You have read the owners manual ?------The selling dealer took time to show you what buttons do what ?