Bravo 3 service estimate

[JayB]

Hi, I"m a new poster to Club SeaRay. I purchased a 2003 Sundancer 300 about a year ago. The engines have about 425 hours on them and everything in the boat is very clean and appears well serviced except for the outdrives. I have put about 30 hours on it in a saltwater environment. Prior owners lived in Ga and it was kept on a lake in a covered wet slip. I had started to notice rattling sound on my port engine when turning wheel to left or right. I assumed it was a gimbal bearing that needed to be replaced. I had it put on a rack when Hurricane Michael was approaching and have asked the Marina to pull the drive and inspect. I would appreciate it if you would review the estimate and provide any feedback on the charges. Allot of the items are more expensive than OEM parts found on line but only about 17% or so. So may be best just to let the marina due the repair with their parts to avoid any issues on that are found on annual inspections which I plan to have done. However the u joint assembly seems a bit high. After market can be found for about 1/2 to 3/4 of the price. Would you recommend staying OEM on U joint assembly? I've also included pictures that show leak in bellows and rusty U joint. My assumption is I should get a new u joint as opposed to try and clean, grease and reuse the exiting one.
If you would review the labor estimates and advise if it is fair or if I should bring to another shop. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[MickT]

Looks quite neglected....

See that crack in the bellows.... only a few trim adjustments before that sank the boat - they are an “inspect annually” item for a reason.

I’d suggest having a qualified mechanic do a full inspection on the both drives and transom assemblies

49 bucks for “ listen to whirring “??
Other charges don’t seem too out of line for having the marina do it (where there’s always a built in upcharge for the privilege)

 

[Creekwood]

Prices don't look bad to me. Labor hours maybe a tad high, but they are normally based on standard times for certain tasks. I always get major repairs (have not had that many) by my marina's service team. Maybe I pay a bit more, but I have an 18 year trust relationship that works well. I know that they give me priority when I need something done right away. I can get a mechanic to come over to my boat to take a look at something within an hour to decide what to do. And I trust that they will only recommend repairs that need to be done because they know that future repairs will be them.

As for your situation, I would do both drives at the same time while its hauled an in the shop. If one is bad the other one is either already bad or will be in a year or so and may fail while you are out using the boat. Penny wise, pound foolish as they say.

 

[Little Ducky]

@ $99/hr it looks pretty good.

Before leaving the marina yesterday I saw a 240 on the rack outside the shop and it's B3 was torn apart. It looked like someone had eaten just about ever piece of that outdrive.

 

[BillK2632]

Prices don't look bad, appears they are giving you a deal to replace bellows on the other drive if you do it at the same time. I would replace the bellows on both drives - if one is bad the other is not far behind - thinking these could be the originals? Two other things I would ask about that are usually done at the same time - the trim sender/limit switch (the round puck things on the sides of the drive) and the shift cable.

 

[Lazy Daze]

FYI, the prices you were quoted are not really "more" than online prices. It's sort of the other way around/upside down kinda thing. The prices you were quoted are normal Merc prices. What you're finding online is discounted prices through parts retailers (only parts, no service). Meaning, the shop is not inflating the prices - they are just normal, every day prices.

 

[boatman37]

I just had my bellows changed on my BIII. They used Merc/Quiksilver parts (bellows/gimbal bearing/shift cable) for $725 out the door. That's just for 1 drive and I didn't need the extras that you needed like u-joints etc. I also trailered mine there so no fees for haul out or anything. Mine was just a disassembly with new parts and reassembly. I wasn't having any problems or issues but knew the bellows needed replacing.

 

[JayB]

Thanks for the input. I’ve been out of town since my post.
I did ask that they pull the other drive and they said it looked much better. I’m going by to talk with mechanic tomorrow but do plan on having both serviced and then do annual inspections yearly.

 

[Korkie]

$750 per drive is the going rate here on the Potomac in Maryland. Doesn't include hauling, but does include all that you mentioned. So pricing looks to be in line.