Does this estimate sound reasonable for risers/manifolds replacement?

[rpasquarello]

All,

I need your opinions on an estimate that I got this morning to replace the risers and manifolds on my 2010 raw water cooled MerCruiser 5.0L. I know that this is a necessary (and perhaps slightly overdue) maintenance item, but the cost of the OEM parts made me choke on my coffee when I read their email this morning. The labor cost (about 6 hours) are what I anticipated for here in NY.

I asked them to send me a detailed breakdown of the parts, but here is an excerpt of the initial email I received yesterday:

"...had asked me to send you a price quote for new exhaust. I believe you are aware your engine is the newer style catalyst engine – I did not include the price to replace the catalysts, these are inspected during the manifold and elbow replacement. In the event they do need replacing the part is $ 1340.21 each (2 are in each engine). There are a number of sensors in the elbows and manifolds which we generally are able to re-use.

The price to replace your manifolds and elbows will be:

Parts- $ 3199.00
Labor- $ 1032.00
Tax - $ 364.92
Total is $ 4595.92"

Thanks for your thoughts.

Rocco

 

[Espos4]

Seems to be one the high side, but...........Have you done any research yourself?

Mercruiser has a great website where you can find the part numbers of everything you need.

There are numerous vendors that sell OEM parts. They do cost more than after market replacements, but are well worth it.

You don’t need to be a master mechanic to replace these. Many people can tackle this on their own with ordinary hand tools.

 

[JVM225]

You can buy the OEM Mercruiser kit with all the parts for about $600 and the job should only take a couple of hours at most.
It’s a job that only requires a moderate amount of skill and experience with tools, basically drain then bolt off and bolt on, so you may want to tackle it yourself.

 

[rpasquarello]

Seems to be one the high side, but...........Have you done any research yourself?

Mercruiser has a great website where you can find the part numbers of everything you need.

There are numerous vendors that sell OEM parts. They do cost more than after market replacements, but are well worth it.

You don’t need to be a master mechanic to replace these. Many people can tackle this on their own with ordinary hand tools.

I did not look up the parts' costs as yet. I asked Seaborn to send me a breakdown of the parts this morning. I did do this type of job before on my old smaller MerCruiser engine from on my previous 20' Glastron, but I did hear that more is involved due to the cats (which allegedly all engines have from 2010 on up).

The labor seems about right, but the parts gave me sticker shock....

 

[tdschafer]

A quick search does seem to show the cost of the parts as high in your estimate. If this is a single motor boat (I can't see what model it is on this mobile platform) then it is a very doable job by yourself. I did it several times on my old 260 DA.

 

[rpasquarello]

Todd,

Single 5.0 merc. EFI. The apparent issue is that the cats make this more costly...

 

[KevinC]

When I did my 2003 260DA with a 5.0MPI the parts cost just over $1k and the labor took me about 4-5 hours max. Bought my parts online.

-Kevin

 

[tdschafer]

Todd,

Single 5.0 merc. EFI. The apparent issue is that the cats make this more costly...

Ok, so the parts estimate of $3200 seems high because in the quoted email he said the price did NOT include replacing them. Again, I am not sure but it seems that the mechanic is providing new risers, manifolds & gaskets only. He states reusing the sensors & catalysts unless they discover an issue during the R&R procedure which at that point will be addressed for additional money. I think you can do much better on the parts costs. I understand adding a small profit but, tripling the cost of the parts is unreasonable.

 

[rpasquarello]

Gents,

Here is the breakdown of the parts from Seaborn (they all look like the MSRP):

8M0103773 MANIFOLD-$ 649.16
8M0103774 MANIFOLD-$ 583.25
8M0104211-ELBOWS - $ 1770.21
8M2000819-GASKETS -$ 25.80
8M2004414- GASKETS-$ 82.60

Shop Supplies misc hardware app $ 90.00 (billed as used)

 

[M Prod]

Manifolds don't seem too high, but those elbows do. I had this done on my previous 25ft boat last spring with a mercruiser 5.0 Alpha, and total cost came out to be about $3500 ..CAD.

 

[cfd95]

Those are probably dry joint manifolds and risers which are more expensive
call lighthouse marine in Riverhead and ask them for a price you'll need the engine serial number.

 

[rpasquarello]

Great suggestion! I am attaching shots of the Stbd. side for reference...

 

[searay205]

You have a couple choices:
1) Replace as quoted - OUCH!!!
2) Retrofit to older style manifolds without catalyst. This could be challenging if you are not mechanically inclined, or find a mechanic to do it for you. No real challenge doing this. The post O2 sensor goes away. CP performance sales a module the tricks the computer into thinking they are there to avoid a code/siren ($425). The pre cat O2 sensors are required. Most just drill and tap a hole in the manifold and mount, other purchase a spacer plate between manifold and riser the O2 threads into. The precat O2 sensor is the one that dictates how the engine runs. The post O2 sensor does nothing but indicate if your catalyst are working. A little 5.0 mpi just disconnect the siren so you don't hear it. Ok so new "old" style manifolds from BAR is $600 complete, module is $425, some misc hoses, and maybe rear elbows $250. So a guess is $1,500 you eliminate the catalyst forever, any future manifold changes in future are under $700. That is my plan. The aforementioned sounds like a lot but it isn't. Any decent mechanic could do it, I imagine a dealer will refuse. Its a crime Catalyst were ever put on boats to begin with.

All that said I imagine your existing manifolds have a lot of life left. They are much heavier than original and smoother. Smoother helps because there are not corners for sediment to collect in and overheat and crack. I read in a Mercruiser manual the manifolds/catalyst were designed to last at least 400 hours. I have manifolds in salt water in excess of 10 years old, when I smashed them apart they looked great. Waste of time but no other way to inspect.

 

[searay205]

I see the elbows are very expensive. manifolds usually corrode on the water to exhaust gas partition on the exaust valves. This happens because the hot exhaust gases boil the water. This leads to erosion/corrosion of the cast iron. The risers on the other hand usually plug not corrode through. The riser water isn't that warm compared to the backside of the exhaust side manifold passages. Heck if you want to stay with catalyst just replace the manifolds and keep your old risers. Tell them to pressure wash any debris out of the riser when removed. You really need to do this work yourself it is very easy....