Is this corrosion too far gone?

ross91

ross91

New Member
Sep 6, 2010
32
Lake michigan
Boat Info
1991 sea ray sundancer 250 DA
Engines
454 mercruiser bravo I
For some reason my surveyor didnt catch this damage. Maybe because the outdrive was covered in growth? Anyway here is my problem. All of my anodes are completely gone. its obvious what i have to do to the outdrive but my question is does the whole lower have to be replaced before i set in to do all this work? It seems to me all the rot is just in the "lip" by the prop and not into the threaded part of the housing, but I dont know much at all about the outdrive. There is also a very small pothole in the side which i am told is in the exhaust section so shouldn't be a problem. The service manager at my marina didnt seem to think this was at all an issue, but he doesn't seem to bright. A service tech saw it and said "major issue". He seems to think i can still get some life out of it if i jump on the situation. I'm hoping to not have to replace the lower housing at 1700$ not including labor. I've dropped way too much money already this winter and my budget it well blown.:huh: Just wanted some more expert opinions. Thanks

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I was wondering who would hire Stevie Wonder to do marine surveys.


Seriously, you hired a surveyor and they missed this? Was this a professional marine surveyor or some bozo with no credentials?


I assume the sale is final so you have no options other than your own pockets.

I guess I’d repair it as best I could, paint it, put some anodes on it, shoot the anodes I put in the trash could have helped you, then run until failure.


By the way, if you and the surveyor missed this then everything else in this boat is suspect.

My biggest worry is you could spend $20,000 on this boat fixing everything and after you spend all that it will still be a $?,000 boat.
 
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tdschafer said:
....... would something like this be more budget friendly?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merc...2473483QQptZBoatQ5fPartsQ5fAccessoriesQ5fGear
Click to expand...

Man, that’s a tuff one. If he found a used B1 lower housing he then needs to get a seal kit and have the internal parts transferred from its existing unit, about a $1,000 job not counting the cost of the housing. If he missed this then no way could he possibly take on this job himself.


I just don’t see a good economical cost justifiable option.

Dennis, what do you think? Any budget friendly recommendations?
 
OK I am going to update my recommendation.

You need to find out what else is wrong with this boat. That is step #1.

Get a competent marine surveyor.


If you have other issues like transom rot, bad stringers, worn gimble, etc, etc, etc, and I’m guessing the answer will be yes to several expensive to fix items, then there is no reason to spend one more penny on this boat.

Find out where you stand, what else is wrong with this boat then report back.

The repair costs of the various key items may exceed the boats post repaired value.
 
ross91 said:
For some reason my surveyor didnt catch this damage. Maybe because the outdrive was covered in growth? Anyway here is my problem. All of my anodes are completely gone. its obvious what i have to do to the outdrive but my question is does the whole lower have to be replaced before i set in to do all this work? It seems to me all the rot is just in the "lip" by the prop and not into the threaded part of the housing, but I dont know much at all about the outdrive. There is also a very small pothole in the side which i am told is in the exhaust section so shouldn't be a problem. The service manager at my marina didnt seem to think this was at all an issue, but he doesn't seem to bright. A service tech saw it and said "major issue". He seems to think i can still get some life out of it if i jump on the situation. I'm hoping to not have to replace the lower housing at 1700$ not including labor. I've dropped way too much money already this winter and my budget it well blown.:huh: Just wanted some more expert opinions. Thanks

moz-screenshot.png
Click to expand...

Edit the post, and put a note that says, "This drive was on a boat surveyed by Mr. Joe Brown, and the damage was not listed on his report." He deserves to have his name attached to it.

One caveat. Did you pay him for a "hull survey" only?
 
I had a 1/4" hole in an out drive on a 28 footer and parts were hard to get. The mechanic who was (retired now) resourceful repaired it with liquid epoxey steel. It worked. The new owner of the boat is still using same leg in salt water after 8 years. The mechanic said it was machinable.
I have no idea if this is correct, but if you paid for a servey is the serveyor responsible through his insurance for missing this.
 
Hmmm. That's an odd corrosion pattern there - almost like there was a weak spot in the metal. Weird.

The most budget friendly advice would be to ditto some of the other responses about pursuing the surveyor. However, what was the surveyor hired specifically to do? Not to say he still shouldn't have found that, though.

Knowing that drives can be welded/repaired, I might go down that road, too. BUT, I don't have enough experience there to say if it can or can't be done, so I might be leading you down a wild goose chase.

SEI would be a good option (or ebay).

Before you do anything with the drive (assuming, for now, the surveyor route doesn't work out), clean it up real good so you know what you're dealing with. Take some pics with the props off, too - at various angles.

Another thought... you might get lucky and find a lower half sitting around in a marina yard, somewhere. Sometimes, when a customer hits something and takes a chunk out of the skeg, insurance will pay to have a new skeg welded in, sometimes they will pay to replace the lower half. In the later case, the lower half just sits around collecting dust. You might be able to pick one up pretty cheap.

EDIT: Forgot to add... If it truly isn't into the carrier bearing retainer area, then (especially considering the age of the boat) I might very well consider leaving it as is (at least paint the edges well) or filling it with an epoxy. But, get it cleaned up first.
 
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Thanks for all the responses that weren't taking stabs at my competence. I hired the surveyor and trusted his opinion, so being that I have to work I wasn't present for the haul out. So that takes care of ME missing it, and the question as to if i can complete the job on my own. I obviously found it upon my 1st inspection out of the water.
That being said the rest of the boat is in Very good condition. The stringers and transom are solid. I had the bottom blasted when it was hauled out for the winter, and its getting barrier coated and painted. No blisters or problems with the hull. I will have a tech at the marina double check the transom and hull for me just to be safe.
There is a part on the survey papers that states, "No structure was disassembled, only visible and accessible systems and components were inspected. No warranty or guarantee is expressed or implied by this report." I would think that saved him from being responsible?
in the report this was stated
Outdrive: Bravo two which was covered in scum upon haul out.
He got the Bravo two wrong because as far as i know its a Bravo one.
I will get it cleaned up and more pics on my next trip out and report back. Hard to get there, they are closed weekends and i have to take off work to get there during the week
EDIT: Could it have possibly been a very weak spot, and the power washing upon haul out blew the holes thru?
 
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skibum said:
Edit the post, and put a note that says, "This drive was on a boat surveyed by Mr. Joe Brown, and the damage was not listed on his report." He deserves to have his name attached to it.

One caveat. Did you pay him for a "hull survey" only?
Click to expand...

I too would like to know the survey company or surveyors name
 
I would express your displeasure with the surveyor. I would think that even with the disclaimer on his form he would be liable for anything he missed - otherwise what did you pay him for?
 
Its Marine Survey LLC out of grand junction MI. Jim Cukrowicz, A.M.C. He is a member of SAMS (society of Accredited Marine surveyers.) That is where i got his number. It was supposed to be a Full survey. Nature of survey is listed as condition/valuation on the paperwork
 
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Have you removed the prop yet? The rest of the bearing carrier will be visible when you do this and it may be totally gone as well. My own preference would be to replace the lower unit based on what I am seeing in your pictures.
 
If you have to, replace it with an Sterndrive Engineering lower.
 
On a boat that old. as a buyer, i would certainly have taken the time off work to witness the haul out, and check every inch of it before i spent any money on it. Surveyor money included. Lesson learned.
 
ross91,
Don't take it personal. Sometime these guys miss their afternoon cocktail and get a little nubby. (come on you know who you are).:lol::lol::lol:


If you had the thing cleaned after the inspection then the holes may have shown up then and the inspector may not see the damage for the corrosion. But I believe he should have noted it that the drive was dirty and could not be adequately evaluated until cleaned.
IMHO.
 
My old 300 had Alpha 1's that looked like that when I bought it. I spent several weekends cleaning them up by hand. I think a small bead blaster would have worked better. Anyway, if you take on the cleaning project remember no steel wool or steel wire brushes as it will embed itstelf and cause more corrision problems in the future. After I cleaned mine up, I put on two coats of primer and two coats of paint. They held up just fine, but it is a lot of work once drives get to this condition.
 
OldSkool said:
ross91,
Don't take it personal. Sometime these guys miss their afternoon cocktail and get a little nubby. (come on you know who you are).:lol::lol::lol:
Click to expand...


syringebp.jpg


Don’t worry; this will not be a issue today.

For the super bowl party my wife made 50 jello shots, spiked of course. She made one batch green and one gold, well, yellow.

She purchased a box of large cow syringes (no needles) then put the spiked colored Jello shots in them. They are in the refrigerator right now.

We will be with a group friends that are packer fans enjoying a “everyone bring a dish to pass” smorgasbord. It's going to be great!
 
What a great idea!! No mess to clean up but the law dogs may be visiting you after they go through your garbage on Monday.:lol::lol:

We have folks coming too, Steelers on one side of the family room and Pack fans on the other. Clear plastic has been wrapped around the flat screen as a spit barrier for when we start yelling at the officials.:wow::wow:
 
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