Public Service Announcement to those under 40'

[FSUDave]

As many of you have read in my "bad news" post I had a problem with one engine failing a leakdown test and one cylinder having no compression. Fortunately it is not to major of an issue. The cause was a bad injector. However, during this process one of the potential reasons could have been water intrusion. They told me that with weight on the swim platform(such as a dinghy) when the motors are shut down the back pressure could suck water back in through the exhaust depositing it into the manifolds. With the not so new(my boat is an 03 and the first year of the new system) dry exhaust system that is about the only way water can enter the exhaust. I just returned from MM and was able to look at my risers, manifolds, and elbows. They are all showing signs of being wet. The 2 I replaced in the begining of 08 are not very bad at all. The 2 that were replaced in 06 are not in need of replacement but are showing the signs of the rust. When I replaced the risers, manifolds, and elbows in 08, the ones I took off were wet with water droplets from the manifolds all the way up through the elbows. The tech told me he has seen only one time with the new system where the water came from the water jacket, the rest of the time he sees water intrusion is from the back pressure sucking in water. They are adamant about the distance from the water line to the bottom of the elbow. They told me it is not a good idea to have any weight on the swim platform when the engines are shut down, that includes heavy coolers, or standing on it. I just wanted to let every one out there who has a boat under 40' to beware of this. I have know way of knowing forsure if this is true or just a way for Merc to get out of warranty work. What I would reccomend is if you have a dingy on the back of your boat under 40' and you are going to have the dealer work on it, remove the dinghy so they do not know you keep it on the swim platform.
Be safe and Happy boating:thumbsup:

 

[skibum]

So how would my 300lb. buddy get on board? Come over the rail? Nowadays, 300+ lb people are not all that hard to find.

I'm thinking that 1 dinghy, and 1 cooler come in at way less than 300 lbs.

Michael

 

[FSUDave]

So how would my 300lb. buddy get on board? Come over the rail? Nowadays, 300+ lb people are not all that hard to find.

I'm thinking that 1 dinghy, and 1 cooler come in at way less than 300 lbs.

Michael

The issue is not having weight on the swim platform when the engines are running or off. The issue is when the engines are turned off with the weight on the platform. It seems kind of suspect to me, but if you expect Merc to pay for water intrusion problems and they know you carry a dingy on the swimplatform, I am guessing you will be waiting a long time.

 

[Woody]

What you going to do when the cockpit seating is full with people...make them sit up on the bow so you can shut the engines down?

 

[tobnpr]

I agree with thae above posters, the mechanic's comments make no sense.
Having no weight on the swim platform? How about five adults seated at the stern? Makes absolutely no sense. If that's indeed the case- it's a design issue- and SR should be seeing the same issues on plenty of other boats of your model.

Are you always careful about gradually coming off-plane (instead of chopping the throttles) so you don't get swamped by a big following wave?

 

[Carver370]

What happens when you are anchored out and its a little rough with the platform constantly dipping under water? There should be no issue standing, sitting, putting a dinghy, a cooler, or anything else on the platform as long as it doesn't drastically change how the boat sits in the water.

I call BS.