Your Thoughts On This Estimated Maintenance Charge

J

JRowenole

New Member
Sep 10, 2007
35
Lake Allatoona
Boat Info
2006 340 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1 375 hp v-drives
I have a 2006 340 Sundancer that was purchased in October 2006. With some embarrassment, I have put less than 40 hours on the 8.1 375 HP Horizons but do have almost 100 hours on the generator (lake locked).

My local MM just provided an estimate for generator oil change, generator filter change, generator spark plug change, engine's oil and filter change (including water separating fuel filter), and replacement of engine's impellers - approximately $1100.00!!!

I know our passion is not cheap by any means, but do you think this is excessive?! The MM service manager says this is standard charge across the U.S.

I recently read the threads for some annual maintenance charges that were in the $200 to $500 range.

Thank you.


John
 
I was going to say yes, sounds high, until I re-read it and saw the impeller changeout. This could add a substantial amount of labor to the ticket. The question is why change the impellers after only one 40 hour season?
 
Thank you for your feedback - I was thinking the same thing about the engine impeller change, but the MM service manager mentioned this even though he knows about the limited engine use.
 
JR ,
I had a 2003 34. The plugs are good for a min of 3 years. oil change u have to do along with the filters. Id wait 3 years on impellar as well. I put almost 400 hrs ( i dont recall exact #'s ) on my 34 when i traded her in 06. Buddy with same boat pulled his plugs .. inspected and put same ones back in. so thats what going on 5 years same plugs same impellars . His genset impellar dumps out every two years though....

PS any merc dealer can do this work... ur going to pay top $$ at the dealer for sub prime work at best.

Just my 2 cents...

Rob
 
Well. . .it sounds high, but in reality you have two engines plus a generator. On my boat, the oil changes are about $200 per engine. They probably hit you for $200 for the generator change as well. Not worth it . . .but I would figure $600 just in oil changes.
 
Personally if it were me I would not change the sea water impellers on your engines. I would go ahead with everything else. And if you ask for the price without the impeller change, I think you will see it drop dramatically.:grin:
 
lacks of use will cause the impellers to take on a "set" that is likely to increase failure probably more so than use. also if you winterize the boat with antifreeze and do not remove the impellers they often swell from absorption of the antifreeze and will fail more quickly.

find a travelling mechanic or do some work yourself. oil changes and impellers are not that hard....
 
Impellers - Up to $400 each (believe it or not) (Wait until 2nd year at least - Carry a spare).

Oil - $100/engine

Overall - too much work, but accurate estimate.
 
Is the $1,100 just for the genny? That's what the post says. Seems way high to me.



Ops, just re read it. Does not seem too bad if that includes the mains. I have a former factory guy come to my house and his charge for that and a few other things is around $1200.
 
Last edited:
My SR dealer charges $350/each on engine impellers. $100/parts and $250 labor.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies.

Historically I have not been a do-it-yourself-kind-of-guy, but I do have a real interest in aquiring the skills to do some of this myself. Fortunately we have some dock neighbors who can do this stuff and are willing to "train" me. I know some of this stuff is not too hard but I have some reservations since this is the first time for this type of maintenance on this boat.
 
JRowenole said:
Thank you everyone for your replies.

Historically I have not been a do-it-yourself-kind-of-guy, but I do have a real interest in aquiring the skills to do some of this myself. Fortunately we have some dock neighbors who can do this stuff and are willing to "train" me. I know some of this stuff is not too hard but I have some reservations since this is the first time for this type of maintenance on this boat.
Click to expand...

With charges that high, it pays to do it yourself. Think about it, oil changes should be about 30 minutes per engine plus parts and the impellers should be no more than 60 - 90 minutes per engine.

Doug
 
I've done the impellers on these motors - They're 2 - 3 hours each depending on your aggression/skill.

375HP? Are these I/O's? Mine are 370HP 8.1's w/V-drives.
 
I agree with Doug above.
Purchase a good Oil Pump from West Marine for around $150.00.
It will pay for itself after the first oil change.
My 454 big blocks take around 30 min to pump out and 15 min to change out filter and re-fill with oil.
Generator oil change took about 20 min total.
Impellers are on the top of my blocks and require around 45 min each.

I spent about 4 hours doing the exact maintenance last fall before haul out.
Total cost of about $250 with new pump and six pack of Miller Light.
With the added satisfaction of crawling around bilge to make sure everything else looked in place.

Probably the most important piece of advice I can give you is to LEARN how to change impellers yourself. The very rarely go bad at the dock or in storage! I speak from experiance.

Dan
 
John - I mistakenly wrote "375 HP" instead of "370 HP".

Thanks again everyone for your replies.


John
 
You really can not generalize about how long it takes to do impellars, change oil etc. I owned a 37 SR with straight inboards. Working on that boat was a piece of cake. There was plenty of room to spare. I'd be willing to bet that getting to all of the parts on a 340 will not be easy. The smaller boats with all of the bells and whistles can be a bear. If you can afford to have it done, go for it. I do agree with the comments about impellar changes. The wear rate depends on how clean your water is. In Lake Michigan, we change them every four years, although they look like new. If you are in silty water, local customs will dictate. This can get pricey. On my boat we change the whole pump on the genny and don't bother pulling the impellar. This saves about three hous of labor which pays for the new pump and impellar.
 
In my area this work can be done for about $750.00. I would definitely check into a private mechanic. There are bound to be a few around where you live. In my experience they are more experienced and do better work than the dealer's mechanics anyway.
 
I agree, for the work stated, the estimate isn't a scam. I wouldn't do the impellers or the plugs unless either though unless there's an issue with cooling or rough running. Pull a plug and look, I bet they're like new still.
 
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