First trip out and overheated… Quick advice needed

[motoman99]

Just closed on my 97 Carver Voyager 370 last week (as mentioned on the meet and greet page). Already received my new deck cushions for front (look great). Already had bottom painted, zincs switched and a few other things sorted.

But… I literally took it out for 20 minutes (taking home from painter) and sure as heck, one of the engines overheated. Not to worry, limped her back to my slip and even though a little difficult on one motor, made it back ok.

Had a mechanic look at it for a second opinion (I'm a pretty descent wrench but new to boats) and as silly as it sounds…the damn radiator cap was a bit rusty and popped off. Made a bit of a mess too but sh** happens. The surveyor did mention I should change out the caps but I didn't know that meant immediately (my mistake).

Anyway, mechanic tells me it's 1000.00 to flush the antifreeze, switch out the small anodes/zincs on heat exchanger and swap out the thermostats. This all looks way too simple to pay anyone $1000 plus parts!

Question is… First, I read the entire manual and looked online. Any trick to flushing these Gas 454's out since I can't just drain them as I would a typical car/truck? Risers were just sorted a year ago so kinda surprised the fluid and such is so bad already but nevertheless, can anyone recommend a good place that won't back order the parts I need such as the anodes, thermostats, under motor diaper and any gaskets?

I'm having trouble finding a site that shows a microfiche as I do when working on my motorbikes but again, really new to this. Thanks in advance for the help!

[RGrew176]

$1000 seems extreme. Heck I can have my vehicles radiator and engine flushed for under $200. Of course its a car vs a boat.

[Ramsport47]

That's up to 10 hours of labor...that sounds WAY too high!!!

[waybomb]

Bring the boat over, I'll do it for 900 and buy you lunch.
Time for a new mechanic. That price is ridiculous.

Get a small hose on the block drains and drain the engines. Pull the tstats and replace. Pull the anodes and replace. Close the block drains. Refill with 50/50.

And while you are at it, replace the raw water impellers.

[motoman99]

Thank you very much…Thought so as well on the price.

Really appreciate the info Fred, I'll do just that and good to know on the raw water impellers. I was reading some of the topics on switching them out earlier, looks pretty simple. I'll start pulling her apart today!

[Lyndon670]

I can't believe that price - surely that included chaging your impellers as well. Anythung more than an hour labour to do a flush as gouging.

[waybomb]

Check your circulating pump belt, maybe even remove and check for end play on the circulating pump shaft. It may need replacement as well.

Look at the hoses from the cock to the pump - make sure it is not soft and collapsing on itself - it should be wire reinforced but people do stupid things at times.

Maybe even shut the valve, pull the hose, and then open the valve to see if water has free flow.

Just because the cap came off does not mean that's the reason it overheated. Even without the cap, it should not overheat.

[motoman99]

Will do Fred, thanks for that advice. Frustrating thing is finding the parts, wish I could just find a site that I could preorder everything I need so I don't need to keep it apart for long. Whenever I work on Ducati's, just pull the microfiche and order everything so I'm good and ready. I can't for the life of me find out which impeller, which anodes, etc. Even the local West Marine boat supply store didnt carry radiator caps so they sent me to pep boys who only had crappy caps that are sure to rust in weeks.

Oh well, I'll keep searching. Thanks again for all the advice, I'll go through the whole thing!

[Viper]

I don't like to speculate on the time to do a task without first having assessed the condition of the hardware and accessibility in a given application. Anybody that will do that over the phone without first having been on board to assess what it would take is simply setting you up to get you in the door first, then surprise you with a much higher bill IMO.

While ten or so hours does seem a little excessive for what was mentioned, I haven't seen the conditions so any comment is just speculation. For all I know, it's a rust bucket that will pose a headache at every part of the process turning a simple drain plug removal into stipped threads, retapping, etc. I'm not saying that this is the case here and that you have a rust bucket for a boat, just trying to make a point about commenting on something we haven't seen. It's always so easy to do that on the web.

I can see it taking longer than an hour per engine to replace the coolant. We always seem to focus on the very basics of a job when determining how long we think the job should take instead of looking at the whole picture/process from beginning to end. While I agree simply draining and filling doesn't take long, one can't forget about all the other little things involved that a good technician will also do, like ensure the hot water heater exchanger is also drained, run the engines to temp, purge the system, top up, leave the bilge and engine cleaner than it was when he arrived, get all his gear and containers off the boat, and dispose of the old liquid, rags, etc. While on board, he should also be checking the condition of the hoses, belts, and anything else within reason. Finally, he should take some time to write a report of his findings for the customer. I challenge anybody to do all that and do it right, in one hour per engine. It can be done but that's rushing it which usually results in substandard workmanship and mistakes.

Not trying to defend the $1000 here but adding a little more realistic perspective on how much more is invoved than simply draining and filling. Heck in a large marina, the tech can take 5-10 minutes just to get to the boat. I haven't even touched on pulling up carpets, moving furnature, putting it all back, etc. etc. It all adds up. Suddenly, an hour doesn't seen like much at all and you'll be lucky if you have fifteen minutes to do the actual work!

[deenbob1]

Try this link for information. I use it and find it very informative with their parts being reasonable.

http://www.marinepartsexpress.com/chooseschematics.html