Service and winterization?
 

What is a fair price to have someone provide a full service and winterization for a '06 21V? I am not the most mechanically inclined and the boat is stored 3 hours away so working on it myself is out of the question. Sadly there is only one shop in that area that will work on inboards. He is quoting $425 for everything.

Thanks. Scott

Not sure what he's going to do, but that seems high! I would assume you have a Merc in it, which means pulling eight plugs and draining water, which take about fifteen minutes. If it's not fuel injected he might fog, but really, everything else should be done in the summerization. I know some shops will change out the impeller in the winter, but that seems ridiculous to me, seeings as it is just going to sit for 6-8 months. Find out exactly what he's doing and weigh your options. Certainly you can find someone cheaper. Good luck.

If that includes oil change, transmission fluid change, impeller change, draining and anti-freeze in engine, heater, and ballast; trailer bearing re-pack - OK. I do all of that with my son in less than 2-hours.

Seems to be on par with the prices that I have seen. But like was mentioned above you want to find out what the really includes. Many will also have a gotcha that you will need to bring it back to them for summerization for another hit of the same amount or higher.

May be worth a three hour trip to do it yourself.

For that $$...I'd guess, change engine oil/filter, replace fuel/water seperator, fog motor, stabilize fuel, remove raw water impeller, remove batteries!

It does include oil change, spark plugs, impeller, tramission fluid, anti-freeze in engine, heater and ballast. Not sure if it included the trailer bearings. They are also going to pull it out of storage to work on it so it saves me the trip.

with the transmissions fluid change and spark plugs being included with oil change and winterization, seems to be in the right ball park.

I think the key factor for you is the fact it's stored 3 hours away. When you include the costs of getting out to the boat both $ and opportunity you'd be better off paying for the service.

Sounds about right as it's mostly a tune up and winterization.

That's a decent price for all that work...mine would be up around 700 for all that- minimum

Here is what it cost me to do it myself. The engine is a Volvo (GM Marine) 8.1l and the transmission is a ZF/Hurth 63 IV V-drive.

The engine manufacturers say to:
Add fuel stabilizer and run before storage. (on your last ride)
Pull 4 drain plugs: 2 on the exhaust manifold and 2 on the block, then reinsert (10 minutes)
Pull the 2 hoses off the raw water pump. (5- 10 minutes)
Crank the engine a few rpm - no need to start it. (1 minute)
Changing the impeller is required in the spring. (15 minutes)
Change the oil (vacuum extraction) and filter (20 minutes)

The boat manufacturer says to pull the heater hose off the water pump lines and blow it clear with an air compressor.
All of the line water will drain to the bottom of the raw water pump hoses.

All of this drains about 7 gallons of water into the boat.
Drain the bilge. (5 minutes with a shop vac)

The transmission requires an oil change (15-20 minutes) and
Filter replacement (2 minutes).

Total cost:
Fuel Stabilizer - $6
9 quarts/Litres of synthetic oil - $55
Oil filter - $7
Impeller for the spring - $50
5 Quarts of ATF - $20
Transmission Filter - $50

Total cost (all taxes in): $188.00
Total time (even for a newby): 1 1/2 hrs. It might take you some extra time to locate the items and/or read your manual.

Every inboard will be similar. The 5.7l procedures are the same as above. Engines that require fogging will be one more step.

So the real questions should be, "Do you want to or do you have to do it yourself?" or , "What does your shop charge for labour?" If they do it all, then a bill of $350 is reasonable. If they do more (lube hinges/cables/levers/spark-plugs or do extra check) or less, then the charges should vary accordingly.

What about some fuel stabilizer? I think $425 sounds reasonable for what you have listed. One thing I would ask though, is will the boat be turn-key come spring, besides maybe connecting the batteries back up.

Why does nobody fog their EFI motor? Still is a good idea for the rings, is it not?

Delta- still fog ours, still good for it.

I have and haven't. Figure it hasn't ever hurt

Nearly turn key. You still need to install the impeller if you waited to do that step. Depending on the junk you may have pumped in the previous year, if you are feeling lucky, you could run on the old impeller!

Fogging was a big deal on 2-strokes and some older 4-strokes. Some manufacturers DO NOT recommend fogging for their EFI engines. Do what your manual says, especially if you may need it for warranty.

How would they ever tell you fogged? Spray it in the spark plug hole... Teaspoon of oil was an oldtimer trick too. Condensation+rings+cylinder walls not to mention crappy gas, I fog and will continue to do so. It burns off in 2 minutes on startup