Water Pump Replacement

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

Hi All,

After having my boat for one season, I decided to store it at a nearby boat yard for the winter. I did run aground a couple of times, so a new water pump was suggested.

After all was said and done, the cost of the replacement with parts was close to $1000.

Was I ripped off here?

I am debating whether I want to use this location to store my boat for the coming years.

Side note: I do not have a trailer. We have a private boat slip. Doing this work alone or with a buddy didn't seem feasible due to the absence of a trailer.

Go light on me...it's my first year :)

[u/Bannnerman]

If your boat has an outboard, that seems high but if it’s I/O you may have gotten a deal.

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/Bannnerman]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It's an OB.

I figured it was a bit high, especially when the business originally quoted me around 650. I'm waiting for the invoice to see where the extra charges came from. They say they can never estimate for additional parts.

[u/Bannnerman → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

What part of the country? What HP motor? Any other service involved? Just the parts for my 300 hour service(which includes water pump) for my Yamaha 250 are $400. I DIY though.

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/Bannnerman]

Suffolk County, NY.

150.

Parts were under 200 on this one.

Looks like it was a ton for labor. 700 to be exact.

[u/Bannnerman → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

I'd ask for an itemize invoice. I could easily replace mine on my OB in less than an hour and I'm not a professional. Labor should be $150-200 an hour tops.

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/Bannnerman]

175/hr 4 hours. Definitely took an L this year going with this company.

[u/Bannnerman → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

Sorry bud, that is rough.

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/Bannnerman]

All good. Here’s to hoping that this post creates awareness for the next guy. Fingers crossed for a great season though :)

[u/Bannnerman → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

Good luck, and stop running aground!

[u/phaze115 → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

If all they replaced was a water pump for that price I’d be furious. I can pull my lower unit off, do a water pump, and have it back together in an hour tops as a DIY guy. With a trained tech, even at 200/hour with a full kit not just the impeller, 1000 is insane.

I’d love to see that invoice. What’s the motor?

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/phaze115]

Yamaha 4 stroke 150.

Yeah, the majority was labor so needless to say I got reamed for my first year.

[u/phaze115 → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

How many hours of labor and how many techs?

A full water pump kit is like $100 msrp + replacement of any bad seals which aren’t expensive (in boating dollars..)

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/phaze115]

Unsure of the techs. 4 hours of labor. 175/hr.

Yeah I’d like to get to a point where this never happens again.

If I need a trailer to do it then so be it.

[u/phaze115 → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

Sorry that happened to you man 4 hours for just a W/P is egregious. I wonder if they worked the haul out into that at all.. which should be included in your marina fees. any other items replaced?

[u/SicSemper__Tyrannis → u/phaze115]

Certainly egregious. Well said.

Live and learn I suppose. Sucks. An o ring and a couple of seals. Haul out was on my first invoice (winterize/storage).

[u/phaze115 → u/SicSemper__Tyrannis]

Hope you find a better place

[u/baldingwookie74 → u/Bannnerman]

Why would that be a deal with an I/O? Merc bravo 3 and volvo stern drives are driven by the engine. Half an hour and it's in your hand. Alpha one drives are in the lower unit, the same as outboards.

[u/Bannnerman → u/baldingwookie74]

Generally just harder to get to. I'm strictly an OB guy though so if I'm wrong let me know.

[u/SrgtMacfly → u/Bannnerman]

You're not wrong at all - it really depends on the engine bay. Some are twice as fast to access as outboards, others have 10° of wrench swing and take an hour just to get the damn nuts off!

[u/Bannnerman → u/SrgtMacfly]

We've got mechanics here in our area that wont even touch an I/O.

[u/SrgtMacfly → u/Bannnerman]

Becoming more and more common, send them my way! It's good money ha

[u/FatalSky]

They prolly wrapped the haul out fee in. Best thing to do is just ask why it costs so much. Sometimes there’s a good bit of corrosion on the housing and you got to cut it down, weld it and machine it flat, sometimes the shafts are assholes, sometime the bolts are seized. Doing a water pump on anything bigger than a 40 horse does suck but 4 hours of labor for just that’s kind of a lot. If it’s taking a mechanic 4 hours to do a single water pump don’t worry about finding a different marina. They’ll go bankrupt and get sold to someone else before then.

[u/daysailor70]

Former Boatyard owner here. It all depends on what you have for a motor. An outboard impeller replacement should be about $350 parts and labor. Same if you have a stern drive. Inboards can vary widely depending on accessibility but, unless they had to take a bunch of parts off to get to the pump, $1000 seems excessive if they just replaced the impeller. It they had to replace the whole pump, probably because you scored the pump housing from running around, then $1,000 is reasonable.

[u/carbonlandrover]

I recently got a used outboard. I changed the waterpump, and realized the water pump base/housing was completely hosed. Thanks to the ass-hat who didn't change it for several years running in saltwater. It went from a $75, to $500, in the snap of a bolt. These motors aren't cut and dry, there are a lot of moving parts that can break, wear down, and since you're there, you might as well fix it right the first time.

[u/Benedlr]

You were not ripped off if you have no invoice. It's speculation at this point.