Old Man Learning

NWBS definitely did take care of me! Huge shout out to them. Crowley's estimate would have been between $3500-$4000 for repairs I didn't need! They had the belt off already, probably never really touched the shaft housing. Wasn't corroded. Bigs, you were right all along, just needed to adjust my nuts so my shaft would quit drippin'. @$99/hr, Ryan's the best with the nuts and shaft, worth every penny. Installed the dual batts myself. In all seriousness, the belt problems are what actually brought me to the shop. Had it been just the leak, I would likely have bought the wrenches and attempted the adjustment myself. Crowley tried to tell me the belt was over tightened and that the alternator bearings were shot along with both pulleys, the tensioner and the water pump. Ryan fixed the impeller and everything else was FINE, including the belt. Didn't even try to sell me a belt I didn't need, let alone all the other stuff. Planned on spending a little under a grand at NWBS, went home with my boat running great and no leaks for $359. If you're within 2 or 3 hrs of Milwaukie, OR and need work on your tourney boat, NWBS has got to be on your short list. Got me back on the water for the 4th and been running great ever since. Haven't even turned the bilge pump on once and not a peep from the belt.

Kyle, Dave called me back from my website contact and talked me through the whole thing. He was very informative and helpful. Agreed that I should go ahead and keep my appt at NWBS, that they do seem to know what they're talking about, though he thinks the estimate and the part are a bit cheaper than he would do it for. Super friendly, super smart, will definitely keep Dave in the "rolodex" for future use and / or recommendations. Thanks again for the tip.

For the rest of you, It appears as though I will now be treating my shaft to some new nuts and will no longer have a drip. Pretty sure I learned about that in 6th grade, always figured that video was for "some other kid".

Gave the Cliff Notes version to Dave via the contact link on the Gonyea's website. Thanks for the tip Kyle. Will post updates as they happen.

Thanks Kyle, I do have an appt with NWBS on Thurs. I still think they're good guys and want to give them the chance to fix it. Admittedly I WAS a pressure buyer. This all started as a private party sale on craigslist, seller and I never hooked up and he traded it in at NWBS. I chased it down there and told them not to fix anything that Pat mentioned (Like I said earlier, I was thinking we were talking about cosmetic and optional issues like the upholstery and a perfect pass). So maybe I was in too much of a rush and maybe Pat is justified in defending his stance. If something goes awry, It's good to know about someone 'nearby' that knows inboard tourney boats, I'll keep Gonyea's name and maybe reach out before Thursday just to clarify some of the conflicting info I still have. ie-Fineline confirms the motor doesn't need to be pulled, but it's a 4 hour job and they don't recommend switching to a dripless shaft packing kit because they're not sure how to attach the cooling hose that doesn't currently exist. NWBS seemed pretty confident that this switch is made all the time and he DID mention adding the hoseline. Would be good to get more input from someone in the know.

Thanks daz, there seems to be no "housing". Your pic is of the strut, and what I believe they are talking about is the shaft packing where it exits the hull. In touch with Centurion to clarify as well. Either way, the consensus seems to be that the job does NOT require R&R the engine and can be done in 1.5 hrs labor. The belt and pulleys are their own monster and do look like it will cost around another $500 to fix replace those as necessary.

Update: Looking for more input. The leak, according to Crowley Marine in Aberdeen, WA, is caused by a corroded Drive Shaft Housing that wasn't grounded properly and therefor acted like a zinc plate. Dennis (Crowley) says it needs to be replaced and to do so requires pulling the engine which requires......24 HOURS OF LABOR. When I woke up and picked myself and the phone off the floor I also found out that the serpentine belt squeal is not caused by loose belt, but in fact was overtightened and has caused damage to the Alternator bearing, and all tensioner / pulleys requiring their replacement. All in all somewhere between $3500-$4000 in parts and labor. Called the dealer I bought it from, Northwest Boat Sports in Milwaukie, OR. Spoke with Pat, asked if they did an inspection after taking the boat in on trade prior to selling it to me. Pat explained that he didn't think I wanted the inspection because it cost too much. In actuality, the inspection was never mentioned. What I told him to skip was wet sanding, upholstery repair and installing a perfect pass. All things I could DIY later. At any rate, feeling a little bit "took" on the deal, but the good news is Pat tells me Crowley is crazy, shaft seal R&R with a no drip shaft packing kit is a $250 part and 1.5 hrs to R&R, no need to pull motor. IF the belt / pulley problems are what Crowley says they are, then entire replacement of alternator, pulleys, tensioner and belt is about $400-$500 parts and labor. All said and done for under $1k. Bigs or kyle, or anyone else for that matter have any input or thoughts that could direct me to what I can believe? PS-Caveat, IF I take it back to NW Boat Sports, it means a 5 hour round trip vs taking it to another mechanic I trust in Olympia (2 hr round trip), Larry at Sound Marine. He made no promises over the phone about time and or whether or not he'd have to pull the motor. He needs to see it first. So to refresh, even though it says in my profile, it's a '99 Elite V with a 350 Merc.

Glad I could provide the entertainment my first week. It's all downhill from here.

I'm sorry, are we still talking about boat maintenance?

Bigs, read your old thread. Huge help! Hope that's all I need, but I know I've got support if I need to reach deeper to lube the shaft. I'll pick up a couple of those wrenches and give it a shot. Any suggestions for doing this on the trailer? Like I said, I reversed the problem by filling the bilge with a few gallons to find the leaks. My drip wasn't quite a stream, but it's pretty steady from both the shaft and the intake. Should I be able to count the drips from the underside at the same rate? ie-if I see it dripping on the floor once every 3 seconds I should be happy? A lot easier to work on it in my shop at home instead of at the lake property where I don't have any workspace or tools handy. If not, where do I look for the drips from the inside?

Duh, just figured out I'm calling some of you by your member status instead of your usernames. I'll catch on...eventually.

PS-Don't have a clue if my boat is actually an Elite V "C4". It's the only Elite V on the list to pick from. Guessing that's the newer version of my boat?

Haha! You guys are barrel of monkeys. Thanks for the welcome and the info. Doubt I'd be boating and joining a forum if I couldn't hack the ball bustin'. My shaft and nuts sound like they will be well attended to. I tried to like a few of the comments, but apparently I only get one "like" a day. Bigs, I will check that thread, thank you. Whisperer, I'll try the conservative route first, thanks! Weekender, I'll keep you in mind, nice to have someone with the same stuff to bounce things off of, let alone a whole group. I like this group a lot. I'm a firefighter / paramedic and quickly cancelled memberships to any forums involved with fire or EMS, almost all of them boil down to pissing matches over intellect and ego. Thanks everyone!

That's what I was figuring. The setup looked nicely done, professional. Was trying to figure out if there was a reason or if maybe the dual purpose vents were enough to allow fresh air intake as well as exhaust the engine compartment fumes. Thinking I'll likely just leave one of the hoses open to allow fresh air intake and attach the Attwood Turbo 3000 to exhaust out the other hose. That should create a small vacuum enough to draw some fresh air from the open hose on the other side. And Rope Thrower, the set up for your direct drive sounds very similar to our v drive. We do have the forced air intakes below the windshield that "exhaust" to the bilge area just in front of the transmission on the v drive. Assuming that's enough air in it's design to ventilate while under power. Thanks for lettin' me jump this thread and for the info everyone!

Seems like this would be a repetitive thread, but I couldn't find it anywhere, sorry if it's old news. Just purchased my '99 Elite V. For a 16 y/o boat, it's truly in great shape, just some minor maintainence issues. I've replied already to a thread regarding the blower motor I need to replace, so for the time being I'll wait for further replies to that. As for this thread, I'm taking on water while we boat. Running the bilge on a very regular basis and still draining a fair amount of water when I pull the plug after it's on the trailer. Couldn't think of an easier way to find the leak so I filled the bilge with a hose while it's trailered to find the leak in reverse. Almost immediately found steady drips coming out around the drive shaft and around the fresh water intake. I'm guessing the fresh water intake is a simple fix of removing the intake valve (slightly larger than a golf ball black plastic housing on the hull) and replacing a gasket? The drive shaft is likely a bigger issue? I've seen a couple vids out explaining how to lube the drive shaft that "might" fix the leak. Guessing it's harder than that.