Trustworthy outboard motor repair?

[Frank]

Asking for a friend. He has a large Mercruiser that he was told has a bent prop shaft. He would need this checked and replaced and he wants to replace the aluminium prop with stainless while he is at it. A shop tore it apart then something happened and he is left with the unit and all its parts in a box. I could do it, but just don't have the time and no experience with these. I'd prefer to refer him to a good shop. He lives near Lake Ray Hubbard so looking for something preferably more East than say up toward Louisville unless it is someone really highly recommended.

[TX_92_Notch]

I've heard good things from more than one person about Rockwall Marine (off 276 maybe a mile east of 205).

[svauto-erotic855]

If you can rebuild a Holley you can rebuild an outboard engine. You need a pair of V blocks and a dial indicator to check the shaft for being bent. Give it a shot yourself and save a pile of money. Just by a prop off of Ebay if you know the spec you need or try James Propeller in Dallas.

[Captain Crawfish]

I would send the outdrive to a reman shop and have them send me a complete unit rebuilt with warranty. Bolt it on and be done with it. The prop can be changed in 20 minutes

[Twisted]

I wouldnt recommend RWM, terribly slow and $$$. Hands down the best east of town is Service Marine in Emory.

[mardyn]

It would be pretty unusual to bend the prop shaft with an aluminum prop... as the prop will fold up long before the shaft would bend. (It's possible to bend with and aluminum prop, just unlikely as you would really have to have a large solid impact) Check the prop shaft on V blocks with a dial indicator. More than .006" movement is out of spec and could be replaced, although that not really terrible. Once you get past .020"+ it becomes a concern.

We replaced hundreds of 'em at my marine dealership over the years...

If it gets down to it, check out the SEI replacement lower units, it's an aftermarket unit but much less expensive than the OEM and identical in appearance and function with a great warranty to back 'em up...

Mercbuff on here still does a limited amount of boat work at his home shop... PM him to see if he's interested.

Good Luck
mardyn

[Frank]

It would be pretty unusual to bend the prop shaft with an aluminum prop... as the prop will fold up long before the shaft would bend. (It's possible to bend with and aluminum prop, just unlikely as you would really have to have a large solid impact) Check the prop shaft on V blocks with a dial indicator. More than .006" movement is out of spec and could be replaced, although that not really terrible. Once you get past .020"+ it becomes a concern.

We replaced hundreds of 'em at my marine dealership over the years...

If it gets down to it, check out the SEI replacement lower units, it's an aftermarket unit but much less expensive than the OEM and identical in appearance and function with a great warranty to back 'em up...

Mercbuff on here still does a limited amount of boat work at his home shop... PM him to see if he's interested.

Good Luck
mardyn

As I understand, the shop which for now remains nameless, started trying to charge him for extra work he did not authorize and they got pissy when he called them out on it. They claimed the shaft was bent, so it might not be given they seemed shady with other things. I will pass this along to him. Thanks!

[krazy kris]

Hit up boatwhisperer on the texasfishingforum.com he lives over in Hurst and does awesome work at a very affordable rate and he is very honest. I'll see if I can find his number.