Reputable Nautique Mechanic in Austin?

[cdrymalla]

I have an potential leak in my tranmission on an 00 Air Nautique DD that I need to have checked out.

Does anyone have a good tech in Ausitn they would reccomend? Right now I am leaning to Sail & Ski b/c they are the only dealer I know of. I think some other independents around here work on them but if this turns into a rebuild or something big I want to make sure the place has the kow how to do it. At the same time, it would be nice to avoid some of the price inflaton at the dealer.

As for the problem, I have noticed a couple of drops of transmission fluid coming out of the plug during storage, but I don't see a build up of fluid in the bilge. I wiped the bottom of the tranny and got some red tranny fluid, but not a ton. My level looks to be on the low side, so I think I may have a slow leak. I have not noticed the tranny slipping. Any ideas on what is could be is appreciated.

Thanks.

[DanielC]

RE: Reputable Nautique Mechanic in Austin?

I would get a wrench, and see if any of bolts you can find on the transmission are loose.

[steve-o]

RE: Reputable Nautique Mechanic in Austin?

I got service records from sail and ski from the previous owner of my boat and he spent a fortune there on basic things like oil changes. As an example in 12-08 he had the boat winterized. They did winterization, fuel filter, oil filter, oil change, and fluids (trans v-drive). No impeller. His total was $890. $682 in labor. I would try and exhaust any possibility of simple leaks at my house. Here's a labor breakdown. 2 hours on EACH of the fluid changes.

Labor Code Job Description Bill Type Extension
W5 WIB WINTERIZE INBOARD E 157.50
FS1 FSSBV OIL & FILTER CHANGE E 52.50
FS6 FSSBV RUN & SET TIMING, CHECK FUEL, COOLING & EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR LEAKS. E 52.50
FS7 FSSBV TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGE E 105.00
FS14 FSSBV V-DRIVE FLUID CHANGE E 105.00
FS9 FSSBV R&R FUEL FILTER E 105.00
FS16 FSSBV CHECK ENGINE ALIGNMENT & ADJUST AS E 52.50
M 4 R&R HORN-- ALL OK E 52.50

[cdrymalla]

Re: RE: Reputable Nautique Mechanic in Austin?

I got service records from sail and ski from the previous owner of my boat and he spent a fortune there on basic things like oil changes. As an example in 12-08 he had the boat winterized. They did winterization, fuel filter, oil filter, oil change, and fluids (trans v-drive). No impeller. His total was $890. $682 in labor. I would try and exhaust any possibility of simple leaks at my house. Here's a labor breakdown. 2 hours on EACH of the fluid changes.

Labor Code Job Description Bill Type Extension
W5 WIB WINTERIZE INBOARD E 157.50
FS1 FSSBV OIL & FILTER CHANGE E 52.50
FS6 FSSBV RUN & SET TIMING, CHECK FUEL, COOLING & EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR LEAKS. E 52.50
FS7 FSSBV TRANSMISSION OIL CHANGE E 105.00
FS14 FSSBV V-DRIVE FLUID CHANGE E 105.00
FS9 FSSBV R&R FUEL FILTER E 105.00
FS16 FSSBV CHECK ENGINE ALIGNMENT & ADJUST AS E 52.50
M 4 R&R HORN-- ALL OK E 52.50

Yeah, that is what I am afraid of, they quoted me 105/hr. I know the right thing to do it take it in to get everything checked, but I hesitate to take it to a dealer due to cost, and I hesitate to take it to an independent in case it ends up being a major overhaul that needs more expertise.

This is my first inboard so now I am paraniod about eveything looking back to the past weeknd trying to determine if maybe it was slipping??? I could hear the engine laboring off-and on over rollers with a rider in tow and wieghted down, which I dicounted to normal porposing of the boat coming on and off plane over the rollers, but I haven't had the boat long enough (3 weeks) to say what is normal...The other thing I noticed was a decrease in throttle at about 10mph when just pulling a knee boarder out...I dismissed it to not holding down the throttle stiff enough while I tried to pull someone up slowly on a kneeboard...it was more like letting off the gas where rpm's dropped as opposed to a slipping where the RPMs reved up. I didn't notice it with faster throttle with a wakeboarder. Now I am wondering, was the engine slipping at first and then catching to cause the decrease in RPM's but only thing is the boat seemd to have good hole shot otherwise.

AGGGHHH, if I knew for sure it was slipping I would take it in for fear of damage done or about to be done, but if it is not, I would like to fill it up with fluid and check for simple leaks.
Or if I knew I wasn't going to get price gouged, I would take it in for a check up!

[AirTool]

Re: RE: Reputable Nautique Mechanic in Austin?

AGGGHHH, if I knew for sure it was slipping I would take it in for fear of damage done or about to be done, but if it is not, I would like to fill it up with fluid and check for simple leaks.
Or if I knew I wasn't going to get price gouged, I would take it in for a check up!

At this point, your tranny is either good or bad. Either way it is what it is. Start by figuring out where the leak is. I would expect it to leak even when not in use. Check the bolts like mentioned above.

Then make a contraption like shown in the picture and use one of the many vacuum pump schemes discussed here to suck all the fluid out. Put two quarts of fluid back in and double check the level. Then go from there.

A brand new tranny is about 1700 plus labor. A rebuild is less. I think the parts are only about 200 if you want to do it yourself. Gaskets might be less.

PS Everyone - I changed my tranny fluid yesterday and WOW ! it did take me over two hours. The first two hours were spent dragging my son around on various toys to get the fluid hot, then ten minutes to suck the hot fluid out. Cost - 6 dollars. Consider the price of fuel as sunk...I was going to drag him around fluid change or not.

[cdrymalla]

Thanks for the advice! I will poke around some more and try to figure out where the leak may be.

One general question I forgot to ask/mention. After the last outing, the fluid level cold with the dip-stick all the way in (o-rings fully inserted) was just below the lowest mark (i.e., in the middle of the lower of the three flat spots). My concern is that, even if I have not really noticed slipping, running it that low may have already caused some damage. How concenerned should I be about it running at that level, possibly for a couple of hours? In other words, are these things built to run on low levels (although not optimum) so I am just paranoid, but it should be ok; OR if it was run at that level I should be pretty concerned about having already done some damage?

My other concern is if it is damaged and I keep using it, am I passing the rebuild option and pushing it into a replacement?

Sorry about playing the guessing games, I am just trying to get as knowledgable as I can before potentially dumping 1-3k into a boat I have had for about three weeks!

[2gofaster]

If it's leaking, it's probably the front seal. On a direct drive nautique, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to pull the trans with nothing more than common hand tools. Just about any marine shop can replace the seal for less than an hour of labor plus the part. Replacing the trans takes less time than taking it out. As easy as the trans is to R&R, I wouldn't let a shop do that part. Had to replace a trans earlier this year on an 01 196 when it started slipping under load. The cost for the dealer to remove the trans, rebuild it, and reinstall it was going to be $1200. The owner bought a new trans from Discount Inboard Marine for $1573 shipped and we replaced it in under 4 hours.

[dizzyj]

go talk to scott vogas at hurst harbor marina. He used to run boat towns service department (reputed as the best in austin) and recently switched. He can do all warranty work for pcm and indmar

[2gofaster]

There you go! I have personally had issues with warranty and service with Sail and Ski before. That was 13 years ago and I still have a bad taste in my mouth over it.

[cdrymalla]

Thanks for the help. I seemed to have confirmed a leak , so this morning I took it into Scott Vogas at Hurst Harbor. He seems like a really good guy to work with. I will try to give an update as I find out more about the diagnosis. Thanks again for the recomendation.

[AirTool]

....should be pretty concerned about having already done some damage?

My other concern is if it is damaged and I keep using it, am I passing the rebuild option and pushing it into a replacement?

My point earlier is what is done is done. I don't think wrecking it further will increase the cost of an overhaul. I know in autos that the planetary and gears can be ruined when an worn or old transmission is destroyed. But I don't think that is the case here. Get your fluid problem fixed and enjoy then *&#@ thing for a while and see what happens.

The worst case is to replace at a parts cost of $1579 plus the four hours labor. A "clean" overhaul would be less...but I'm not sure I'd invest in that as was said earlier. I certainly wouldn't pay anyone to rebuild it. I'd do it myself for fun or swap out a new one.

Keep the questions and progress coming....that is one of the BIG reasons this site works.

[cdrymalla]

Air Tool, thanks for the help. After confirming the leak was definately there and the fluid level was dropping, I thought it best to get it in for peace of mind. I am decently mechanically inclined, but have not done much on inboards, so that being said I was a little hesitant to start ripping into it myself. Talking with the mechanic, he seemed to beleive the transmission should be ok even at the lower fluid level it was run with. He is going to diagnose the leak and we will take it from there.

[dizzyj]

Thanks for the help. I seemed to have confirmed a leak , so this morning I took it into Scott Vogas at Hurst Harbor. He seems like a really good guy to work with. I will try to give an update as I find out more about the diagnosis. Thanks again for the recomendation.

glad it worked out. Scott is a great guy and will get you fixed up.

[SANCasey]

Sail & Ski could not get the pinstripping to work on my boat... I would be nervous to allow them to touch anything else. There customer service is marginal at best. It seems their business is run more like a large corporate company than a business that is passionate about what they sell. Maybe I am just a little slanted after using Buxton's for the last several years.

Good to know about Hurst Harbor. Let us know how it all turns out.

[2gofaster]

I agree, Casey. Buxton is awesome. SNS is an average dealer at best.