Nautique PCM tranny!?!

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  • gscho002
    • May 2014
    • 109

    • baltimore

    • 2010 SANTE 210

    Nautique PCM tranny!?!

    Hi - i have a 2010 SANTE 210 TE. we use it in the summer, maybe 15-20 times a year. wake boarding, surfing, etc. a few hours at a time. we are pretty tame i think. its in the shop and i cannot recall hours, but it cannot be that many.

    so last week, pulling into the dock, i go to reverse it and it catches for a second, then stops giving power. instead i get a whine when i put it into the reverse gear. forward is fine. linkage is fine. got fluid. called shop, and they think some plastic gear inside is probably destroyed and it will be about 3K to pull the tranny, take it apart, fix. unless it is worse.

    i am awaiting final word, but the mechanic said something that really bothers me. he said, basically, that yes this happens all the time because Nautique/PCM used poor material to make the gears or whatever it is that has failed and "did not intend for the reverse to be used at a high speed". all we do is use it to stop by our rider when we circle back. so this does involve a bit of force. but not much. he said that would do it.

    it seems to me that if this is true, then that is crap to make such an amazingly costly machine that will basically be designed to fail in a major way every 5 or 6 years from completely normal use..... i realize that to expect quality in our equipment these days is a fantasy. but seriously? it is a year off warranty if i recall.

    anyone from Nautique or PCM here that would care to comment?

    geoff
  • Quinner
    1,000 Post Club Member
    • Apr 2004
    • 2246

    • Unknown

    • Correct Crafts

    #2
    Is your shop a Nautique dealer?? Not sure what trans you might have but from what I have seen and experienced a properly cared for Velvet Drive should easily run 1000 hrs without a problem.

    Comment

    • gscho002
      • May 2014
      • 109

      • baltimore

      • 2010 SANTE 210

      #3
      imagine if your car needed major service to replace parts inside the transmission after 1000 hours of use. even that would be absurd. i drive 15K/yr at about an avg of 25mph. so that is ..... 600 hours. so major transmission work every <2rs. literally no one would buy the car. and i doubt we have more than 600 or so.

      it is NOT a Nautique dealer. our local Nautique dealer will not service us because we did not buy the boat from him.

      ACTUALLY this is another problem i'd bring up, though when i called Nautique to complain they did not give a crap. the dealer is king.

      Comment

      • DLafont
        • May 2009
        • 340

        • Gatineau Qc

        • 2000 Pro Air Nautique 1990 Ski Nautique

        #4
        If the dealer won't give you the time of day because your didn't buy from them, they're really dense... I'd think they'd want to have you in their shop so that you buy your next boat from them... Just my opinion. As for the assertion that the tranny was poorly built, I'd debate that, my boat is 16 years old and still running strong. A full tranny rebuild on my old boat, cost my buddy about $1000.
        Current : 2000 Pro Air Nautique, Silver&Black accents, pulled by 2012 black Chevy Tahoe
        Previous: 1990 Ski Nautique

        Comment

        • gscho002
          • May 2014
          • 109

          • baltimore

          • 2010 SANTE 210

          #5
          Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. mark it down. both major dealers tell you when you look at boats that if you do not buy from them they will not service your boat. so you'd better buy from them i guess. Bills Marine and Deep Creek Marina. between them they have cornered the market on 5-6 major brands. once i needed a part and went in to get it. they told me they knew my boat because they had noticed when it showed up on the lake - i guess they must creep around the private docks taking down VIN codes - and that they would sell me the part but "only because you bought it used". i guess they did a look up on me. if i had bought it new, they said they would have reported me for bringing it into "their area". they are not shy about this behavior, and the boat companies - at least Nautique and Wakesetter - do not care if you bring it up to them.

          Comment

          • Quinner
            1,000 Post Club Member
            • Apr 2004
            • 2246

            • Unknown

            • Correct Crafts

            #6
            There is no equal comparison between a car and a boat, they are completely different animals, lol
            The average annual hours people use their boat is 50 per year, so you can expect to get about 20 years of service out of a trans, not sure I would be complaining about anything that can last 20 years before it needs some major maintenance.
            Your details are vague but if the shop is a competing brand dealer, ummm I sure wouldn't be surprised if they were bad mouthing their competition. If it were me I would be looking for another opinion on the issue. Call Fantastic Finish Marine in Ohio, they are Marine trans specialists, see what they think.

            Comment

            • Skidave
              Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
              • May 2005
              • 697

              • York, PA

              • 2003 Air 206 Team Sold: 1979 Ski Nautique (Brown!)

              #7
              Chessie marine is your Maryland and southern PA dealer. A bit far of a drive, but solid dealership. I'm about 3 hours away in southern PA if u want a hand trying something yourself. Send me a PM.

              Comment

              • nyryan2001
                1,000 Post Club Member
                • Mar 2013
                • 1993

                • Lake Anna


                #8
                I'd sink my boat in the lake before I let Chessie touch my boat.

                Trainwreck of a dealership.

                they are great at selling boats... Terrible for service.
                2019 G23 450
                2014 G23 550
                2013 G23 450
                2011 Malibu Wakesetter 247
                2007 Yamaha AR210

                Comment

                • Skidave
                  Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
                  • May 2005
                  • 697

                  • York, PA

                  • 2003 Air 206 Team Sold: 1979 Ski Nautique (Brown!)

                  #9
                  I do all my own work and always have. They did my warranty work without issues and I did purchase there. Unfortunately, not a lot of choices around here for Nautique dealers. Nyryan, where are u located (other than guessing NY by your name)?

                  Comment

                  • nyryan2001
                    1,000 Post Club Member
                    • Mar 2013
                    • 1993

                    • Lake Anna


                    #10
                    I'm in northern VA
                    2019 G23 450
                    2014 G23 550
                    2013 G23 450
                    2011 Malibu Wakesetter 247
                    2007 Yamaha AR210

                    Comment

                    • DocPhil
                      Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
                      • Jan 2016
                      • 447

                      • Midwest

                      • 2014 G21; yamaha superjet

                      #11
                      There is just all kinds of nasty going on in this thread. The dealer won't service your boat because you didn't buy a used Nautique from them??? That is just crazy. There has to be more to this story. If not, that is just bad behavior. I have seen dealers get away with this behavior though when they essentially have a market cornered. I feel lucky to have so many good options where I live. Both the MC and Nautique dealers are world class. I'm interested to see how this plays out.

                      To the OP, both the explanation of and the cost seems outlandish. I would do some more homework and call around. Also, what a great offer from SkiDave!!! If I was in need I would take him up on this for sure!!!!

                      Comment

                      • gun-driver
                        • Apr 2011
                        • 132

                        • Pittsburgh Pa

                        • 1985 Ski Nautique 2000 Sport Nautique

                        #12
                        Originally posted by gscho002 View Post
                        Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. mark it down. both major dealers tell you when you look at boats that if you do not buy from them they will not service your boat. so you'd better buy from them i guess. Bills Marine and Deep Creek Marina. between them they have cornered the market on 5-6 major brands. once i needed a part and went in to get it. they told me they knew my boat because they had noticed when it showed up on the lake - i guess they must creep around the private docks taking down VIN codes - and that they would sell me the part but "only because you bought it used". i guess they did a look up on me. if i had bought it new, they said they would have reported me for bringing it into "their area". they are not shy about this behavior, and the boat companies - at least Nautique and Wakesetter - do not care if you bring it up to them.
                        Did you buy it from Bills or Deep Creek Marine?
                        If you bought some where else and then brought it to the lake, being that its the peak of the season I could see them taking care of their customers first but that's no reason to be crappy about it with you.

                        Comment

                        • Skidave
                          Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
                          • May 2005
                          • 697

                          • York, PA

                          • 2003 Air 206 Team Sold: 1979 Ski Nautique (Brown!)

                          #13
                          Thanks DocPhil.

                          I'm always willing to help others where I have some expertise. It usually puts me behind at work! Plus, around here, inboards and v-drives are the 1%.

                          Comment

                          • gscho002
                            • May 2014
                            • 109

                            • baltimore

                            • 2010 SANTE 210

                            #14
                            thanks everyone - this is the original poster. i appreciate the offers to help! but i am neither handy nor equipped to trailer the boat anywhere. so it is where it is. and the guys working on it are great, so that is not a problem. it looks like we need a new transmission, at least that is what the very nice non-local dealer that sold us the boat when we bought it (used). they say they used to fix transmissions with this problem, but it costs nearly as much and often it just comes back in a year, since once something is messed up, i guess other things tend to be not so great. amazingly our local dealer wants 30% more for a new PCM trans than the remote dealer we bought the boat from. so not only do they not have time to service us, since we are not "their customer", but they also seem to have very high costs managing their parts dept to put it kindly. looks like we will lose nearly a month of the season, which is pretty short to begin with. i guess this is why people have 2 boats?!?

                            Comment

                            • gscho002
                              • May 2014
                              • 109

                              • baltimore

                              • 2010 SANTE 210

                              #15
                              so original poster here again - out of curiosity how long does it take a good shop to replace this transmission? how many hours is this job rated or whatever? anyone have any idea?

                              Comment

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