Alpha 1/Merc 5.0l query

jhr

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Jolly boating weather today, except we couldn't.

Brief story: The boat came out of the water at the end of October, with everything working fine, and the engine was serviced and winterised by the Yard. They also serviced the leg, at my request, and changed the impeller and (I thought) the gearbox oil. A few weeks ago, I noticed that there was no oil in the gearbox reservoir in the engine bay and I mentioned this to the Yard, asking them to make sure that the oil in the leg had been done and was at the correct level before we relaunched, as there was nothing in the reservoir.

The boat went back in the water 10 days ago and, although I'd asked them not to as I wanted to take her up myself, the yard took the boat up to her moorings. Today we went down, all agog, to whizz over to Yarmouth for lunch. When I was ready to start up, I put on the engine blower, before checking the fluid levels, but nothing happened. Subsequent checking of all the other electrics revealed that several things weren't working - I am neither a mechanic nor an electrician, so I have no idea why. The yard had put in a new battery when they recommissioned her, but I don't see how that could have had any effect on the electrics. Swearing and cursing, I lifted the engine hatch, to see if there was anything visibly wrong, only to see that the gearbox oil reservoir was still empty.

At this point I gave up, and retreated to the Pub, before driving back home with the hump. Could anybody answer the following questions for me:

- As part of recommissioning the boat - having spent quite a lot of money with the yard over the winter - would it be reasonable to expect them to check the electrics and run up the engine (I'm guessing they didn't, because the lack of oil in the reservoir would have set the engine alarm off, and presumably they would have noticed that the blower wasn't working.)

- Am I missing something about the gearbox oil level? I know that filling Merc outdrives with oil is a job that has to be done properly, and I also know that there should be oil in the reservoir - but there ain't. Does the engine need to be run for it to fill up? At the moment I have no idea whether or not there is any oil in the leg and I don't want to find out that it's empty by seizing it up.

- Am I missing something else blindingly obvious? I am a mild mannered man, but I am intending to ring up the yard on Monday and make my feelings known fairly unequivocally. They are not a bunch of cowboys - though they often need chasing - and I am very p*ssed off with them. If I am missing something, I'd rather know before ringing them up and making a complete arse of myself.

Any thoughts?
 

mercman

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Common problem on mercruisers.After servive the drive levels always drops. And can even still drop after topping up and a few hours use its just where the oil gets ariated and finds a level.

Did they connect all the wires back on the battery, did any thing power up on dash...could be battery flat, was it maybe slightly in gear that could cause a no power situation. Was the kill switch on... dash board fuse, engine starter fuse....????
 

BrendanS

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but reservoir completely empty? It might need topping up, yes, almost a given, as I already posted, but I've never seen a reservoir actually empty?
 

MedDreamer

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Have you got a fridge on board?. The wondful engineers (I use the term lightly) I used in Mallorca had a habit of not turning off the fridge when the boat was disconnected from the marina power supply - It flattens the battery in no time at all.

I would be VERY wary if the leg fluid reservoir is empty, ask the engineers to confirm the work they did on the leg before you even think of running it. If it isn't clear on the invoice then I would even go as far as to ask them to put in writing what they have done (I only communicate with boat engineers by e-mail these days) - Then if it goes pop you know who is going to pick up the bill.
The only alternative I think is to get the boat lifted and the fluid checked - but at whose expense?
 

Freebee

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Well it seems you dont know what the yard did - have you got the paper work-what did they charge you for -most mechanics produce an itemised bill to justify their invoice-is gear box oil mentioned on there?

They put a new battery on so my guess is they have forgotten to connect some smaller cables and that these will be dangling somewhere.
 

Freebee

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I don't disagree with that point of view, but you gotta start somewhere, if you are gonna claim they have not done the work best look and see if they said they did.
 

mercman

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We have had episodes were the owner has filled the bottle from empty to full twice in a matter of weeks. It can happen. Other than that it could be empty yes. Or it could be a UJ seal leaking or a prop shaft. Or sometimes on an Alpha servie the small o-ring that goes between the upper and lower casing gets forgotten and a leak can occur that way....if in doubt pull her out.
 

jhr

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Thanks everyone; battery is brand new and seems fine. Some stuff (domestics, bilge pump -but not blower - nav lights) is working. No fridge - or any other heavy draining luxuries. Main switch was off and I turned it on.

I'm mostly worried about the leg, having read Martyn's previous horror story. Yes, I have all the ticked bits of paper but, as several have said, I now have a confidence worry and I'm going to have to talk to the yard and, ideally, the mechanic. To repeat, the reservoir is completely empty, as it was after they'd serviced the leg; which was when I asked them to make sure it was topped up. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Hey ho! The joys of boating...........
 

Col

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You seem to have your doubts. I would make absolutely sure leg is fully oiled, as it won't last long if incorrectly filled. Check it yourself if you're not sure.
 
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