What do you expect from your engineer

Seastoke

Seastoke

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Well we had engines done filters came with boat .anodes changed .but we had no receipt no mention of stern glands ,or telling me a needed spare filters so should i be telling him what or is he letting me down as i am new to a big mobo on shafts a nice comprehensive list would be great or advice ,and did he let me down.r:)
 
Wel explained i was new and wanted help basicly ,but after reading blogs on here i am not convinced ,but it could be me ?
 
I have found that you are best talking to others in your marina, and normally you will find out who they have used and who they recommend. You should then receive reliable and good value maintenance. You will also find VolvoPaul on this site extremely helpful.
 
seastoke said:
Well we had engines done filters came with boat .anodes changed .but we had no receipt no mention of stern glands ,or telling me a needed spare filters so should i be telling him what or is he letting me down as i am new to a big mobo on shafts a nice comprehensive list would be great or advice ,and did he let me down.r:)
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YOU should know what spares YOU req & know how to use / install them
 
You can expect exactly what you are willing to pay for. No good expecting a comprehensive list if all you expect to pay for is the time for an oil and filter change.

Any engineer will expect comprehensive instructions as to what work you want done. However a competent engineer will usually cast his eye around as he is doing the work asked for and give you an advisory on any visually obvious faults he has seen.

Accurate information and effective communication are the order of the day. Just waving your hand in the direction of the engine bay is not enough, he will have been in a few instances where he has been asked "to have look" carried out substantial repairs and then have the customer refuse to pay on the grounds that he did not ask for the work to be done.

I stopped doing jobs in my spare time very quickly when I was younger for exactly this scenario.
 
rafiki_ said:
I have found that you are best talking to others in your marina, and normally you will find out who they have used and who they recommend. You should then receive reliable and good value maintenance. You will also find VolvoPaul on this site extremely helpful.
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From memory Paul I have already contributed to this guy in a previous post, sounds to me that this engineer has done little in the way of helping his customer.

I was on the Thames last week at the Upper Thames Yacht Club, what a fantastic couple of owners I met, they really looked after me with teas and coffees and somewhere warm to eat my lunch in the club house.

One of the owners asked me to go through the procedure of service with him on his Kad43s in a sealine F36, the boat had according to him a service not long back, to find both main drive belts nearly shredded right through we both questioned what kind of service it had before. Back to the reason for this reply , while I was servicing the engines I explained to him what I was doing, what tools where required and how to change fuel filters and bleed the system after. He is going tidal next year and that's usually when river based boats get problems so he want to be safe. I know most engineers want to get in and out on most jobs, but the extra time taken on the service was well worth it for him, he now has some confidence in his ability to change a belt and renew his fuel filters along with cleaning out his water inlet filters. He had a sterndrive boat previously so was not aware of the inlet filters( which were 99% blocked) . He had a smile on his face when I left which gave me one too.

To the OP I suggest you ask what you want from your engineer and you will be happy.
 
VOLVO

I totally agree and expect to pay, and i now know i need to carry spares, it was just he left a fair bit of oil in the bilge which i thought was not very good and as i said no advice to a novice in a shaft drive diesel boat so could anyone give a sort of list you would want looking at ie steering and do you get a comprehensive written invoice so to prove to insurers it is well maintained .thanks for any help .ps sorry about dictation i am a bin man with a love of boats
 
seastoke said:
I totally agree and expect to pay, and i now know i need to carry spares, it was just he left a fair bit of oil in the bilge which i thought was not very good and as i said no advice to a novice in a shaft drive diesel boat so could anyone give a sort of list you would want looking at ie steering and do you get a comprehensive written invoice so to prove to insurers it is well maintained .thanks for any help .ps sorry about dictation i am a bin man with a love of boats
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Again, a bit of time with VolvoPaul will be useful. If going coastal, I would also invest in Seastart membership (a bit like the AA for the sea).

The parts you should carry include for a starter for 10
Alternator and power steering drive belts
Fuel and oil filters, plus a can of oil and can of fuel for priming the filters
A range of fuses and bulbs
Duck tape and electrical tape
A chocolate block (electrical connector block for emerge connections)

Plus appropriate tools.

I'm sure others might add/delete as necessary, but my list covers most of the things I feel competent to tackle. I am not a technician, but a professional engineer, so understand mostly how things work, but not always the best way to fix on a boat. My field is automotive, sorry.
 
seastoke said:
Well we had engines done filters came with boat .anodes changed .but we had no receipt no mention of stern glands ,or telling me a needed spare filters so should i be telling him what or is he letting me down as i am new to a big mobo on shafts a nice comprehensive list would be great or advice ,and did he let me down.r:)
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I think that if you employ someone to change the oil and filters on your engines, you can't really expect him to give you tuition on all the points of boat maintenance. It is really up to yourself to find out about these things, either by asking around, reading books, or doing courses, or even, (perish the thought), posting questions on here. Put yourself in the position of the engineer. He doesn't know the level of your knowledge.
 
When i met him i told him it was new boat to me and i was a novice maybe communication could have been better but i was hoping he guided me ,i did not ask for quotes just get on with it ,but the question do i try him again or look else where ,but the oil in the bilge which could have got in my bilge pumps and no receipt for work done .any clues ps for me a n engineer and boat owner have to have mutual trust totally different with taking the merc to a garage for a service .or fiat in my case
 
You should have been present and asked questions, he may have stood it for about five minutes then walked off the job altogether. Get some spanners and spares

store in a nice dry place, learn what they do just in case.
 
Sounds to me like you paid an engineer to do a job (which they did), however, you expected some sort of spoon-feeding tutorials?

If you want tutorials / to learn, then I highly recommend signing up for a course. (or pay your engineer specifically to offer a tutorial)

I have this problem in my line of work. I quote a price to get the issue fixed, then the client wants to stand beside me asking me questions every 5 seconds (or worse, asking me to explain every single thing I do). Recently, i've had to become more stern with regards to this. If someone starts interfering with me carrying out my duty, I tell them that i'm happy to go through everything with them no problem, but the price will change as it will now take me X longer to do the job.

I have no issues with peoples curiosity, it's natural. But I am there to fix a problem, not teach someone.
 
seastoke said:
no receipt for work done .any clues ps for me a n engineer and boat owner have to have mutual trust totally different with taking the merc to a garage for a service .or fiat in my case
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Regardless of any miscommunication during commissioning the job, the the very least you should have is a detailed invoice listing all work done and any defects noticed during works listed. If you wanted a bit of advice from the mechanic it is really up to you to make that clear, mechanics and technicians are not mind readers, as for the oil in the bilge if the mechanic spilled it then it certainly should have been cleared, if it was already present then only if asked to do so though some would clear it anyway. Engine manufacturers have a service schedule which you can get for your engines and ask for it to be followed next time.
 
seastoke said:
he left a fair bit of oil in the bilge which i thought was not very good
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Just read this post, so to add to my above comment...
I agree, this isin't good. Leaving oil in the bilge is, in my eyes, lazy and a bit ignorant (esp. if you've had a spotless bay previously). I do a few favours at our club (which i'll be stopping this year as i'm being taken for granted... a 'favour' turns into a job that an engineer would charge hundreds for) and always clean the engine bay after... nothing nicer than seeing a clean engine bay / nothing worse than seeing a dirty, oily one!

I'd query as to why did he leave oil in the engine bay... and if he's sloppy with the easy stuff, how good/bad is he going to be with the tricky stuff?
 
If you are a bin man speak to one of the truck mechs, if they can can keep bin motors working they can fix/repair anything!
Plus I bet they will leap at the chance to work on something thats not got any maggots in it!
 
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