Waiting for boat parts

Donald

Donald

Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Messages
29,646
Location
Near the beach in Delaware
Anyone else waiting for boat parts while the unofficial summer season has started? Frustrating to have a new (to me) boat where the outdrive is off being rebuilt. Gear set on nationwide backorder. But so are many things in this pandemic era world. I am sure GM is not happy they cannot build vehicles due to a chip shortage.

Frustrated boater.
 
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It's not just boats...

I (and the shop working on my car) had difficulty in finding brake calipers for a Fox body car. They were on national backorder with Advance AP. O'Reilly could only get us one from the nearest warehouse.

To get them to us fast, O'Reilly's drop shipped (via overnight air) a pair out of a warehouse in Michigan, directly to the shop. They gave me a great deal on the overnight shipping... only $17.
 
Op, if I were you I would be shopping around for a used but usable, out drive so as to not loose much water time. Once they finally get your out drive finished, you have the option of installing it, or continue using the used one. And if the used one goes Ka-boom, just yank it off and put your rebe on and keep boatin.,,,
 
parts are through the roof too. I too am doing the outdrive tear down. Definitely look for a used one or splice two halves together like Im doing. Most parts aren't toast and can be reused unless you did something horrendous like make gear meal pudding running it low on oil.
 
Nothing too new at the beginning of boat season around here - lots of stuff on order, backorder etc... when we come out of winter and everyone remembers what was broken... All made worse by the current environment...
 
Driz said:
parts are through the roof too. I too am doing the outdrive tear down. Definitely look for a used one or splice two halves together like Im doing. Most parts aren't toast and can be reused unless you did something horrendous like make gear meal pudding running it low on oil.
Click to expand...
If I had a common outdrive like a Mercruiser Alpha One I would consider it. You can get Sierra parts also for many Mercruiser outdrive.

Mine is kind of a rare outdrive. VP DPX-A OXI. Over $12000 new.

I see a used one on EBay for about $3000. But how does one know I would not be in in the same shape I am in today with my current outdrive and broken off teeth on upper gear where the broken off teeth were ground to tiny metal pieces and circulated throughout the outdrive?
 
I guess we got lucky, this is a timely post by the OP.
Let me restate that, not lucky but lucky.

The not lucky part is our 2008 Volvo Penta SX-A outdrive with (yes this is true) only 100 hours cone clutch gave out.
After almost 2 years of steady decline it would not go into forward this year, reverse was fine. This drive at the time (first year of production), seemed to have some issues at 100 hours, and almost exactly at 100 hours last year, it stopped working.

Problem is, here, no one wants to work on VP drives except a highly recommended local authorized Volvo Penta dealer and get this, first question most places ask is how old is the boat as they dont even want to work on anything over 10 years old. Our boat is in diamond condition, purchased two years ago with 60 hours on it, indoor storage for its life and barely ever used.

Ok so to cut to the chase.
Lucky is our OEM NEW VP parts were available and shipped immediately.

We have the (at the time) new series VP SX-A drives so its still kinda current I guess, first year they were used was 2008. Bad news is, NO ONE wants to bother pulling apart a drive to replace the cone clutch, so its either rebuilt complete drive or new OEM upper gear case.
Wife and I decided with the low hours on the boat and engine, to go with a new OEM Volvo Penta SX-A upper gear case because at 100 hours didnt make sense to replace the lower and rather have an OEM new upper then a rebuilt upper and lower. (New OEM upper new cost the same as a complete rebuilt upper and lower)
Here is the good news, Exactly 2 weeks from the time we first brought the boat in to be looked at and find the issue. We picked up the boat with a new OEM VP SX-A upper gear case installed. Dealer was great, turn around time amazing, while it was there I have a new engine mounted sea water pump installed, with a new housing.

Here is the bad news, it cost a fortune. ($6,500)
New OEM upper was $4500 for the part alone. Never mind the water pump and labor. Good news is, I didnt get any phone calls saying the bellows were bad ect...ect... so the job came in slightly lower then the estimate because the shipping of the new unit was little cheaper then they could estimate at the time.

Money well spent ASSUMING the 2008 Chaparral with 100 hours on it and diamond condition gives us a few years of trouble free service now.
I call it my wifes boat we picked it up just a couple years ago as a simple way to get back on the lake, kids are grown and last couple years have done a lot of touring on the new Road King we bought back in 2014. We bought it for a great deal and with the price of boats just two years later, an incredible price just going on 3 years ago.

Ive been boating for decades and decades, first with my father, then boat my own first boat when I was 18 years old. A 17 Ft Winner with a merc I/O must have owned close to 9 boats since 1977, from 17 to the biggest I owned was a 268 Sundancer (sea ray) Always Mercury outdrives (except for one or two O/Bs in the early days)
I never ever had an issue with an outdrive, always Mercury and since around 1987 they were always Alpha 1's. Always did my own maintenance, pulled the outdrives every winter, greased the splines, changed gear oil ect ect.

SO my first experience with the "superior" Volvo SX -A compared to Alpha drive was not good. I didnt want the Volvo but when you are buying used and everything else is amazingly good with the boat, you compromise. So over 40 years later since buying my first boat I had a outdrive stop working and that outdrive was my first ever Volvo outdrive. Hopefully now it will be good forever because this boat is in such beautiful shape I plan on keeping it a long time.

If there is another boat in the future, I wish it wasnt so hard to find a nice 18/19 foot runabout with an outboard. Love the thought of owning an O/B again ... *L*

Here it is ...
IMG_4263.jpeg
 
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alarmguy said:
I guess we got lucky, this is a timely post by the OP.
Let me restate that, not lucky but lucky.

The not lucky part is our 2008 Volvo Penta SX-A outdrive with (yes this is true) only 100 hours cone clutch gave out.
After almost 2 years of steady decline it would not go into forward this year, reverse was fine. This drive at the time (first year of production), seemed to have some issues at 100 hours, and almost exactly at 100 hours last year, it stopped working.

Problem is, here, no one wants to work on VP drives except a highly recommended local authorized Volvo Penta dealer and get this, first question most places ask is how old is the boat as they dont even want to work on anything over 10 years old. Our boat is in diamond condition, purchased two years ago with 60 hours on it, indoor storage for its life and barely ever used.

Ok so to cut to the chase.
Lucky is our OEM NEW VP parts were available and shipped immediately.

We have the (at the time) new series VP SX-A drives so its still kinda current I guess, first year they were used was 2008. Bad news is, NO ONE wants to bother pulling apart a drive to replace the cone clutch, so its either rebuilt complete drive or new OEM upper gear case.
Wife and I decided with the low hours on the boat and engine, to go with a new OEM Volvo Penta SX-A upper gear case because at 100 hours didnt make sense to replace the lower and rather have an OEM new upper then a rebuilt upper and lower. (New OEM upper new cost the same as a complete rebuilt upper and lower)
Here is the good news, Exactly 2 weeks from the time we first brought the boat in to be looked at and find the issue. We picked up the boat with a new OEM VP SX-A upper gear case installed. Dealer was great, turn around time amazing, while it was there I have a new engine mounted sea water pump installed, with a new housing.

Here is the bad news, it cost a fortune. ($6,500)
New OEM upper was $4500 for the part alone. Never mind the water pump and labor. Good news is, I didnt get any phone calls saying the bellows were bad ect...ect... so the job came in slightly lower then the estimate because the shipping of the new unit was little cheaper then they could estimate at the time.

Money well spent ASSUMING the 2008 Chaparral with 100 hours on it and diamond condition gives us a few years of trouble free service now.
I call it my wifes boat we picked it up just a couple years ago as a simple way to get back on the lake, kids are grown and last couple years have done a lot of touring on the new Road King we bought back in 2014. We bought it for a great deal and with the price of boats just two years later, an incredible price just going on 3 years ago.

Ive been boating for decades and decades, first with my father, then boat my own first boat when I was 18 years old. A 17 Ft Winner with a merc I/O must have owned close to 9 boats since 1977, from 17 to the biggest I owned was a 268 Sundancer (sea ray) Always Mercury outdrives (except for one or two O/Bs in the early days)
I never ever had an issue with an outdrive, always Mercury and since around 1987 they were always Alpha 1's. Always did my own maintenance, pulled the outdrives every winter, greased the splines, changed gear oil ect ect.

SO my first experience with the "superior" Volvo SX -A compared to Alpha drive was not good. I didnt want the Volvo but when you are buying used and everything else is amazingly good with the boat, you compromise. So over 40 years later since buying my first boat I had a outdrive stop working and that outdrive was my first ever Volvo outdrive. Hopefully now it will be good forever because this boat is in such beautiful shape I plan on keeping it a long time.

If there is another boat in the future, I wish it wasnt so hard to find a nice 18/19 foot runabout with an outboard. Love the thought of owning an O/B again ... *L*
Click to expand...

When I look in boating magazines all I see are outboard. In pretty big boats. Two, three and four outboard engines.

The outboard engine seem to make the swim deck difficult and less fun to use. (Just from the pictures). And I would think it would shift a lot of weight far aft. But the boat designers must know that when designing the boat.
.
 
Donald said:
When I look in boating magazines all I see are outboard. In pretty big boats. Two, three and four outboard engines.

The outboard engine seem to make the swim deck difficult and less fun to use. (Just from the pictures). And I would think it would shift a lot of weight far aft. But the boat designers must know that when designing the boat.
.
Click to expand...
I was told for the most part that the VP outdrives are bullet proof. Like any outdrive, just don't hit anything running SS props.

My first VP outdrive back in the early 1980s had power tilt but not power trim. Some kind of small electric motor pushed up a ram to tilt the engine. Could really only be used if the engine was off.
 
Yes the shortages are crazy and demand is high. If you cannot wait to get parts or put off boating until next year, then you are stuck paying higher prices. Hopefully the prices taper off next year.

Good luck getting the parts you need.
 
Donald said:
When I look in boating magazines all I see are outboard. In pretty big boats. Two, three and four outboard engines.

The outboard engine seem to make the swim deck difficult and less fun to use. (Just from the pictures). And I would think it would shift a lot of weight far aft. But the boat designers must know that when designing the boat.
.
Click to expand...
I only need one O/B and max 20 feet, done with the large ones.
We have seen some nicely designed O/B's with still a fair amount of room on the transom but granted, not a lot of them. Also use less fuel with an I/O but not as much concern with a 20 foot. Current boat in this discussion, rock solid boat, like it better then my past Searays.
IMG_1240.jpeg
 
alarmguy said:
I only need one O/B and max 20 feet, done with the large ones.
We have seen some nicely designed O/B's with still a fair amount of room on the transom but granted, not a lot of them. Also use less fuel with an I/O but not as much concern with a 20 foot. Current boat in this discussion, rock solid boat, like it better then my past Searays. View attachment 59594
Click to expand...
Beauty boat! Be warned if not familiar, VPs only like their brand fluid....anything too "slippery" causes the cone clutch to slip tearing them up. Common issue if someone has been putting any old gear oil in it. Hopefully dealer used VP, and not something else as some are known to do.
 
^^^ Yeah, you know, I was thinking about changing out the gear oil. No way did a dealer use recommended Volvo or Mobil Delvac oil.
I wouldn't be too surprised if that is what takes place with these cone clutches. Good post, thanks.

Yeah ... the 18 to 20 foot works perfect for us now, however we still do not have that ever elusive Runabout with a outboard instead of the I/O.
Lets hope this one give no more problems for a few years *LOL*
Literally the boat is still "like new" condition and why we sunk the money into the outdrive.
 
As a comparison, by the QT, VP gear oil is $22/QT and Starbrite is $16. Starbrite sell quality marine products.

So if the outdrive uses 2 QTs of gear and is changed once a year you save $12/year.

In the boating world where one set of gears for a VP outdrive is $1400, $12 is nothing.
 
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