The maiden voyage and why smithville marine sucks.

[lemans81]

I don't know if you all recall, but my mom and step dad bought a pontoon, with the intent of letting lots of people use it. There was talk of everyone chipping in, but that never happened, so they just bought it. Its a 2007 Sweetwater 2386 Sport, tritoon, with a (2006)150 HP Yamaha HPDI, all brand new. They added a bunch of cup nice cup holders, nice trailer w/brakes, and a full front to back bimini and the total came to $28,200. But there have been several hiccups over the months.....like we brought in the old pontoon, they were supposed to appraise it....instead they sold it. They didn't even have title, they said you don't need title, because it was going to a private lake. (At this point I was screaming at them to run from the deal) Then they also lost the license plate(probably those people have it, jokes on them because my mom reported it stolen). But whatever....we got a short test drive back in April, it ran great for the 15 minutes or so we were out, it was 37 F the day we went out. We got final delivery of the boat last week, took it to the lake.

So Friday we go to put it in for the maiden voyage(mind you I have been fighting the flu for a week, but damned if I was going to be left off the maiden voyage), we back it out off the trailer. My step dad is spinning it around so we can ride off into the sunset.....and instead the boat starts doing circles. I look back and my step dad is turning the wheel but the motor isn't moving. I go back there and on the assisted steering, one of the T fittings is sheered off the hydraulic ram and is squirting power steering fluid everywhere. So being the only one there capable I bear hug the motor and force it back straight. We idle in to shore, then the only way to put it on the trailer was to walk it on....I know that 64 F water is not untolerable....but it isn't fun either. I was chest deep in it for about 5-8 minutes getting it winched on.

We call smithville marine up and they tell us minimum of 3 weeks to come look at it. Or we can drag it the 300 miles back to them and they can look at it in two weeks. Or we can call out a mechanic down there, who will have to come out look at the problem, submit them a written estimate, then wait 3-5 business days for them to approve it, and then they will pay him to fix it. What a crappy dealership. We hoped to have it broke in before our vacation on June 16-25, now we may not have anything.

I bet someone cross threaded that T fitting, and when it leaked they just gave it another crank, and it was one too many.


EDIT: Here is a pick from the 4 wheeler of where we normally launch, its usually over 5 times that distance to the water. Normally from where I am at on the 4 wheeler you can't see the water lol.

[lemans81]

Here is where the line sheared off

Here are a few of the boat:




And the lake:
View out the front door
From the deck left to right:

[Woody]

I hate you had bad luck with it already. Before I waited 2-3 weeks, I would fix it myself and get back on the water today...


Good lookin' toon !

[LSVLance]

That really sucks...but I believe I tried to warn you about Smithville Marine before you bought the boat.

They are about the worst dealership I've EVER tried to deal with. I live within 4 miles of them, yet I tow my boat 150 miles to Warsaw to keep from having to darken their doorway.

Hope you get the boat fixed soon...and this freaking weather straightens up so we can finally get to boating... The wind today is just brutal, no way am I going out today to try to fight it.

[lemans81]

It sheared that off...so I don't even know if its fixable without replacing that hydraulic piston.

Yeah well, my mom funded 95% of the boat in the end, so it really was her decision.

[Thommes]

I am starting to feel your pain. Had a really bad experience with the first dealer that put some money down to hold a toon. Ended up going ~ 300 miles to another dealer and bought outta state. The toon came with a nice dent and scratch on the cone of the port tube along with other issues. Hope everything works out.

[bruuuuce]

The dealer should make it right, but I tend to take matters into my own hands on simple stuff like this I would have to fix it myself and get back out on the lake. But I understand not everyone has the equal mechanical skills so without knowing you personally I don't know if you would be comfortable with doing it or had the tools.

The T Fitting is simple to remove, you could take a EZout and remove the broken off piece and you should be ready to install a new one.



Since the boat isn't that old it should come out very easy. Then take the fitting, both pieces to another marine dealer, get the t fitting and some teflon tape and put it in yourself. While your there, ask the dealer how to and if you need to bleed the air from the line because you will have some bubbles.

Or find a good close marine dealer and have them fix it if you don't have the tools or if you don't feel comfortable with the repair, only you will know if it is over your comfort level.

It is important to have your dealer stand behind the product they sale, and yes of BIG ISSUES I do. But I was taught to pick my battles and being on the water having a good time beats dealing with a crappy dealer for a 15 minute repair.

Good luck, the boat looks good and envious of your water front property!

[playcat]

I second that emotion - try not to let a crappy dealer ruin your toon time. get it fixed, have the mechanic document what was wrong, send dealership the invoice and request reimbursement or set a court date. In all fairness, unless they installed the fitting or worked on it, they may not have known about the T fitting. Give them a chance to do the right thing before you lower the boom.

[LSVLance]

I'd probably fix that myself as well, it's not a complicated repair at all. Even if one has to chase the threads to clean them back up once the broken part of the Tee is removed. They are all just normal pipe thread connections.

At most a couple of trips to any hardware store (one for the easy out and thread chaser, then another for the new parts needed) and a minimal amount of dollars and she'll be good as new.

[GregF]

Just be very sure you flush out all the chips. I am not sure where that "T" is bit I would try to isolate that by getting all of the hoses disconnected so nothing goes any farther.
You can take the time or you might be tearing down the whole system later. If this is a warranty part you may want a good dealer to fix it.

[lemans81]

bruuuuce- I am mechanically inclined although I have only worked on cars and I/O mercruisers, never on an outboard before. So the steering is something I have no experience with, to me it didn't look like the T fitting was threaded into the steering. Thanks on the lake front property, but its not usually that close, the lake is a full capacity so normally its like this:

playcat- They installed the motor/steering after we bought the boat, so assuming they had to add the fitting with the correct hoses.

LSVLance- I just don't see what its threaded into...unless its the cylinders cheap metal casing? Thats really terrible if it is.

Here are some more pictures of it, maybe I am just over thinking the situation, I am known to do that.

[lemans81]

I was just looking at my own pictures and now I see what I didn't down there. I see exactly what I needed to do. Sadly it seems simple to me now. Didn't then, but I was fighting the flu down there, and the ten minutes of cold water only made it worse. We ended up driving in on Thursday(after stopping with grandma at all the headstones to put flowers on them) 7 hours. Then messed with the boat on Friday, it started pouring around 2pm. Then grandma and I packed up and left Saturday morning at 9am, then I had to get to work at Midnight.

If it doesn't get fixed at least I know what is needed now....I have the correct tools...at home. Thats the only downside to living 4 hours away from the lake. But its so cheap to live down there, actually the cabin a few down from me is going on sale in a month or so, it sits just as close to the water...and they are asking $75,000.

The one in the middle, the shed in the background is where my jet ski's, and the pontoon will be stored during winter.


Our cabin is the middle one in this picture, the A frame next door is for sale, although someone told them if it was lake of the ozarks it would be worth $300,000...so they listed it for $275,000 lol....yeah right.....

[OldePharte]

I guess what everyone is sayin, is the remaining threaded part is broke off in the cylinder - see your last photo. Ya can see the rest of the threaded part.

Here is a link to the BayStar/SeaStar selection and installation guides - http://ww2.seastarsteering.com/PDFs/PDF_files.htm

[bruuuuce]

bruuuuce- I am mechanically inclined although I have only worked on cars and I/O mercruisers, never on an outboard before. So the steering is something I have no experience with, to me it didn't look like the T fitting was threaded into the steering.

I was just looking at my own pictures and now I see what I didn't down there. I see exactly what I needed to do.

Hey it is always good to post pictures an let others give you ideas, sounds like you have this one solved either with the dealer or without I am sure you are gonna be back on the water. Don't let the outboard part scare you from diving into it, it is still mechanical, my experience is cars and I/O's too but they all have to have fire, fuel and air.

[STEVEBRENDA]

lemans81 - What lake are you on?