Mercury Disappointment
 

I purchased a 2014 90HP Mercury engine for my pontoon boat in May. With under 15 hours on the engine, it left my guests, my wife and me stranded on the lake on a windy Saturday afternoon in July when it stalled and then failed to start. It cost me $300 to be towed back to my dock. My marina told me the problem was the "high pressure fuel pump" and it was replaced. My disappointment......Mercury has done absolutely nothing to even suggest that this shouldn't have occurred. In fact, Mercury has refused to take any responsibility for reimbursing the cost of the tow to me.
Am I expecting too much from Mercury? Is this the Mercury approach to standing up for their products or their customers? Your comments would be appreciated since I am extremely frustrated by this. By the way, I am now a member of Sea Tow and I will continue to be.....

What does the warranty say? Seems like that is where you need to look.

Similar situation with my Mariah boat...
 

Just a few months after buying our 25 ft Mariah, we were anchored in Robert's Cove, and were unable to get the boat started. Reader's Digest version: coil crapped out. Mercury covered the part and labor.

I did have TowboatUS as a result of an earlier breakdown with my old boat, not a covered breakdown, and the resulting $380 tow. I now look at this coverage on inland lakes with TowboatUS as being additional insurance for less than $100 per year.

Sorry, Sully, I do not look at warranties to cover towing, whether it be for my boat or my cars. JMHO.

Glad you did get your motor fixed.

Every manufactured part has a lifespan and a failure-in-time rate. The failures tend to occur very early in the life of the part (infant mortality) and late in the life of the part (just from being worn out). The middle of the lifespan tends to be very light on failures. If you plot the number of failures over time, the curve is shaped like the cross section of a bathtub and is therefore called the "bathtub curve". Unless there's some known issue with the pumps, you got unlucky with an early failure, sad to say. Hopefully it's an isolated issue.

I doubt Mercury would ever offer free towing in a standard warranty. Parts and labor would be typical.

Am I expecting too much from Mercury?

Well a tough call that can be argued all day long. In my opinion the short answer is probably yes you are expecting to much. I assume the part was taken care of totally free of charge though.

I find it more incredible that you don't have a towing policy from Boat US or Sea Tow.

If you have a car breakdown, in the middle of no-where (or in your driveway), do you expect the auto manufacturer to pay to tow your car to an auto mechanic or to the dealer for repair?

This is what your insurance is for.

As long as the manufacturer covered the parts and labor, they have taken care of you.

Membership in an auto club can give you inexpensive tows on your car.

Membership in a boating group can get you inexpensive tows for your boat.

Perhaps check into Boat US? They have very inexpensive towing coverage, especially if you only want inland lake coverage. ;)

Mercruiser Experience.
 

A buddy of mine bought a new Dorsett boat from Thurston. On the second year the exhaust valves tulip on the 5.7. Something about the boat was made in Canada and Dorsett is responsible for the engine, call the company? Sounds like Thurston is giving my buddy the up yours!

A call to Mercury and my buddy was told to see a certified Mercruiser shop. Pretty easy to find. The boat was towed to Glendale and Dave Motorboat took care of it. Mercury practically paid for a whole new top end no questions asked. We still wonder how valves can get tulip. Most mechanics says more than likely the valves were defective. In rare cases the gas mixture may have been too lean and at WOT the valves can over heat.

I would call Mercury and let them determine warranty claims. Not the dealer.

BTW, the towing was paid by the boat insurance. This is a supplement you can get for peanuts. You can also get an insurance supplement that will pay for engine repairs. Call the insurance company!

Where did you buy the engine?

Hey folks...re-read post 1.
 

Sully states in his original post that he now is member of SeaTow... He has rectified that item of coverage for his boat. Didn't have when he had the problem, does now. (as I said, I learned the hard way too. no need to "beat him up" any more over that.)

Sully, hope the rest of your boating season is good, and a better one next year.:)

The engine came with the boat, Thurston.

This.

Even less fun with airplanes!

This^^^ It's something like $10/yr.

Most likely the valves were not properly hardened. It happens, usually in big batches...

Yes I too have towing with my Progressive boat ins.
Why pay Towboats and have 2 costs?

Which limit of liability did you choose...
 

Which limit of liability did you choose, if you don't mind me asking? According to their website, they offer $300, $500, and $1000 limits of liability.

I have had to use TowboatUS twice, and each time the cost was in excess of $300. both times it was from just outside Alton Bay to the town docks in the bay. Remember that most towing coverage starts when the tow boat leaves it's dock, and the cost goes to the time the tow boat returns to its dock.

Sorry for your aggravation. It would be a great boast for a motor maker to say they will pay a tow due to engine failure, wouldn't it?

I'm not saying you were abusive but new motors do have a break-in period where the builder advises running at moderate engine speeds. Some operators get through this run-in period by letting the motor idle at the dock or on the hook, or hose. 15 hours would be well within most recommended time frames .

I'm not sure this would matter for a fuel pump but it wouldn't hurt.

Good luck!

Does anyone know how the BoatUS towing insurance works if you live on an island. They have a reasonable price version ($43), that covers on the lake towing, but seems to have limitations about what they cover from your "home" dock. I have a slip at a local marina that I kind of consider my "home" dock and of course one on my island property. Do they count both of these as your "home" dock.

The coverage that will supply tows from your "home" dock is much more expensive ($157).

Seems like if my boat is going to die it's usually at my island dock.

Running at idle would be a terrible way to break in an engine. The piston compression rings are designed to allow combustion gases behind them and these gases push the rings against the cylinder walls on the power stroke, creating a seal. You want high pressure in the cylinders to get the rings to seat properly. At idle, there's very little pressure and the rings won't seat, but they will soften the sharp ridges off the cross hatch pattern from the final honing and that will keep the rings from ever seating. Engines need to be loaded to break them in.