Another weekend down.

I posted 2 weeks ago about my first weeken ruined. This past weekend was another ruined weekend. Went out on Sat. Beautiful day.....starter died. Beginning to think i'm cursed. Called around some dealers and they wanted 400+ to replace it. Got it done at a local car shop for 160 new installed. I hate dealers around here in GA. Guess we'll try again this weekend. I made 2 different Homebrew surfgate attachments that im wanting to try and havent gotten a chance to even get the ballast loaded yet. SMH

That sucks.

The price sounds like what a dealer would charge for a starter replacement. If they are using an indmar/pcm branded OEM starter they buy from those companies they are probably paying $150-200 if not more. Add some good margin to that plus an hour of shop time and it makes sense. That said it should take a competent mechanic about 5 minutes of actual shop time to replace a starter. There is probably 2 ring terminals and 2 bolts. $160 sounds like a good price installed even if the starter isn't the best quality. In the end the condition you keep the starting/charging system in has more to do with longevity of the components than manufacturer defects.

The car place put in a marine starter, right? If they didn't don't use the boat until you get a marine one in there. Automotive starters are not ignition/ spark protected. A nonprotected starter in a enclosed marine engine compartment can be an explosive situation.

Yeah. It's a marine one. They told me that same thing once i asked if a reg autotive one would work.

^^^^What RB said!!!^^^^

Originally Posted by boardman74

The car place put in a marine starter, right? If they didn't don't use the boat until you get a marine one in there. Automotive starters are not ignition/ spark protected. A nonprotected starter in a enclosed marine engine compartment can be an explosive situation.

Wow. I would've never thought of that....this little bit of insight might have just saved some lives in the future. Thanks!!!

your boat most likely uses a Delco PG260 gear reduction starter. Not all but a lot of those starters were "marine" starters. Did he give you a breakdown on your bill and say what part number they sold you? Let me know what part number I and I will see if I can confirm it is a marine version.

Not near the boat right now but i'll make sure to look that up when i get home......Thanks.

Buddy of mine was out last summer and his starter died at 11AM. He towed the boat back to his dock, pulled the starter, ran down to Napa and got a new one, reinstalled it and was back on the water by 2PM. Wife and kids just had a long lunch at the dock and played with the ducks for an hour or so. I was super surprised when I saw him back out on the water. Got to admire the dedication and mechanical skills.