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Repair Mechanic Advice

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KitchenSink

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

Recently I took my boat to a local shop to install lower unit and replace water pump. I took the boat out on the lake only to get stranded minutes later with a completely destroyed lower uinit because there was no oil in it.

I feel if common shop practice (Inspecting the lower unit and testing their work) this would have been prevented. Yes?

Is this shop responsible for fixing my lower unit?

An example of the same situation: You take your car and a transmission to a shop, and ask that they install the transmission. You drive off and the transmission blows up because they didnt put any transmission fluid in it.

Time wasted, money wasted and distress being stranded on the water with no engine or cell phone.
 


Some Random Guy

Senior Member
Back to the problem at hand, installing a lower unit involves bolting it on, filling with the appropriate amount of oil, and then sealing it back up so the oil stays in. So if they didn't fill it with oil, it would appear that the shop would be on the hook for your damages.

So the first step is to call the shop and see if they are willing to make you whole.

But, you need to be able to answer a few quesitons first.
1. Who suplied the lower unit and was it defective, causing the oil to leak out?
2. Did the shop admit to not filling it with oil?
3. How do you know that the lack of oil is what killed the lower unit?

I had a lower unit die last year, but that was due to a pile of cinderblocks stacked int a pyramid about the 2 feet underwater. The damage to the unit didn't look that bad, but all of the oil leaked out due to cracks in the housing.

Making you whole in this case would be buying a new lower unit, filling it with oil and paying for the cost of towing your boat back to their shop. Your time and distress are not things you will be compensated
 

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