Fan belt squealing...

[bigmac]

I bought my 230VRS recently as a 2004 holdover. Love the boat, but with 2 hours on it the fuel pump died. Dealer went to a lot of effort to replace it promptly - problem solved. At about 15 hours, the fan belt started squealing. It was very annoying. I looked at the belt - no glazing - and the tension seemed pretty close, but I didn't make an effort to tighten it because I was planning to take it in for its 10-hour (OK, 20-hour) check. I just got it back, the service manager told me that two of its bolts had snapped.

Sigh....this reminds me of the old days of US automobiles when every new car ended up going back to the dealer for niggling little warranty items. I realize that these are complicated boats these days, but I would have hoped that this kind of silly crap wouldn't be happening to a $50K+ boat. Makes me a little skittish as to what's going to happen next. I have no doubt my dealer will back me up, but taking it out of the lake and hauling it 25 miles to my dealer every couple of weeks is kind of a pain in the a$$. It makes me glad that I didn't get a Malibu where the dealer is 100 miles away.


/rant

(edited upon reflection to try to retard ignition....)



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[milkmania]

*whistling, as I slowly back out of the room*http://home.alltel.net/bhammon/flame.gif


lol

[JimN]

Other than the Mercruiser engines, Malibu uses Indmar just like MC, Supra, Moomba and others. That means the problems are not just going to happen with a MC boat. Indmar gets the motors from GM, as spec'd. If they make changes, the parts are installed at that point. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the bolts are from an offshore supplier, but sometimes they might just get a bad batch, which could cause a situation like this.

[AIRCANX09]

I have just returned from holidays, put 50+ hours on our MC. I had the same issue on our 03-X9 as well a neighbor had the identical problem on his 04-X7, within the same week. We both had to drill out the broken bolts ourselves as the dealer is over 150km away, 50km of this gravel roads, and the wait for service is days. I wonder if we missed a recall??

[Workin' 4 Toys]

I had the exact same issue three weeks ago. Snapped both bolts off the bracket holding the alternator on. I had to remove the alternator, and all brackets surrounding it, I did not have to drill the broken ones out, I used a sharp punch and tapped the outer edge of the broken bolt in a counterclockwise direction and the walked out, I then went to the local shop and found two bolts 1/4" longer than the ones previously used. They fit perfectly with room to spare. I come to find out they used grade 5 bolts to hold the bracket. I used grade 8 as the replacements. And until now I thought I was the only one with this issue. I am glad I was able to fix it, only lost about 6 hours because of it, but didn't have to bring to dealer for a week or two. It was a toss up though, I hate having to work on a new boat. My friend who works on boats often seems to think the dealer that winterized it may have overtightened the belt in which is adjusted by the alternator bracket.

[Stritt]

My alternator boats on my 2003 209(manufactured Sept 2002) also broke in July 2003. I think there was 3 bolts (?'s) 2 of which broke, I was fortunate that I was able to use needle nose vice-grips and back the bolts out. We were on vacation, and it was the 4th of July. Went to Loews, matched up the bolt with stainless and replaced myself, If I recall the bolts were 1/4" longer than original. Added some washers, and continued the vacation. This was a 350 MCX engine. Never warrantied, since I replaced myself and later sold the boat.

[Workin' 4 Toys]

My alternator boats on my 2003 209(manufactured Sept 2002) also broke in July 2003. I think there was 3 bolts (?'s) 2 of which broke, I was fortunate that I was able to use needle nose vice-grips and back the bolts out. We were on vacation, and it was the 4th of July. Went to Loews, matched up the bolt with stainless and replaced myself, If I recall the bolts were 1/4" longer than original. Added some washers, and continued the vacation. This was a 350 MCX engine. Never warrantied, since I replaced myself and later sold the boat.
Not that you care now that its gone. But stainless is weak. And it won't rust, but will corrode into the bolt holes. Stainless is tough against the elements, but not is strength. Extremely tough to cut or tap, but when it cross threads, or corrodes, you can bet it will snap off and be nearly impossible to remove. Perhaps you purchaser will one day read this thread and change them. I could not imagine getting a stainless bolt out of those holes if it had to be drilled.