Engine rebuild & insurance

[Phil Layer]

Here’s a happy ending to my recent nightmare.

Last halibut season, I headed out of Newport with my boat running great. The seas were flat and I nearly had the boat on plane when I looked down and saw my temp gauge was buried. I immediately shut down and waited for it to cool down. It would not restart and I had coast guard tow me in.

When I got home, I found gas in the crankcase and, after finally getting it started, had an engine compartment filling with blue smoke. My mechanic gave me the news I feared – new engine needed.

My mechanic inspected the water pump and informed me it was working fine. He determined that my engine had suffered a common demise. It had sucked a plastic bag into the intake which caused the overheating. Discarded plastic bags will float just below the surface of the water.

I thought the diagnosis was interesting but not productive to my situation until he informed me I needed to call my insurance company. Now, instead of looking at a $2,250 rebuild bill, I am looking at a $250 deductible.

I called the mechanic and instructed him to install a fresh water cooling system while he has the engine out.

Life is good…no, it sucks. No wait, it’s great. No, it sucks.

No wonder there is so much manic depression in this world.

[love2fish]

Phil,
Who is your insurance carrier? Sounds like a good one.

love2fish

[Miss B Haven]

Most all companies cover this sort of thing. Sand sucked up in your cooling system same thing. Hit a rock or stump and take the outdrive off, it's covered (less deductable of course). It's part of your comp. package unless specifically written out. Of course if you make a habit of this sort of thing you'l lget dropped and may not get new coverage. Boat insurance is one thing a lot of companies are bailing on in the current market. :depressed:
What's not covered is poor maint, neglect, or normal wear and tear. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

[Phil Layer]

25 years with the same agent and never a claim before this one.

I guess I paid for this claim many times over but it stil feels good.

Improper maintenance was not the issue here. This was running perfect up until it got hot. I guess I could have monitored the temp gauge more but it didn't have an overheating problem before and it was running just fine. Oh well. Live and learn.