Brought motor in for repair - repair shop ruined prop and tweaked skeg!!!

[Whoaru99]

A while back I posted asking about help for my Merc engine that would not rev above 4000 RPM. Got a lot of good suggestions, but eventually ended up taking it to the closest Mercury-authorized repair shop. It's a relatively new place....

OK, so I bring in the boat, explain the symptoms, and ask for their diagnosis and estimate before performing any repair. I get a call a week later and their diagnosis is crud in the carbs (which matches with what I heard here) and an estimate of $350 to repair. I tell them to go ahead and also would they change the lower unit lube since I hadn't done it yet this year. So far, so good.

Well, just short of two more weeks pass and I hear nothing more from the repair shop. So yesterday I call and am told the boat has been ready for about a week and a half. I get an "Oh sorry, didn't anyone call you?". Not really that big of a deal since I hadn't any plans for fishing/boating in that time anyway. Shop ticket says they took it to the lake (about a mile drive) and it runs great.

Today I go to pay the bill (which was less than the estimate by about $40) and get the boat. I pay the bill and go out back to hook up and do a quick walk around to be sure the tiedowns, etc. are good to go.

What do I see? MY PROP IS TOTALLED!!! I wish I could post pictures here. Granted it's "just" the OEM aluminum prop, but two of the three blades have about 1/2 to 1 inch of the tips bent back at almost 90 degrees and the other has some wicked dings in it. There is ABSOUTELY NO WAY this could have been done with out whoever drove the boat knowing it happened.

Well, the repair shop guy looks at it and agrees the damage looks fresh and says they will order a replacement prop from Merc to fix it.

Get the boat home and look closer and it appears the skeg may be tweaked down at the bottom - twisted a little bit to one side like it took a glancing blow and the paint has that spiderweb look near where the slight twist appears to start. There was some previous very minor damage to the skeg from a past run-in I had, but it looks to me like there is now more damage on the skeg that has been sanded/filed out.

The dealer is going to replace the prop, but how should I approach him about the skeg? There was some stuff there before, but not like this. Is the skeg even something to get worked up over? This is a 1996 engine, so it's not like it's brand new, but it was in pretty good condition overall with low hours of use.

How about the prop shaft and the lower unit? What is the chance the shaft is bent/damaged or other damage inside the lower unit?

[Norsky]

Sounds like they backed it into something when moving the boat around, probably hit the lower unit (skeg portion) and the prop, bending the skeg and damaging the prop at the same time. I would possibly have someone else look at it, there's probably no shaft damage, but it will be a huge repair bill if there is. Do you notice any vibrations from the lower unit? Any odd noises?

[Valv]

I bet they lifted it up too high in front when they were backing it up, it bent the skeg and each of the 3 blade due to spinning. Usually the youngest and "greenest" of the employes is the one that drives the tractor or forklift....

Have them take care of it, they know very well if the prop has been bent it could possibly have damaged propshaft and skeg. I would ask them to have it all checked and fixed at no charge.