Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Advanced Marine Debacle

When we bought the Dorsett the former owner said it was having "starter problems" but was running otherwise. The starter turned over the motor (without plugs) so I was sold. Since a starter is a simple fix, I took it up to a local outboard service shop who said they were willing to work on old outboards. So I dropped my boat off at Advanced Marine in Costa Mesa, CA.

June 2012
In the beginning of June I asked Advanced to sort out the starter issue and give the motor a complete tune-up (plugs, points, clean the carbs, etc.) I knew I needed a couple new batteries and the motor needed some serious TLC.

A couple weeks later I called them to check in on the progress and they confirmed the starter was no good and said that they couldn't get a replacement. But they did offer to sell me a replacement motor. I declined replacing the motor, as I wanted to keep the Dorsett as original as possible. So I picked up the starter from Advanced and sent it to a friend (who manufactures motorcycle starters) to have the starter rebuilt. My friend refurbished the starter and dynoed it and two weeks later I returned with the refurbished starter.

July 2012
A couple of weeks went by and I hadn't heard from Advanced so I called them to check in on the progress. They told me the starter was still no good and questioned if anything had even been done to the starter. I sent the starter back to my friend and asked them to go over it one more time and to do what ever it took to get this turning. So they went over it again and another two weeks went by. I dropped off the re-refurbished starter at Advanced and a couple weeks later I hadn't heard from them so I called to check in on the progress, and they said the starter was still no good.

August 2012
Frustration began setting in and not wanting to suggest to my friend that they didn't know what they were doing... so I found a starter company back east (Zorkos.com) who sells rebuilt vintage starters. They shipped me a freshly rebuilt starter and I dropped it off at Advanced Marine. A couple weeks later I hadn't heard from them so I called Advanced to check in on the progress and they claimed that the SECOND starter was no good. (Note: I would recommend Zorkos to anyone. They offered to refurbish the starter again at no charge. Whatever Advanced was doing wasn't Zorkos fault.)

September 2012
Since Summer had passed and the boat wasn't going into the water anytime soon, I decided to pickup the boat and regroup. When I picked up the Dorsett, Advanced Marine charged me $100 to R&R the starter four times. The battery cables had been thrown away, everything was disconnected (starter solenoid etc) and and there were no starters installed on the boat. I had to go back to Advanced Marine and request that they give me back my starters. I did get back two starters one was definitely fried. So I assume it was put on my motor and turned until it smoked.

Bottom Line: I would not Recommend Advanced Marine in Costa Mesa, CA for your old boat.
The boat went into storage for the Winter while I contemplated my decision to buy an old boat and keep the original motor. Come to find out, the only mistake I made was to take it to Advanced Marine. They never called me, I always had to call them to find out what was happening. They offered to sell me another motor, several times... they even had a "period correct" motor sitting in their showroom that they offered to sell me the day I picked up my boat.

Need a starter for your Flying Scott?
Here is what you are looking for: Delco Starter - Part Number #1113559
  • Lester 3923 / pic # 140-0110
  • Type: starter
  • Mfr: delco
  • Voltage: 12
  • Rotation: ccw
  • Teeth: 10
  • Str type: dd
  • Short note: mcculloch marine, 60hp, 1959-62
Interchanges:
  • Ace tri-star cm3923n
  • Alltech 104-3923
  • Bepco 80-3923
  • Boston auto 3140-0110
  • Cosmos 90-3923
  • Delco 1113515, 1113559, 1113573
  • Lester (old) 3909
  • Nastra 3923
  • Quality 3923
  • Romaine electric 41-3923
  • Stratoline 80-3923
  • Tsa 3923n
  • Wilson hd 91-01-3625
  • Zorkos 3923
Applications:
  • McCulloch marine outboard 60 hp 1959-1962
  • Scott Atwater marine outboard 60 hp 1959-1962