Not an outboard engine but it 's a Yamaha Marine Product

[RetiredGuy]

These nasty larger than hairline cracks need some TLC ASAP- they started last summer - the boat is in a heated barn for the winter where I can get her fixed up before the next season
Sure would appreciate some suggestions as to how I might fix the cracks and even better stop them from happening again
The boat - 2012 G3 Angler V172F boat
Received a useless response from G3 customer service - Sorry warranty is only 2 years and BTW we do not even make the console - it's outsourced

Thanks in advance for the help

[zenoahphobic]

Good day, from what I can see those cracks run deep. Is that fibre glass?
Just guessing seem they would be going all the way through, subjected to some considerable stress, or the material used was cheap and inappropriate or incorrectly made.
I assume that it is about 5-6 years old, so even at that age I would have complained to the manufacturer. Boat material, namely fibreglass should last many many more years than that, and modern boats do not have hairline cracks unless through impact or heavy stress such as the transome for an outboard.
We need more pictures and info, and where does Yamaha come into this?

[panasonic]

Zen it's a Yamaha boat.

Retired guy are the cracks lined up with the bolts that hold the console to the hull? Have a look and see if this is the case.

If you find that the cracks are close to the mounting bolts I would guess that they where tightened down to much putting undo stress on the fiberglass. Or perhaps there were some rubber spacers that were supposed to be fitted between the hull aluminum and the console that where not installed.

I am only guessing as I do not know that boat.

Hope there is a Yamaha Engine still on the back of her...lol

[99yam40]

too much rough water or trailer travel beating the boat

[RetiredGuy]

Zeno - The cracks are not very deep into the fibre glass which is about 3/8" thick there. The back side under side of the console is heavy smeared on glass fiber. Yamaha owns G3 Boats all G3 boats have Yamaha rigging and outboards. Mine has a nice 90TLR which has been flawless for the 6 or 7 years of service. As you can see the boat is well taken care of. The Helix 7 SI GPS interfaces nicely with the engine as well as the *****ing motor but not the drown rigger which needs and upgrade since it's manual now.

Panasonic - I believe you are on to it - Yes they are close to the bolts and I now remember a couple of years ago tightening the screws / bolts because the console was a bit loose. Any suggestion as to how to repair the cracks??????????????? Yes there is a very nice 90TLR on the back which has about 160hrs or so and runs like a top never an issue with this one. The F60 on my pontoon had a issue once where a bee flew into the valve cover while draining/filling the engine oil what a mess that was.

99- not much rough water here - all flat fresh water - we are fair weather boaters the sun has to be shining and the beer has to be cold - wondering if the trailing behind the RV had something to do with it but it's only happening on the passenger side no issues on the drivers side. Yes it has been dragged around behind the RV for thousands of miles

Again any and all suggestions as to how I can get her fixed up are welcome - I will install rubber grommets but need to get the cracks repaired first

Yamaha / G3 outsources the console manufacturing to MEP Marine Electrical Products - anyone heard of them? Guess I will try to contact them

[robert graham]

Probably the only way is to remove the console and reinforce/repair from inside....Then remount it with the correct rubber grommets and bolts torqued correctly...

[RetiredGuy]

Robert - I tend to agree was hoping for a simpler solution - the good news for me is that there is next to no wiring/gauges/rigging on the side with the cracks

I have never done and fiber glass repairs but am handy and have the time and patience - Looking for advice from folks that have been there and done it before

[robert graham]

Unless you're a fiberglass guy, might be better to take it to an experienced glass shop for repairs....wonder if a few extra mounting bolts would help it from cracking again? Good Luck!

[DennisG01]

I agree - these certainly look like stress cracks (cosmetic only) emanating from the screws holding the windshield down. As mentioned, they could have been tightened too much, but "typically" the windshield base tends to spread out the stress. A somewhat common mistake is the hole is pre-drilled for the screw, but it is NOT countersunk. That means when the screw is screwed in, the threads of the screw will come into contact with the gelcoat. This puts stress on the gelcoat (which is actually quite brittle in some ways) and it eventually "fractures" from that stress. The only way to fully fix this is to remove the windshield (easy) and fix the holes (countersink the hole enough so that the threads only contact fiberglass). Then the existing cracks can be opened up and repaired. If you have any existing cracks that don't currently go all the way down, drill an 1/8" hole at the end of the crack right now to prevent it from going further. You may want to add another layer of glass (1708, for example) on the backside of the existing fiberglass part - if it's somewhat thin, it may be flexing more than it should (some is totally OK) thereby exacerbating the issue.

Fixing gelcoat is not particular "hard" but it takes time, patience and experience to get it to look "right" - especially given that this is in a high visibility area. You also need to get matching gelcoat - try Spectrum Color. Mixing gelcoat to match "by eye" is something VERY MUCH best left to the pros. "Hopefully", since you have been keeping the boat indoors, there won't be too much fading (or color change) so that the new gelcoat matches well.

If you take the fiberglass part off (which really might the easiest thing), it might be flimsy (maybe not - can't really tell from where I am sitting right now). You want to make sure the fix is done to the part while it's in the same orientation as it is now (don't want to the ends to fold in or out at all). There's ways around this, though - attaching a thin piece of plywood to the top before removing it, then to the bottom and remove the top piece... adding a temporary piece of structure (glassing a length of wood) from corner to corner on the inside (triangulation), etc.

[RetiredGuy]

Some days the news is just not good - received a response from the folks at MEP who manufacture the console

"It does not need fiberglass repair because it is not a gelcoat console. That is a ABS plastic fiberglass reinforced console. While I believe you are correct and there is no structural damage from the photos it cant be repaired. In those cases the consoles must be replaced which is a huge undertaking. If you have a local fiberglass guy he may be able to get gelcoat with a close match and paint over the cracks but I do not know how long that would last and is less than ideal."

Living in the outback of Montana has it's drawbacks - nearest fiberglass shop is 140 miles away

[DennisG01]

Shoot. That sucks. Yes, ABS is a pain in the butt. I've been down this road before with other boats (motor boxes made from ABS). The manufacturer of those motor boxes actually stopped making them from ABS pretty quickly because of this issue.

A little "out of the box", but you know what I might do? Wrap it in vinyl!

[RetiredGuy]

Out of the box thinking I like it
Headed out to the barn to look at the project again and start thinking about additional out of the box repairs

[boscoe99]

Wrap it in vinyl!

There you have it. The perfect (IMO) solution.

Or just let it ride.

Getting old as I have done, I don't get too excited anymore about stuff like gel coat or ABS cracks. Or chipped paint. Or cracked concrete. Or dents. I know that with the passage of time the pain will fade. Something else will come along to take its place.

All the stuff in the past that I thought was so important, which got me hot and bothered, does not amount to squat today.

[robert graham]

Maybe these folks would just sell you a fiberglass replacement console(at a reduced price maybe?)...wouldn't hurt to ask them....especially since they were obviously aware their ABS unit was junk....

[RetiredGuy]

Boscoe - I'm old but not that old just yet - however I do understand your comment
My friends say I am a bit weird since I vacuum my lawn, which is 3.5 acres, when there are pine needles on it
My current outlook on life "Everything has it's place and everything should be in it's place and in proper condition"