I spent weeks chasing this leak around, and it left me baffled every single time. Now I don't claim to be some kind of boat mechanic, but I will say I am smarter then the average bear. Logic would dictate that if oil is showing up in the bilge at the end of a weekend it has to be coming from somewhere?
Finally out of sheer disgust with myself, I took the boat over to Barrett Custom Marine to figure out where this leak is coming from. I opened the engine hatch and Roy at BCM climbed in there and in less than a minute said "You're trim tank has a small crack in it." I will save the description of how small it made me feel that I have been looking at this thing for weeks, and he figured it out in 30 seconds. He popped in a plastic tank for me as a loaner, and I told them I would be back shortly for some upgrades.
I am pretty good friends with Roy at Get Real Performance so I gave him a call and he drop shipped me a Driver Reservoir and an old style billet trim tank that he had as an extra.
I went over to Barrett yesterday and had them put them both in, and here is the pics of the installation. As well at the end of the article I will give you some options on what you can do to your boat for cheap! (Comparatively speaking for what it usually costs to upgrade anything on a boat)
Factory Tanks
Drive Tank
Driver Reservoir
Tanks that Get Real Performance sent to Barrett Custom Marine. (Note the drive tank is the old style that isn't see through)
26 Oz Drive Reservoir with Sender
Drive Trim tank removed
Drive Reservoir removed
The "Chef" preparing his assault on my transom.
Now he's just showing off.
Billet Trim Tank and new 26oz Driver Reservoir installed!
I did this more or less out of necessity to fix a problem and upgrade my drive reservoir (always hated how those things look), but this is a simple and relatively cheap upgrade to any stern drive boat that will take your boat one step closer to the "next level."
I wanted to give you guys some options on what you could purchase for your boats, about what it costs, as well as show off TCM's options and GRP's new style tanks.
Teague Custom Marine offers their Billet Trim Tank Here at 240.00 (retail)
As well as their Billet Driver reservoir tank Here at 253.47 (retail)
GRP offers their new style Billet Trim Tank Here at 219.95 (retail)
Their Drive reservoir bottle can be found Here (Note they are working on their website and this price doesn't include the sender) at 199.00 (It will be 229 retail with the sender)
While this upgrade is relatively simple and could be done by most in an evening in the garage, Barrett Custom Marine is offering a discount on the parts and labor to install it to RDP members! Note mine was a pain in the ass because of where the exhaust is, and where the factory drive reservoir was mounted. The Labor Charge may go up or down depending on your Boat. (As well if you like one tank from TCM and the other from GRP you can mix and match)
Cost for the installation on my boat with GRP Tanks and RDP Discount
Cost for my boat with the TCM Tank upgrades
Make sure you tell Jessica at BCM that you are an RDP member for discounts on other parts and services!
written by RiverDave
