The dealer seems to be spot on for the pricing of the parts. I found my pricing at crowleymarine.com, and they are the cheapest I have found for the do it yourself mercury mechanic. To be honest, I used the 1.5 hrs b/c I read on another forum that that would be an approximate amount of time for a dealer to do the repairs.
I have not done the repairs myself, but if and when I ever need to, I think with the help from this forum, and the M2 jet drive service/repair manual avaliable to premium members here, that I could tackle the job.
Unfortunately, for this job, the parts are what kills the budget, not the labor hours.
Wow, I am just doing an impellr job after doing a Moonraker with my 2001 Islandia and after hoovering up rock and sand through the hyrdosuk grate while doing 40 mph, I lost power and torque.
I was even thinking of a how to as I learned a whole bunch of stuff to do the job! And let me tell you no dealer can to the ob on a 7 ear old boat for 1.5 hour period!. I have spent 2 days on it. Much time spen McGuyvering items to get the job done. I am not finished yet but I have the Jet pump stripped. I am still trying to get a broken grate bolt out and then I will be able to start assembling.
Yes as people have pointed out the wear ring is really expensive. Its not really a plastic ring as is the rotax drive but a complete aluminum housing " The Wear Ring" It cost about 440.00 alone and I got min from BAM Maring as they provide a good discount (rare in the boat biz). I decided to go with a SOLAS impeller as it was about 100 dollars cheaper than factory and should provide better performance. (We'll See) .
Therefore the two parts alone will cost around 800 for the the m2 without any other item that may be needed like pump oil, pump seals, broken bolts etc.
In short the job is dooable but requires some specialized tools to complete.
You will need a tool to lock the impeller shaft (I bought on at 70 bucks but now that I have it it can be built.) You need an impeller nut tool, about 85 buks from mercury, and I can tell you with 100% you will need one period. I had a 1/2 wrench and 2 foot breaker bar and a whole bunch of grunting to break the impeller nut!
But I am ahead of myself. ALL bolts, I mean ALL bolts have been loctited from factory and may have corrosion from the aluminum castings. Therefore as a Mercury mechanic told me you need heat them and have patience on them. This I can confirm 100%, you will need a propane torch with a long nozzle and some heat shielding to make sure you dont burn the fiberglass. If you dont use heat you will break bolts! I know. If you break the main bolts you are in for a painful hurtin to get repaired. So patience is key. I got my 4 main bolts off successfully.
Lastly I had to create my own tool to remove my impeller as it was siezed onto the shaft. Dont use a hammer and drift here as you could cause damage to the pinion gear or bearings. It took me hours to get the impeller off most of the time fiddling with my custom tool in conjunction with a harmonic balance puller I managed to remove the impeller.
Its all dooable but there are issues to deal with. I am going to take pictures of the job.
I figure the complete job from a dealer would cost between 1200.00 to 1600.00 bucks.
