Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Program
We all know maintaining mechanical equipment (engines, generators, etc.) aboard your vessel isn’t cheap. However, good preventive maintenance programs can make it more PREDICTABLE and much LESS EXPENSIVE over time. When regular, manufacturer-recommended preventive maintenance is not performed, equipment reliability suffers. Needed repairs are extremely unpredictable and costs can skyrocket. In fact, most repairs are a direct result of neglected preventive maintenance. Combine this with the aggravation of your wasted time and your vessel being out of commission, and you have a recipe that is sure to cure most people of boating. It begins to make that lake house (or anything besides your boat) look more and more attractive as a place to spend your leisure time. We want our customers to stay in boating and experience the fever for many years to come.
Here are some of the goals of our Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Service:
- Create a better boating experience by maximizing vessel reliability
- Clearly communicate actual maintenance costs
- Avoid expensive repairs that are a direct result of poor maintenance
- Reduce overall maintenance costs
- Project yearly maintenance costs
- Clearly document maintenance history
- Protect the value of your vessel
- Make your vessel more marketable should you decide to sell
In our opinion, boat manufacturers do very little, if anything at all, to arm their customers with knowledge or tools to effectively manage maintenance on the boats they build. Unknown or unpredictable maintenance costs are probably the single most dangerous pitfall involved with owning a boat. Buying the boat is the easy part – keeping it in working order and reliable can quickly become a losing battle. Our Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Service picks up where your boat’s manufacturer falls short.
Our Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Service is a multi-step process.
- First, a full mechanical inspection of your equipment is performed. This is identical to our pre-purchase mechanical inspection service. It varies by equipment type, but is designed to give a clear indication of the current health of your equipment. It includes things like oil sample analysis, cooling system pressure tests, compression tests (on gas engines), fuel pressure tests (where applicable), visual inspections, etc. This inspection also itemizes any current maintenance or repair needs required before shifting the focus to preventive maintenance.
- Second, if preventive maintenance items are overdue, or maintenance history is unknown, we recommend performing a (partial or full) preventive maintenance service. This establishes a starting point for scheduling future preventive maintenance.
- Next, we use the manufacturer’s recommended preventive maintenance schedule for your equipment and combine it with our industry experience and knowledge when your equipment is used in our boating grounds. We then schedule out the preventive maintenance tasks and send email reminders to you when they are due. The email reminder will also include a request for authorization to perform the work at that time. Clear invoices are provided documenting not only what was done, but also when it was supposed to have been done. Digital photo documentation is also provided as necessary through a user-friendly file sharing system.
As you can see, Our Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Service is not just your basic oil and filter change once a year. It encompasses everything from coolant changes, injector services, etc. to engine alignments. It offers you, as a boat owner, the ability to actually implement the manufacturer’s recommended preventive maintenance schedule. By following this, you can expect to get the maximum intended life out of your equipment, expect reliable performance, and get the most enjoyment out of your time behind the wheel.
If you have been plagued by unexpected expensive repairs, or understand the risk and expense of not preventively maintaining your vessel, contact our office today for further information and pricing!
Our Chief Engineer Preventive Maintenance Service can give you the confidence to play on the bay or set out across the Gulf!
Our boat maintenance programs are available to boat and yacht owners in the greater Houston, Texas area, including Kemah, Seabrook, League City, Friendswood, Pearland and beyond. Contact us today for more information!
