Am I being taken

[Steveo]

Let me start by saying I know only enough about boats to be dangerous but what I am being told by my mechanic seems suspicious and I wanted the forum’s opinion.

Was out cruising around and my engine just quits. I thought that I might have just run out of gas because I had just replaced my gas gauge and thought it might not be reading correctly. Get boat towed back to the dock, put gas in and still nothing. Engine turns over but won’t fire. I call my mechanic and he tells me two things. (Just for reference I have a 25 year old Mercruiser I/O)

First, he says when that engine runs out of gas it isn’t a simple matter of putting more gas in and starting her up again. You need to go through all sorts of gyrations, like start-up spray in the carburetor, making sure gas is in all the lines (?), and other stuff. I thought aren’t boat engine just like car engines in that the fuel pump makes sure the gas is pumped throughout the system. So I ask him to come take a look to see if he could get it running. (I was not there when he came so I couldn’t see what he did)

He calls me and says it wasn’t out of gas but that the engine “wasn’t getting spark” and that it could be the starter or coil, he would have to test further. I thought engines don’t need the starter and coil to run do they, just to start. The engine was running fine when it quit. He calls back couple hours later and says “it was electronics”, couldn’t get any more explanation then “electronics”, other than “and the bill is $560.” I’m thinking how much electronics can a 25 year old engine have (being the dumbie that I am when I hear electronics I think computers, circuit boards, etc.). Now, I will ask to see the “parts” that he replaced but do both explanations/comments he made (run out of gas and electronics) seem reasonable.

I’d appreciate the expert’s opinions. Thank you so much.

BTW: this is local mechanic not part of dealer or marina but I don’t want to give name.