Marty just finished replacing the engine mounts and heat exchanger on my universal M25. He also connected my new water heater to the engine cooling system and replaced several hoses and an oil pressure switch. My first time running the engine after the work was done, I moved the boat from Alameda to San Francisco and she ran like a top! Marty was communicative, efficient, and thorough. He tested all of his work and made adjustments to make sure that everything was properly done the first time. Marty was clean and also gave great advice over the phone on the best way to make the repairs, where I could shop for parts and the best way to make the work affordable for me. I'm very happy to have worked with Marty and strongly urge others to trust their engines to him as well. read more

Marty is a great mechanic. He's always on time. He takes care of his business and he's always very nice and neat prices are reasonable and I think the best mechanic in the business. I would highly recommend this person or company to anyone who has a diesel four stars. read more

A skilled and helpful mechanic. Replaced the fuel pump on our Perkins 4108 engine. Had some hic-ups, common for an old engine, and quickly diagnosed problems. I learned much from him. Appreciated his broad engine and mechanical knowledge, overall helpfulness, and sense of humor. I've paid more and gotten much less at some boat yards. read more

Marty knows his stuff! He knew the model number off the top of his head for the raw water pump on my sailboat's 40-year-old diesel engine. He corrected a couple more borderline components on the engine that were clearly on borrowed time, dealt with parts problems, and did it all in good humor. He was even happy to have me present while he worked and teach me about the motor, which very few mechanics are comfortable with. I watched him make quick work of jobs that terrified me. I'm no mechanic, but I've adjusted valves on 3 different motorcycles, changed clutch plates/springs/cables, rebuilt brake calipers on motorcycles and cars, replaced alternators, and done a few more things in my youth. I know enough to recognize a BS-artist from an honest, knowledgable mechanic. Marty is the real deal. Sounds like some people don't understand that some jobs aren't predictable and can't be estimated until you get into them. read more

I would check the hidden/not recommended reviews as they have a lot of good info. Similar to others here, I hired Bay Marine Diesel to do a job on my sailboat, he seemed to be knowledgeable, but then it became apparent that he's dishonest and not nearly as capable as he initially let's on. he was unable to complete a job but still billed me for way more than initially quoted just for attempting, insisted on ordering parts on his own because "he gets a better discount" but then charged me full retail price (when I had asked to provide the parts), and he was extremely unprofessional / borderline scary when I had the audacity to mention any of this to him. I would steer well clear of him, in the end I paid him just to get him out of my life. read more

Absolutely Terrible experience! He attempted to blackmail me. I hired Marty to do a basic engine service. He spent all day cleaning my old seawater pump and said I needed a new one. He quoted me 1k for a new pump. After I called a supplier I was quoted $600 for the same pump. He didn't even change the oil & kept making excuses as to why he couldn't perform a basic service. He took over two hours installing the new seawater pump. After I disputed the charge I allowed him to return so he could take back the part he installed, (seawater pump). Once he took his part back (which took him two minutes to undo but over two hours to install, I asked him for my old seawater pump back but he refused and proceeded to call the police on me. I'm pretty sure he re conditioned my old pump to sell as it was an all brass body, expensive pump. he refused to give it back. read more

I'm 16 months out from the exhaust manifold work Marty did on my 1988 Universal M25xp, and the motor's performance in the interim has been excellent. It was a disaster when he got there and he did a terrific job of chasing down all the problem spots. He fabricated parts where needed, got the muffler in shape, advised about maintenance issues he spotted during the project. Good guy, absolutely professional. Did what he said he would, when he said he'd do it, and kept his costs in line. Would I hire him again? Yep, this week! It's an old boat and didn't have just one problem. read more

Marty has been taking care of my boats for over 20+ years. Excellent mechanic and his service is A+. He is always on time, completes the jobs at the estimated price and leaves the boat spotless when he is done not to mention what a great guy. Highly recommended. read more

I hired Marty to accomplish pre purchase engine surveys on twin Cummins 6CTA8.3 engines and a Westerbeke genset.  As he began the survey and it progressed, I knew his experience was worth every penny as his "little notebook" filled in with observed problems. I'm new to diesels so the opportunity to pick his brain was priceless and he freely forked over tons of info and was a pleasure to talk to.   Several hours into the survey and during the initial engine runs, he found 2 major problems.  A leaking  head gasket  and excessive blowby  on the port engine. Unable to complete the next part of the survey which was an unloaded wot run at the dock followed by a sea trial, the survey was concluded.  Tough break for the sellers, godsend for me.  Having saved me thousands in repairs if not discovered. I was sad things ground to a halt and feeling bad for the sellers and for myself a bit as well because I really like the boat /engine combination and was hoping all would go well.   Marty advised me on my options which were, don't take an allowance because there's no telling how deep the problems might go. Let the sellers fix the engine and we can come back to it if I want at which time he'll complete the survey.  Anyway, good money, well spent. Right decision to step up to the plate and hire probably one of the best engine surveyors on the west coast for sure. read more

Marty originally came across as a nice guy. He was very quick to return his call and to arrange time to see my boat. I had indicated to him that the boat was running fine, we had put about 100 hours on the engine since we purchased the boat, however it was time to do a maintenance on the boat changing the fluids and also changing the heat exchanger as recommended on my recent engine survey. Marty started the project and it wasn't too long that I was receiving calls from him that he smoked the battery, and that all the wiring was wrong, and that there were a lot of electrical problems in the boat. I gave him permission for fix it all in which in turn yielded me a $3300 bill which included travel back and forth 4 times. I was not excited about the bill, but promptly paid him, as this is our family boat and safety is everything and of upmost importance. A couple weeks later my family and I came down to the boat and went to use the boat. The boat would not start in neutral and I had to more the throttle around several motions to get it to start. This issue continued consistently over the past few months and I contacted Marty six times about it and one time personally. He told me to cut the neutral bypass that was on the control (note that I'm not a mechanic). Three weeks ago, I couldn't get the engine started at all and had to get towed away from the Golden Gate Bridge as the tide was pulling me into it. It put both me and my family at risk in a very dangerous area. I hired a separate mechanic and in two minutes he indicated that there was not neutral cutoff as it was taken off, and that Mr. Chen had put in a new ignition that (a)had a contact that was pressed against the engine creating a inconsistent contact and that there remains a short somewhere in my electrical system that is creating this issue. This mechanic indicated it may be as much as another $1000.00 to diagnose and fix. I went back to Mr. Chen to request he look at it again, and he flew off the handle, calling everyone who had ever touched the boat idiots, calling the mechanic idiots, blaming the failure on the boat manufacturer, and perhaps he might of even blamed a passerby if one was around.....he blamed everyone but himself. He refused to come out and revisit the problem and indicated that if decided to take my family boating in the bay that that would be "on me". Nice guy huh!..... Well, we are going to court...,so more to follow, but, if you have any choice at all, and you have work to be done, have someone, or for that matter anyone do it but Marty.....you'll get charged a lot and yelled out for asking any questions, or asking him to be accountable for the work he has done. Keep up the great work Marty....I understand from the folks at my marina that I am not your first mark. read more

I have two reasons for writing this review. 1. One is that Marty Chin and Bay Marine Diesel have never failed to fix the problem quickly and the first time. He has the uncommon ability to know just where to look, which saves time and money. He is highly skilled, highly ethical and it is always a pleasure to have him aboard our boat. Whenever I meet a new boat owner I NEVER hesitate to give them a strong referral to Bay Marine Diesel. I have owned sailboats since 1976 and have seen the good and the bad when it comes to the marine service industry. Marty is at the top of our list. The second reason I am writing this is to refute the review of 5/18/2013. I gotta say that I have dealt with Marty for so long and so many times that the other review must not be telling the whole story. Marty is the mechanic's mechanic,,, other wrenches seek him out. Again,,, Bay Marine Diesel is unquestionably as good as I have met around boats and I have been at it seemly forever. The review of 5/18/2013 has a hidden agenda, whatever it might be, read more

It's not easy to find a good (or rather ANY) diesel mechanic to make a house call to your boat. Even in the Bay Area. I had been dealing with other folks flaking for weeks, until I got Marty's number off of a sailing blog. He called me back immediately, walked me through a few things I could try on my own, then made an appt for the following week. He was great! Explained to me everything he was doing, and a couple hours later I'm out on the bay and my engine has never run better. Thanks again! read more

Marty worked on our sailboat for 5 years and then assisted me when we purchased our Trawler 4 years ago. Marty now services our motoryacht and has replaced numerous parts as well as machined parts necessary. I recommend Marty to anyone looking for a mechanic that goes the extra mile and has an excellent understand of motors and boats. If you're looking for one of the best mobile diesel mechanic, you found him. read more

I have used Marty Chin in the past. His attention to detail is superb, and he quickly diagnoses a problem and fixes it. When it comes to servicing a marine diesel engine, Marty is an expert. I would recommend Marty to anyone in need of diesel servicing and/or engine repair. read more

Marty did a great job on the overhaul of the diesel engine on my sailboat. He's prompt, knows his stuff, gets the job done really well, and has lots of good advice on all things engine-related and sailing-related. I certainly plan to use his services again. Highly recommended. read more

After going through two mechanics, who either did a poor job or flaked out I got Marty to go through the very difficult cooling system in my Volvo diesel. Within a week, five days of which we're waiting for parts, all repairs were made. Marty also found several problems others had missed which was causing the engine to run a litte roughly. What a difference, the motor is smoother and more powerful. I know a bit about the poor review and shall just say the problem lies with the reviewer not Marty. read more

I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. Any business with employee's involved in hit and run accidents aren't trustworthy. The gentleman featured in the photograph ran into the back of my car this morning on Interstate 80. Not only did he not pull over he tried to zig zag out of traffic to avoid me getting his license plate information. Just know there is a police report in the works buddy! read more

Marty has fixed my boat a number of times, and once when he was injured and could not come to do the fix, he "talked me through it" AT NO CHARGE It was a pretty easy fix, but I had no idea what to do until Marty told me over the phone step by step instructions to find the issue. He's is great. The guy who gave him a bad review is obviously an ass. read more

Marty is a terrific mechanic and very good a diagnosing problem areas. I've had many different boats and engines (Perkins, Lehman, Volvo, Yanmar) and he has had excellent knowledge of all of them and was able to repair all of them. Marty is also excellent at estimating time and making appointments. Highly recommended!!! In addition, he's just great to do business with. read more

I was just doing an update on our weblog and thought about Marty at Bay Marine Diesel. We had asked him to come over and take a look at our transmission. Our first impression was that he really does know what he is talking about. I have no doubt that he could have done the job correctly and probably is a fine mechanic as one of the reviewer here has said. After discussing the job with him and explaining that we had talked with other mechanics Marty suggested we wait till the next day to make up our minds. When we called him the next morning he said he would not work with us since we had stated we were going to work with another company. I will say that statement just isn't true as we hadn't stated anything of the sort, but regardless, if we had stated it or just changed our mind, we were asking him to help us out. He would have no part of working with us and simply hung up the phone. His impetuous behavior leads us to believe that the first two reviews are not far from the mark and you should watch your P's and Q's if you are going to work with Bay Marine Diesel. As it turns out we did the work ourselves and may have averted spending nearly 2 grand for a transmission rebuild and saved ourselves from some other abrasive behavior. Caveat Emptor Bill and Lisa Beyond Reason, HC 43 read more

I had used Marty with a previous boat and been very satisfied, so I made an appointment for him to work on my latest boat. When he did not show 20 minutes after the agreed time, I called and he just whined about why he was not coming - no apology for standing me up! There are others who actually want my business. read more

Marty has helped me out with my engine problems more than once even though it did not result in business for him. He went beyond anything that I expected, he has earned my business when I need work on my boat. read more

This man is a crook. I used him a couple years ago for routine maintenance. He overcharged me, didn't finish the job and then topped it all off by lying. I didn't have the time or energy to take him to small claims court, so I just cut him a check and moved on in life vowing never to call him again. In my opinion he's unstable, dishonest, and not even good at his job. Do yourself a favor and go with someone else. read more

Marty was very thorough and efficient in the annual fluid and filter changes on my Yanmar. He explained what he was doing and what to look out for. He also noted that the fuel pump on my diesel was undersized and thus causing a diminished flow through the cooling system. After he installed the correct size fuel pump, the diesel was pumping seawater at an appreciably increased rate. Marty was on a busy schedule, but he made time to fit me in. I can highly recommend Marty for your diesel maintenance. read more

I had a very similar negative experience to what some of the other reviewers have noted here. Interestingly, some of the negative reviews that have been flagged by Yelp appear to be legitimate (albeit not flattering of Mr. Chin). Mr. Chin agreed to do a job for me, didn't finish it, sent me a bill for more than was agreed, and then went ballistic when I pointed out that he hadn't completed the job and invoiced me for more than was agreed. I ended up having to hire a more capable engine mechanic to clean up the mess Mary left behind. He is definitely unstable, he went crazy the moment I questioned why he was unable to complete a repair due to lack of ability but was charging me for it anyway. In the end I paid him what he asked, not because he deserved it but because I didn't have the time/energy to take him to court. Do yourself a favor, find someone else or read a book on marine diesel repair. read more