Loss of power while driving, vibrating above 2000 RPM

Hello all,
My wife and I were on the boat yesterday and all seemed well until about 30 minutes into driving we noticed the boat slowed a little and began vibrating. We immediately stopped the boat, shut it down, and looked at the prop to make sure we didn't hit or catch something. The prop/s looked fine based on what we could see. I started the engine up and checked all my gauges and there didn't look to be a problem. As I gave it gas the engine sounded like it was working harder than it needed to and starts vibrating/shaking above 2000 RPMs. If I kept the engine below 2000 RPMs it seemed ok. Again, no audible alerts, all gauges looked good, etc. We drove real slow back to the dock and pulled the boat out of the water. With our limited knowledge the drive looked ok. I thought maybe one of the props were bent. Maybe it is and I just can't tell. There was a lot of debris on Folsom Lake yesterday.

Here's the backstory that lead up to this.
Wife and I bought the boat a little over a week ago. We didn't test it on the water before we purchased but ran the engine with muffs on and it fired right up and sounds amazing. All gauges work and seems mechanically sounds. We took it on Folsom Lake last week for the first time and it ran like a dream. We were on the water for an hour or 2. We put it back on the trailer and took it home.
Here's where some of our troubles started. When backing the boat into my driveway, the the fin just below the props hit ground/concrete. I pulled forward and corrected and parked the boat in the driveway. Almost immediately after I noticed a couple small drops of gear lube dripping near the prop. There wasn't a puddle on the ground but just a couple drops and a couple drops near the prop. I wiped away the lube and moved the boat couple inches so there was a clean spot just below the prop. If it was going to continue leaking I wanted to have a clean spot to start with. The next day, no lube is leaking. Nothing on the ground and nothing near the prop. Both places were dry. I then connected the muffs and started the engine and it seemed to run great as usual. I shut it down and let it sit for another day. The next day both places were dry. No signs of a leak.
The next day I put the boat on the lake again and it was running great. However about an hour into our boat ride an audible alert sounded and the digital gauge is showing a "system fault" and message saying gear lube is low. We immediately docked the boat, trailered it, and parked it at home safely in the driveway. I checked the lube reservoir and it was empty. I filled it back up, hooked up the muffs, and started the engine. It started right up and was running great. I shut it down and let the boat sit another day so I can check for leaks later. The next day the ground below and prop are both dry . No sign of a leak. I checked the reservoir and was still filled with a maybe a slight dip. I figured the lube must have found it's way down to the areas that needed it? The next day we took it back on the lake and drove it for about 30 minutes when we noticed the slight slow-down and vibration. That's when we stopped the boat to check for any prop damage. None that I can tell so we slowly drove the boat back to the dock while staying under 2000 RPMs. I did take it a little higher than 2000 and it does begin to vibrate but seems to vibrate more when turning left and right. Driving straight seemed to reduce the vibrating while above 2000 RPMs.
The boat is now home and there are no signs of a leak but there seems to be a slight loss of lube from the reservoir in the engine compartment.

So this is where I am. Before I take it into the mechanic, is there anything I can do to fix the problem and may not require a mechanic? I'm not mechanic but I'm mechanically inclined. I've replaced a starter on my other boat among other things but have not dealt with anything like this.
Thank you so much for your time.
Todd

2007 Sea Ray 240 Sundeck
Mercuiser 350 MAG Bravo Three

increased noise and vibration when turning generally has you looking at the U-joints on the input shaft of the drive.

You will have to remove the outdrive to check them.

You may want to remove the lower gear lube plug (Caution, gear lube will flow out, plug it with a helpers finger) and check the magnet on it. See if there is an accumulation of debris. Check the color of the gear oil to see if water has mixed with it.

Almost immediately after I noticed a couple small drops of gear lube dripping near the prop.

That when you should have stopped using it and found out where it was leaking from before the drive self-destructed. Being low on oil takes out the bearings and gears in the upper unit,
Evidently coning from the upper unit, thru the gimbal bearing into the hull
Tell the mechanic everything you said here

dlvwill said:

increased noise and vibration when turning generally has you looking at the U-joints on the input shaft of the drive.

You will have to remove the outdrive to check them.

Click to expand...

Thanks dlvwill. I was doing a little research on removing the the outdrive on this bravo 3 and I'm fairly confident I wouldn't have a problem doing so. When I had my 97 Sea Ray Bowride175 I would remove the outdrive on the alpha one fairly easy by myself but after watching a couple videos of the outrive on a bravo 3 I'm a little hesitant. One mechanic I watched mentioned the drive is about 190 pounds and may require another person to safely remove it. My bowrider fit in my garage which was a great place to work on the boat. This new boat is currently sitting on the street in front of my home which I'm not real thrilled about working on in it's current spot. I'd hate to get my self stuck not being able get the drive off and back together safely without some help. Bottom line, I don't want to make another silly mistake. I'm taking it in to my mechanic this morning. I've already shared all the info with him regarding my situation.

Thanks a bunch for the reply. I'll post the mechanics findings here when he gets back to me and asks me to Bring Out Another Thousand.

Espos4 said:

You may want to remove the lower gear lube plug (Caution, gear lube will flow out, plug it with a helpers finger) and check the magnet on it. See if there is an accumulation of debris. Check the color of the gear oil to see if water has mixed with it.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply Espos4. I haven't done this yet but I may do it just before I take it in. I'm very curious if water ever made it into the outdrive. If there doesnt appear to be any sign of water in the outrive that would be a good sign. My only real curiosity is if the gear lube ever got too low, causing some heat/friction. The 2nd time we had the boat on the water is when the audible alert sounded when the lube was low and we drove the boat back to the dock with no problems driving over 2000 RPMs. She ran perfectly fine which tells me the lube never got too low. There was still some lube in the reservoir. It wasn't until we took it out a 3rd time, this time full of lube in the reservoir, and we drove it for about 30 minutes to an hour when the engine seemed to lose a little power when we were cruising at about 4000 RPMs. I'm not sure what happened at that moment in time. Lube reservoir was still full. Engine temp was about 170. There were no system faults or alerts on the SmarCraft gauge. It was very strange. At that moment we just drove back to the dock while staying under 2000 RPMs where she appeared to be working great, unless I went above 2000 RPMs. In fact, when we were close to the dock I gave her a little more throttle and the engine surprisingly didn't feel like it was struggling and felt normal, but when turned left and right I would feel the vibrating and sound of the engine working harder than it should.
I'm anxious to hear what my mechanic says and I'll share the findings here. Thanks for the reply!

Bt Doctur said:

Almost immediately after I noticed a couple small drops of gear lube dripping near the prop.

That when you should have stopped using it and found out where it was leaking from before the drive self-destructed. Being low on oil takes out the bearings and gears in the upper unit,
Evidently coning from the upper unit, thru the gimbal bearing into the hull
Tell the mechanic everything you said here

Click to expand...

Hey there Bt Doctur, you're absolutely right. I absolutely should have taken her in before even thinking about putting her back in the water. My golden retriever energy can sometimes get me in trouble. "Everything is fine! Everything is great! Let's go play! Let's go play! We're gonna have a great time!" I will surely pay the price. My lack of judgement this time had to do with a previous and similar issue I had with my bowrider. A couple years ago I did something similar but that time I forgot to raise the outdrive before pulling the boat out of the water and the fin under the prop hit the concrete ramp. When I got home there was an obvious and slow leak of gear lube coming from the seal near 1 of the 6 bolts (top right bolt if i'm not mistaken) that hold the outdrive. I removed the outdrive to inspect and there wasn't really anything to see that made it clear there was a problem other than the leak. I removed the old gasket and seals and went to a local shop to get a replacement kit. I applied the gasket and rubber seals, greased everything up real good and put her back together. No more leak! Easy fix, just took a little elbow grease. When I did this to my bravo 3 I thought, well the leak stopped, it must be fine. No leak no problem. It's a silly way of thinking but again, my golden retriever energy got the best of me and here we are. I'm not one to make the same mistake twice and certainly won't take any chances like this again. I'm sure the repair bill will help me shed that golden retriever energy real quick! haha. Thanks for the reply and lesson. I'll be sure to post my mechanics findings...in shame of course.

some drops of gear fluid may be a sign of a bent prop shaft

control box in neutral
remove the trim cylinders,
unhook speedo line
remove 6 nuts
pull rearward
They are a handfull , bulky and heavy so have a helper ready and a cart/wagon/ dolly, etc

this is from ebay
Brand new: lowest price
$3,749.99
+ $112.45 Shipping
List price $6,992.99 Save 46%

• Get it by Wednesday, Jun 19 from Worcester, Massachusetts

•  • New condition
•  • 14 day returns - Buyer pays return shipping

good used
http://outboardmotortrade.com/produ...vo-3-III-Outdrive-UPPER-UNIT-2.00-RATIO-Drive

scoflaw said:

some drops of gear fluid may be a sign of a bent prop shaft

Click to expand...

I hope that's all it is. I just went and checked for a leak and it's there. I haven't seen the leak since this first happened days ago. I guess it's been sitting long enough full of gear fluid that it's being pushed out real slow. View attachment 71054

Bt Doctur said:

control box in neutral
remove the trim cylinders,
unhook speedo line
remove 6 nuts
pull rearward
They are a handfull , bulky and heavy so have a helper ready and a cart/wagon/ dolly, etc

Click to expand...

I'm definitely gonna let my mechanic look at it this time. Perhaps I'll work on it one day when it needs maintenance and not a repair. Thanks for the tips!

Bt Doctur said:

this is from ebay
Brand new: lowest price
$3,749.99
+ $112.45 Shipping
List price $6,992.99 Save 46%

• Get it by Wednesday, Jun 19 from Worcester, Massachusetts

•  • New condition
•  • 14 day returns - Buyer pays return shipping

Click to expand...

The price isn't terrible and may be the way to go if necessary. You really think the outdrive is completely toast? Even though she seemingly runs fine at low RPM and runs ok at high RPM but struggles turning at high RPM? Thanks again for your responses!

Bt Doctur said:

good used
http://outboardmotortrade.com/produ...vo-3-III-Outdrive-UPPER-UNIT-2.00-RATIO-Drive

Click to expand...

wow, that's a great option. I will definitely consider this as an option. Thank you!

Todd Fiore said:

I hope that's all it is. I just went and checked for a leak and it's there. I haven't seen the leak since this first happened days ago. I guess it's been sitting long enough full of gear fluid that it's being pushed out real slow. View attachment 71056View attachment 71054 View attachment 71055

Click to expand...

Those props are in bad need of some love.

techmitch said:

Those props are in bad need of some love.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. They're pretty chewed up.

I thought I'd check in since I took the boat in on Tuesday morning. I told my mechanic everything and he's gonna get back to me soon. If not tomorrow, some time next week. He's not convinced that the problem I'm having has anything to do with my prop contacting the concrete. He would have thought if the prop hitting the concrete had anything to do with my issue he feels I would have experienced this problem the very next time on the water. I didn't have a problem on the water that 2nd day other than the gear lube was low...almost empty. I had zero drive problems on the water that 2nd day and all gauges were good. No signs of overheating, no weird sounds, no power problems to speak of. It wasn't until the 3rd day of boating that the problem happened after about 30 minutes to an hour of boating. There was an unusual amount (however not unexpected) of debris on the lake and my initial thought when we lost a little power was that we hit something and that something may be caught in the prop. He's going to start with checking the prop and prop shaft and go from their. He asked if the boat has been taking on any water and I told him it has since I've had it. At the end of a day there's a gallon or 2 of water that comes out when I pull the plug. He's also going to check the bellows and other seals to see why water is entering the boat. There's no way to really know what's going on until he gets in there. Until then I'll keep my fingers crossed. All I can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Have a great night all!
Todd