Zorba
Active Member
I've been putting off writing this until I found out most of the details and what my course of action would be.
Over the labor day weekend we were headed out to the islands. As we came out of the channel and gave it throttle to get on plane, i had a serious vibration coming from my port side. Usually this is not a big deal, as many times seaweed fouls the gear and causes this. Normal protocol is to come off plane, and reverse to clear the running gear. This seemed to work as always so we proceeded on. As the 6 mile trip wore on i could feel a slight vibration but was not concerned. Before I headed into the marina we were staying at i jumped in the water just to see if anything was still under there. Nothing, so we headed in to marina to pump out and ultimately dock for the evening.
After pumping out, i reversed the port side engine to clear the dock and heard three very distinct and LOUD bangs, not internal bangs but something bouncing around in the ER bang. We were in a crowded marina so i immediately went to my dock. No transmission noise but as I maneuvered in to the dock a loud squeal started. I was close enough so i immediately shut down and coasted into the dock. I opened the ER to find this fiasco
3 of the 4 coupling bolts had actually sheared. In doing so the studs worked their way into the transmission case, turning my ER in to a machine shop...aluminum turnings and all. Big oh ****...
At this time i had to weigh my options and decided to limp home on the starboard motor. (thanks Capt Bob F for helping me out. Next time i hope we run into each other under better circumstances.) Made it back to my home marina to asses what i could do. After talking with a mechanic on my doc, we decided to replace the coupling bolts and see if that was the cause of the vibration. The thought was one was loose, causing slight vibration, leading to a chain reaction. So i replaced the bolts and unfortunately same issue of vibration and wobbly shaft, and now transfluid leaking out the area where the bolts made contact. Sooo off to the service center.
On a side note the boat tracks amazingly well with one engine. I barely had to turn the wheel to keep her straight and she turned like normal. Reverse on the other hand is a different story. I'm glad i had plenty of folks at the dock to help
After telling the shop what was going on, they were convinced i had hit something and damaged the prop and shaft... Well we puled the boat and guess what, not even a ding on the prop, no shiny edges from getting into some sand, just nothing. I knew i had not hit anything but was secretly hoping i did just to have a prayer that i could cover this with insurance. No such luck.
I got the call from the shop yesterday that they think the trans just let go... They're not sure until they get it out and wont comment on it until they get a look internally, but i can only guess the carrier went out allowing the shaft to wallow around in there, vibrate, loosen the bolts and leave me where i am today.
Good news is i'll be back in the water by next Friday, so i can at least enjoy October at the lake. I'm going to head up this Saturday to pay the bill, which is not as bad as i had feared, so I will update then with more photos and what happened internally with the tranny then.
Sorry for the long winded post. If anyone has any thoughts as to why this could happen i'm all ears.
Over the labor day weekend we were headed out to the islands. As we came out of the channel and gave it throttle to get on plane, i had a serious vibration coming from my port side. Usually this is not a big deal, as many times seaweed fouls the gear and causes this. Normal protocol is to come off plane, and reverse to clear the running gear. This seemed to work as always so we proceeded on. As the 6 mile trip wore on i could feel a slight vibration but was not concerned. Before I headed into the marina we were staying at i jumped in the water just to see if anything was still under there. Nothing, so we headed in to marina to pump out and ultimately dock for the evening.
After pumping out, i reversed the port side engine to clear the dock and heard three very distinct and LOUD bangs, not internal bangs but something bouncing around in the ER bang. We were in a crowded marina so i immediately went to my dock. No transmission noise but as I maneuvered in to the dock a loud squeal started. I was close enough so i immediately shut down and coasted into the dock. I opened the ER to find this fiasco
3 of the 4 coupling bolts had actually sheared. In doing so the studs worked their way into the transmission case, turning my ER in to a machine shop...aluminum turnings and all. Big oh ****...
At this time i had to weigh my options and decided to limp home on the starboard motor. (thanks Capt Bob F for helping me out. Next time i hope we run into each other under better circumstances.) Made it back to my home marina to asses what i could do. After talking with a mechanic on my doc, we decided to replace the coupling bolts and see if that was the cause of the vibration. The thought was one was loose, causing slight vibration, leading to a chain reaction. So i replaced the bolts and unfortunately same issue of vibration and wobbly shaft, and now transfluid leaking out the area where the bolts made contact. Sooo off to the service center.
On a side note the boat tracks amazingly well with one engine. I barely had to turn the wheel to keep her straight and she turned like normal. Reverse on the other hand is a different story. I'm glad i had plenty of folks at the dock to help
After telling the shop what was going on, they were convinced i had hit something and damaged the prop and shaft... Well we puled the boat and guess what, not even a ding on the prop, no shiny edges from getting into some sand, just nothing. I knew i had not hit anything but was secretly hoping i did just to have a prayer that i could cover this with insurance. No such luck.
I got the call from the shop yesterday that they think the trans just let go... They're not sure until they get it out and wont comment on it until they get a look internally, but i can only guess the carrier went out allowing the shaft to wallow around in there, vibrate, loosen the bolts and leave me where i am today.
Good news is i'll be back in the water by next Friday, so i can at least enjoy October at the lake. I'm going to head up this Saturday to pay the bill, which is not as bad as i had feared, so I will update then with more photos and what happened internally with the tranny then.
Sorry for the long winded post. If anyone has any thoughts as to why this could happen i'm all ears.
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