Lost wheel maybe?

[RobnBern]

Hello all:

As our first season of ownership draws to a close, the boat decided to act up. Perhaps it didn't wanna go out into the Potomac for one final evening cruise. Whatever the reason, here's what happened. We were outbound at 5kts with no problems. Applied power to come up on plane in the center of the channel, 16' of water. The boat responded nicely and began climbing the hill, when suddenly she starts turning to starboard. No response from the starboard throttle. I turn the wheel to port but she's not turning as quickly as I expect. I roll the throttles back, check my gauges and listen for noise. Gauges are fine. No noise. No vibration. No nothin'. Just perfectly idling twin big blocks. (that whole event was over in seconds so I didn't have time to destroy anything) I throttled up the port and it sounded great. Throttled up the starboard with the same result. Engage port transmission, all is as expected. Engage starboard....nothin'. She revs up but no go. Check below, no leaks or anything. Engage starboard trans and the shaft spins, stops and reverses on command. Again, not wiggling, vibrating or anything unusual.

So, I take the boat back to the slip (sad because I spent all day cleaning the boat for the Admirals arrival. Planned on a kidless overnight on the hook). Parking a 370 on one engine was stressful but I was so focused I managed to get it in on the first try without banging into anything.

I haven't lifted her yet. I'll do that this week. As long as there's no water coming in, there's no rush. All I'm gonna do is winterize it and fix the problem. I check it everyday and there's no water comin' in and everything appears and sounds normal.

So, my suspicion is that the wheel fell off. But why?? I know we didn't hit anything since we've owned the boat. What else could it be?? What indications would it give if the wheel sheared off (wouldn't the shaft rattle around?). Also, if the wheel is gone, any other 1995-1999 370DA owners have any experience with the 4 blade wheels? I know you lose top end, gain better handling and better mid range speed, but what else (good and bad).

Well my friends, looking forward to hearing your collective wisdom.

RJ

 

[Dick Whetstone]

Sounds like that is exactly what happened. Before you spend $$$ to haul it out (unless you were lifting it any way), why not put on a diving mask and go under it and take a look or a "feel", if the water is too murky.

 

[dpmulvey]

Sounds like a lost wheel. Never heard of that on an inboard before. Hopefully, just a sheered key.

Is the shaft turning at the v drive?

 

[rcknecht]

It is not likely that you just lost the prop... Probably the shaft sheared and you lost the end of your shaft and prop... A lot a stress is put on the shaft as you climb out the hole, and you have 1 1/4" shafts on your 370... I have 1 1/2" shafts on my 340, and the 1 1/2" seem to break frequently. Check you dripless seals, if they have never been replaced, you will probably want to replace them when you pull the shafts. Keep your good shaft as a spare and buy two new shafts. There is a guy on this site who was selling the the props for your boat, I can't remember his name... This will be a costly repair. 2 new shafts about $1,000 -$1,200, Cutless Beaings and dripless seals $3,000. Props vary in prices, but if you go the 4 blade route it will be about $1,400. Good news is you have all winter to get the boat repaired...

 

[Alex F]

Sorry to hear about the problem. I would think that if you loose a prop it would hit the hull at least with a single bang.....may be not. But, as suggested above I would dive in to inspect, so there's no guessing.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

[PlayDate]

RJ,

That sucks. It looks like you are at Washington Marina so diving the boat is out unless you can get Mike Gutterman to do it for you. DC now requires a dry suit in the Washington Channel because of the pollution from the Anacostia river. He is the commercial diver on call for Gangplank, Washington Marina and James Creek. He also is pretty good at finding things. It might be worth it to have him or another diver take a look just to see what happened.

I have had to make the trip to Fort Washinton on one shaft and it isn't much fun. You just need to have a few friends with you when you go and a day without wind. I know the folks down at Fort Washington if you need help.

-John

 

[dpmulvey]

It is not likely that you just lost the prop... Probably the shaft sheared and you lost the end of your shaft and prop... A lot a stress is put on the shaft as you climb out the hole, and you have 1 1/4" shafts on your 370... I have 1 1/2" shafts on my 340, and the 1 1/2" seem to break frequently. Check you dripless seals, if they have never been replaced, you will probably want to replace them when you pull the shafts. Keep your good shaft as a spare and buy two new shafts. There is a guy on this site who was selling the the props for your boat, I can't remember his name... This will be a costly repair. 2 new shafts about $1,000 -$1,200, Cutless Beaings and dripless seals $3,000. Props vary in prices, but if you go the 4 blade route it will be about $1,400. Good news is you have all winter to get the boat repaired...

"...Probably the shaft sheared and you lost the end of your shaft and prop......"

WOW! Never heard of such a thing.

 

[RobnBern]

It is not likely that you just lost the prop... Probably the shaft sheared and you lost the end of your shaft and prop... A lot a stress is put on the shaft as you climb out the hole, and you have 1 1/4" shafts on your 370... I have 1 1/2" shafts on my 340, and the 1 1/2" seem to break frequently. Check you dripless seals, if they have never been replaced, you will probably want to replace them when you pull the shafts. Keep your good shaft as a spare and buy two new shafts. There is a guy on this site who was selling the the props for your boat, I can't remember his name... This will be a costly repair. 2 new shafts about $1,000 -$1,200, Cutless Beaings and dripless seals $3,000. Props vary in prices, but if you go the 4 blade route it will be about $1,400. Good news is you have all winter to get the boat repaired...

DUDE...you were supposed to make me feel BETTER!! NOT make me consider ways to bury a 370 in the Occoquan!! Good Lord!! Tell me again, why couldn't I have been happy with a single engine....AIRPLANE?? It's gotta be less expensive than this thing!!!

 

[spikedaddy99]

Exactly what happened to me this summer on my 320.
No damage to bottom of boat.
Mike

 

[rcknecht]

DUDE...you were supposed to make me feel BETTER!! NOT make me consider ways to bury a 370 in the Occoquan!! Good Lord!! Tell me again, why couldn't I have been happy with a single engine....AIRPLANE?? It's gotta be less expensive than this thing!!!

I feel your pain... I spent over $20K this past summer in maintenance... No Christmas or Birthday presents for me for the next 10 years... I did not loose a prop, but had the dripless seals and cutlass bearings replaced. Plus a new genny, new exhausts, and some other more routine maintenance... I wish my trouble happened at the end of the boating season. The bright side is you should have to miss any good boating days, and you have all winter to pay for the repairs... The 370 is a beautiful boat, and like most beautiful women, they are "high maintenance"...

 

[Lady Ashley SR560]

I would recomend a underwater camera From Harbor Freight. I paid under $100 5 years ago and cant even count the # of times i used it for different reasions. Example: lil sister drops a dock line off the stearn while dockin and dosent tell me. i ty wrap it to the end of a boat pole with a filet knife attached. In the moniter i can see the knife blade. After 5 min i figured out the dirrection of the rope on the prop and shaft. Went below turned the shaft and continued to check the moniter several times(meanwhile freinds and members at my marina r getting a big kick out of me and laughing) not even 20 min. later im wrapping up my rope undamaged un tangled and storeing it in the locker. $$$$$ well spent

 

[Alegria]

DUDE...you were supposed to make me feel BETTER!! NOT make me consider ways to bury a 370 in the Occoquan!! Good Lord!! Tell me again, why couldn't I have been happy with a single engine....AIRPLANE?? It's gotta be less expensive than this thing!!!

Rob. I feel for ya. Didn't you have transmission troubles earlier this year!! Best of luck!!

 

[RobnBern]

Rob. I feel for ya. Didn't you have transmission troubles earlier this year!! Best of luck!!

Hey Tom,

yeah I did!! On the day we brought the boat home. About 130 miles into the journey, we lost the port transmission. We covered more miles on the boat that day than it had seen in 3 seasons combined. It's like I told someone else, heed the advice that is offered on this board. I was talked OUT of getting my fluids analyzed. It may have helped, I'll never know. But, I know for a fact, next boat gets the works. Not just a survey but a COMPLETE physical....(all us fella's over 40 know EXACTLY what I mean!!) hahah

We'll get thru this and somethin' else will break. At least she made it thru the season. And, each time, she's always made it to port on her own power, so I'm not bitching too much.....yet!!

 

[RobnBern]

UPDATE:

#1...THANK YOU SO MUCH CAPTAIN PETE!! Your recommendation of the underwater camera was spot on!! We used to on our boat and 3 others on the dock. I actually think some of the guys made up reasons just to try it out!! But, it was cool, they paid in beer!!

#2. The wheel is on the boat, not the bottom of the river. We did a lot more snooping and we believe it's a sheared keyway in transmission. BEFORE I GO ONE WORD FURTHER...I may be wrong on the specific names, but I do know what the mechanics are teaching me and it seems to make sense. At the forward end of the transmission, there's a bit of the shaft poking out. On it there's a cotter pin and a damn big nut. Then there's a big hub. On the working port trans, when you engage the transmission, the hub and that shaft bit will rotate (along with the big nut). However, on the starboard (side in question), when you engage, only the hub rotates. We actually were able to turn the nut with a pair of channel locks, so that's not a good thing. It should be significantly tighter.

We'll plan to get into it deeper next week, but I'm happy the wheel is on the boat. Even if the shaft needs replacing for one reason or another, I don't have to buy a new wheel...

Hope you all had a great weekend.

 

[HUMPH]

Great news!