Loud noise in neutral NO forward & reverse

[Bob & Sue]

Going to get fuel yesterday afternoon boat running fine at 3 knots down waterway all of a sudden a loud whirling noise similar to a broken u-joint or stripped gear in a car no vibration just noise. I put it in neutral stopped the engine didn't see anything wrong. Started engine loud noise in neutral tried forward and reverse nothing prop doesn't rotate noise gets louder with more throttle or with throttle only. Bravo 2 drive was just off to replace shift cable 2 months ago everything looked great u-joints, gimbal bearing and bellows were changed in Jan 2010. Called Sea Ray dealer while being towed back to the marina they are going to pick up boat tuesday and haul it over to repair it hopefully under warranty. Does this sound like stripped gears making the same noise in neutral has me stumped why it would happen at such a low speed. At least BoatUS saved me $400.00 for a tow. We have only had the boat since May but I do have all the service records from date of purchase in 99 this boat was serviced regularly by Sea Ray dealer we were just going to do a 100 hour service on it.

 

[Dick Whetstone]

About all this could be are: Broken U joint, broken coupler, stripped gears, wrung shaft. As you know none are good.

 

[Bob & Sue]

Sea Ray dealer just called the coupler spline is completely gone no spline left at all thats why it just sounded like a whirling noise with no vibration or burnt rubber smell. I asked if it should be replaced with the steel spline coupler instead of the aluminum one he strongly suggested against it for several reasons running in Puget Sound there is a lot of sea weed and logs his thinking is a coupler is lot cheaper to replace than severe damage from the steel coupler not giving and ruining a drive unit or worse. Any thoughts on this one?

 

[Bt Doctur]

If the drives were serviced and engine alignment checked at that time, something serious happened to throw the alignment out and take out the coupler. Suggest you check the engine mounts for rot or looseness. couplers only go from mis-alignment.

 

[Torque]

I had a similar experience..... couple hours after having the outdrive off for my annual "100hr service" which I was told included an engine and outdrive alignment along with inspection of all related components......... my coupler went while putting it into gear to idle with no abnormal resistance....... only time I've ever had to get towed...... good times..... particularly when you have a customer aboard who is not terribly comfortable on the water...

Anyhow, I only had a few hundred hours on the motor and outdrive at the time and had been maniacal about staying on top of service to avoid just this type of thing...... I would always start each service appt with "please inspect everything and if there is anything that looks like it might even be close to replacing, let's get it fixed ahead of time" and then drill down on things upon picking up the boat. They ended up giving me a break on some of the labor considering it was overlap on what they'd just completed the week prior as part of my service given the oversight.

Anyhow, I had a 7.4L with a Bravo II which also had an aluminum coupler. I agree with the dealer that it's way cheaper/easier to pull the outdrive and replace the coupler and I'd much prefer to sacrifice it over any specific piece of the outdrive. It's a handful of bolts to pull the outdrive and then a few more to pull the coupler...... rebuilding an outdrive is a lot of gears, shimming, etc. Way too much room for error and we had major issues with an attempt at that with our 268 after my Dad found a tree stump.

Stick with the aluminum coupler and be overly aggressive about lubing it at every opportunity. Avoid running in in trailer mode if you can, etc. and you should be ok. I got at least another 300hrs or so out of mine after replacing it before selling the boat.

Good luck!