Prop shaft break on 07 340

hack4alivin

Active Member
TECHNICAL Contributor
Apr 18, 2008
2,518
Joppa, Maryland
Boat Info
320 Dancer
Engines
Twin 350 V Drives
We took advantage of our first really good weather day since we splashed last month and made the cruise to Still Pond and rafted up with some friends. Saturday was beautiful here in Maryland and it was time to take advantage of it. Our cruise over was not uneventful however. We started with three boats. One of my friends with his 07 340 started coming up on my starboard side; he said they wanted to take pictures. All of the sudden he dropped back and stopped dead in the water. When I hailed him he told me is “spun a coupling” on the port engine, and had no power to the prop. We went back, and he opened the hatch. The transmission was turning but the prop shaft was not. At that point we knew he had to return home on one engine, and we told him we would escort him back. He insisted he would be OK and for us to continue to Still Pond. Still I told him I did not mind, but he insisted he would be OK. So we decided to move on, but keep in contact by radio or cell phone. By the time we got to Still Pond he phoned and said they were back at the home marina and getting ready to haul out the boat. We were the only raft up in Still Pond and had the area to ourselves, but what a great relaxing day it was. There are pictures on our website. http://gunpowdercove.webs.com/apps/photos/

We returned to the Marina that evening and our friends with the 340 where still there. They partied at the slip after bringing the boat in. We went up to look at the boat out of the water, and he told me the entire prop shaft BROKE. The prop came back and hit the rudder and bent the prop up. I know he did not hit anything we were in 20 feet of water, so we can’t figure out what could have broken that shaft. He also told me he had gotten a notice from Sea Ray about the possibility of the shaft breaking and coming out of the boat, and Sea Ray recommended placing some type of slip collar to prevent the shaft from coming out. In his case the prop stopped it from coming out when it hit the rudder. Has anyone else heard of anything like this with a 340?
 
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For real? SR knows of a problem that could cause the shaft to snap, and they recommend adding something to keep the shaft from falling out of the boat, rather than recalling and fixing the problem?
 
For real? SR knows of a problem that could cause the shaft to snap, and they recommend adding something to keep the shaft from falling out of the boat, rather than recalling and fixing the problem?

That is what the owner told me, I don't have first hand information on this myself. The one thing I know is he was pulling along side me and I was doing 25 knots, he throttled up to pull along side to take some picture and next think I know he dropped off. 20 feet of water and nothing else around to hit. No damage at all to a freshly bottom painted boat ??
 
This is not a 340 problem. It has been going on periodically with a variety of boats in the line. I'm not sure what the source of the problem is. There are some detailed threads on this forum with close-up photos and discussions about metalergy.
 
This is not a 340 problem. It has been going on periodically with a variety of boats in the line. I'm not sure what the source of the problem is. There are some detailed threads on this forum with close-up photos and discussions about metalergy.

Now that makes sense to me, it would seem like a shaft issue.
 
That is disturbing. I can see how someone might assume that they hit something and put it through their insurance. Good to know about this. Something else to worry about.
 
This happened to my friends 06 - 340 - MM originally suggested that they hit something. They finally decided it was an alignment issue. They lost the prop in their case, it tore up the rudder pretty bad and gouged up the bottom of the boat.
 
This happened to my friends 06 - 340 - MM originally suggested that they hit something. They finally decided it was an alignment issue. They lost the prop in their case, it tore up the rudder pretty bad and gouged up the bottom of the boat.


We looked over the bottom of the boat and saw no signs of damage, even to the rudder, just the prop.

If they lost the prop did the shaft come out as well? In this case that was the only thing keeps the shaft from coming out of the boat.
 
Yes they lost the shaft as well.
 
Sea Ray did make good on everything - no questions asked. MM was the one stating maybe you hit something. The owner had complained that the boat seemed to have a vibration and the dealer said it was normal. He didn't know yet - his previous boat was a single engine outdrive boat. This happened the first 50 hours of owning the boat.
 
Sea Ray did make good on everything - no questions asked. MM was the one stating maybe you hit something. The owner had complained that the boat seemed to have a vibration and the dealer said it was normal. He didn't know yet - his previous boat was a single engine outdrive boat. This happened the first 50 hours of owning the boat.

The MM dealer here is putting this in as a warranty claim as well. I guess the first reaction would be “what did you hit”. In fact I asked him that very same thing on the radio when he told me he was down. I mean he was no more than 30 feet away from me at the time it happened. I will update when I find out more details, but right now all the parts are on order and hopefully he will be back in the water by this weekend.
 
This is a common problem. My 1993 370 Express suffered a broken shaft with just 40 hours on the boat. It was attributed to an alignment problem and SR took care of the matter. After that happened several other 370 owners told me they had a similar problem. The shafts were not all that beefy, but the new shaft we had installed lasted for the 10 years I owned the boat and it went through some big seas. I usually see or hear about one of these issues every boating season. Some buyers will purchase a spare shaft and an extra set of props when they buy their new boats. I believe Tiara offers this as an option although I've never heard of them having shaft failure issues.
 
Our starboard prop shaft broke at 60 hours on a 2007 340 DA. At the marina they told us we must have hit a log in the Cape Fear River.

Never felt the hit, only felt the vibration, then the sudden loss of power on one side. Had it fixed at our expense.

When the folks fixing your boat say you hit something, that's it...

Gordon and Linda Mathes
2007 340 DA Chill Factor
Sneads Ferry, NC
 
Hello to everyone at Club Searay. 1st time on the Club Searay forums, and much to my surprise, your talking about my latest adventure with my boat. I am the one who experienced the shaft breakage last Saturday. I am happy to report that MM has assured me that SR will be replacing both shafts and Both Props. Thank-you warranty. There is STILL no clear answer as to WHY this occured.
 
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Hello to everyone at Club Searay. 1st time on the Club Searay forums, and much to my surprise, your talking about my latest adventure with my boat. I am the one who experienced the shaft breakage last Saturday. I am happy to report that MM has assured me that SR will be replacing both shafts and Both Props. Thank-you warranty. There is STILL no clear answer as to WHY this occured.

They are doing both the starboard and port shafts and props? How did you pull that one off?:thumbsup:
 
I have my boat sitting right next to Here4Beer being prepped for delivery (just bought it used from MM). I saw you coming in and headed straight to the lift slot. I was sorry to see your plans ruined for the weekend, but hopefully this will be the first, last, and only big problem you have this season!

I hope things work out for you, and SR along with MM take good care of you.
 
Yes, Ryan from MM contacted me and told me that after speaking with SR, to insure the boat doesnt experience any more critical malfunctions of this type, they will be replacing both Port and starboard shafts and props. Im not sure how long this might take but I was told they were on top of it. And I wanna say thank-you to Jim M for the comment.
 
Hi Here4Beer,

Sorry to hear about your mishap on Saturday. We are a few slips up from you on J pier. We just purchased our boat used from MM and they have been prompt, courteous, and professional in everything they have done (and its been extensive) to get our boat ready for delivery. Glad to hear they are replacing both shafts as that was the first thing I though that its a defect and it might be in the other shaft also.

Where did the shaft shear at? Just curious. Well hopefully this IS the end of trouble for the season and at least you got it out of the way early!

Take Care!
Tom
 

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