Prop shaft broke on 340DA yesterday

[timemachine]

While cruising at only about 3300 RPMs my wife and I felt and vibration which got worst quick. Before I even had time to throttle back we felt a good bumb then the a quick beep from the starboard engine. I immediately throttled back and put both engines in neutral. I checked both engines and they seemed fine. I put the starboard in gear and transmission sounded fine but the boat did not move. Gave a little gas and still did not move. The port worked fine so we did and about face and headed to the dock. A quick dive under the boat back at the dock showed the prop was completely gone. I had the boat pulled immediately to check for further damage and luckily only 2 small gashes in the fiberglass. As you can see from the pics below the shaft snapped behind the prop at the strut. I was told the strut and rudder are also fine.

Anyone guestimate the cost for this repair? I told them to fix it and give me a quote for the ins. company who might cover some of the work but you never know.

 

[tobnpr]

That doesn't look right to me- the shaft appears to be too short, maybe it's the angle of the picture?

The keyway appears to be extending into the cutlass bearing- that shouldn't be...

Is (was) that the factory shaft??

Snapping at the keyway is usually due to point-loading of the key on the shaft- rather than an even distribution of the loads along the entire length of the keyway. Fitting the key properly is CRITICAL to prop installation...

 

[sbw1]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs156.ash2/41116_475051972505_810037505_6731047_3920979_n.jpg[/IMG]

Shafts are about $1,500. Not sure what a new prop for your boat costs. Labor is about 2 hours times your local rate plus a hoist fee. Hoist fees are all over the ballpark. Here the cost would be $90. Assuming no hidden damage you are looking at a bill in the range of $2,500-$3,000.

 

[timemachine]

I do not believe the shaft moved. I was told today that they tried yesterday to take the shaft out but because there's nothing to grab they are having a hard time and might have to cut it on the inside. Anyone ever heard of this? Would seem they could fabricate a puller point if they could weld the shaft? I really don't know. All I can tell you for sure is it sucked without a boat this weekend but I can deal with it. Next weekend will be another story...

 

[timemachine]

The boats and 06 and as far as I know all original shafts.

 

[tobnpr]

Original or not, it isn't "right".
No way should the keyway for the prop be extending into the bearing. It would be impossible to seat the prop correctly. What does the other shaft look like- what is the spacing between the prop and the strut?

The shaft is already scrap stainless- so what's the diff if they cut it off at the coupler?

 

[fwebster]

There is nothing to grab on to. If it is cut forward of the bearing, perhaps they can drive the shaft out of the strut bore. Trying to grab on to the shaft stub would be impossible and clamping something on the shaft ahead of the strut will probably scar the shaft which may damage the bearing you are trying to save.

If this were me, I'd loosen the set screws and pull the entire shaft and bearing out of the strut bore together and just replace the cutlass bearing.

 

[mistercomputerman]

I broke one recently and paid $1200 to the machine shop to turn a new shaft. I bought a set of nibral wheels from fpmarine.com but I don't remember what I paid. I replaced the shaft myself so no yard labor other than the haul and yard time for 4 days.

They tell me sometimes you have to cut the shaft inside the boat to get it out.

 

[timemachine]

I have to find a prop and shaft or wait to have the shaft made and hopefully find a prop somewhere. For what sounded like a simple job may keep me out of the water for a few weeks...

 

[rcknecht]

Is this covered by your insurance? If you "hit" something, I believe it might be...

 

[AKBASSKING]

That is a little unuseal. There doesn't appear to be any corrsion on the break area. A clean break.

I was looking at props and for my boat a replacement was about $1600. I was showing the admiral in an attemt to justify a new chartplotter.....

 

[MAKC]

Something to think about...if the starboard side shaft failed, you may want to think about replacing the port side as well. My starboard side broke in the same spot in the same way. The replacement shaft cost about $1200 and i had them use Aquamet 22 versus the standard Aquamet 17 that my boat came with. As you get a new prop, you may want to have the port side prop sent out to be balanced to the new one. And as you put the boat back in the water, let it sit for a few days and then have the engines/shafts aligned.

2 Shafts, 1 prop, prop balancing, engine alignment, and labor cost me over 7K. You may want to run this by your insurance and then see if there is any warranty help that your dealer or Sea Ray can give you.

Good Luck

 

[spikedaddy99]

The exact thing happened on my 320 in June at the exact same spot. Replacement was about $2500 but Sea Ray paid for mine under warranty. If you search clubsearay, you will see numerous 320's and 340's with broken shafts. I would pester sea ray some and see if they will admit a problem with these years.
Mike

 

[Marcelina]

The shafts are defective. SeaRay has had a lot of problems. I snapped two.
The issue is reported to be from the non chamfered keyway. The new shafts have chamfered keyways to dissipate stress along the cuts. Shaft will 99% have to be cut.
Sea Ray issued a service bulletin in '08 to collar the shafts. Did you comply? SeaRay should pay the claim.

 

[Marcelina]

Shaft will have to be cut, it is already scrap, and there is not much room to work with....
I have been through this twice on our 07 DA34.
SeaRay paid the bills....the shafts are known to be defective. SeaRay
installed shaft collars to keep the snapped shafts from departing the boat.
I also questioned the position of the keyway inside the cutlass.

I have zero confidence in our vessel.

 

[Skeetobite]

Just went through this exact issue 2 months ago. The yard tells me they see a ton of Sea Rays with this problem, in fact, Sea Ray is the only brand they have replaced broken shafts on in 30 years. Their conclusion is "heavy boats with powerful engines, combined with large props and skinny shafts". Looking at the shaft log size compared to the actual OEM shafts, it looks like there's room for shafts twice the size (and twice the cost)

I upgraded to the Aquamet 22, but only paid $650 per side. Sent both props out to be tuned. Luckily, the prop I lost was found within 100 yards of the dock. I gave the diver $100 and a big smile.

It was intresting to note that they keyway on the shaft that broke had right angles in the cut. The new shafts have a radius in the corner of the keyways. The shop making the shafts indicated the radius helps remove the weak point a right angle causes. We'll see.

Looking at the pic on the previous page, I agree that the shaft looks short. Can't understand why the keyway would be inside the cutless bearing.

 

[Yachtmaster.]

I had my shaft replaced but the prop was OK. The shaft broke at the coupler so it had to be replaced also. Total bill was 3,659.00. Shafts are custom made for each boat. I do have two 3 blade props 17x17 sitting around in the shop.

 

[WTP07]

I had the exact same thing happen on my Cruisers this year:

150' of water, we didn't hit anything.

According to the INS co, we hit something.

Total repair bill was $3400. My end of that was $880.00.

Took 3 weeks to get it repaired, and I was in the middle of no-where when it broke. (Google Maps: Little Current, Ontario)

I believe both the prop and shaft came from Kawartha Prop Works in Buckhorn, Ontario.

Back in the water and home now, all good.

 

[timemachine]

After all I have been reading sounds like this is a known Searay issue and I have contacted them to see about getting the other shaft done as well. I will try to do that one at the end of the year to avoid the extra cost of the haul unless Searay steps up and covers the cost. From what am reading sounds like I have a good case...

 

[sbw1]

After all I have been reading sounds like this is a known Searay issue and I have contacted them to see about getting the other shaft done as well. I will try to do that one at the end of the year to avoid the extra cost of the haul unless Searay steps up and covers the cost. From what am reading sounds like I have a good case...

My 37 SR lost a shaft and prop during the first season. Again, it was sort of a known problem. Makes you wonder. The other shaft was still original at 11 years. Marginal shafts can be an issue when running in big following seas. Puts a lot of strain on things.