Props installed backwards!

[Mittens]

FWIW, I own a Bravo I and no, you can't actually install a prop backwards. The back of the prop is basically flat and sits against the thrust washer whereas the front of the prop is recessed at least 2" or more so you'd never be able to even get the nut threaded.

yea you are correct, the off set of the prop hub would not allow the shaft threads to preturde threw the hub. so its not possible I stand corrected... but again I cant see ANYONE thats ever allowed to touch a boat, or a screw driver making that mistake... flip flopping right and left I can.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

Wow, this threat heated up fast. Sorry, work got in the way. By backwards I meant side to side. Not sure how else to say it. They were "running backwards" Obviously my drives are counter rotating so ENSURING THE PROPS GO ON THE RIGHT SIDE HAS TO BE THE DEALERS RESPONSIBILITY. I don't care what anyone says about that. I'm sick of shops making me check their work. Am I expected to check the torque on all of the bolts too?

People keep responding as if I intend to leave it this way and that its unsafe to drive. I have NO intention of leaving it this way and will swap them when I get home this eve. Considering I went out and floated in a cove a mile away for a few hours hardly seemed to be a safety concern since the shop told me it would do no harm which Dennis confirmed.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

It depends upon how close together the props are and the speed at which they turn. I think handling could well be affected because of the reversed props. Why not just load the boat on the trailer, move up the ramp and reverse them…..or am I missing something here?

Frank, this would have been the case IF the dealer was of any help that day. The guy at the desk thought something was done with the cables which I could not deal with. He never mentioned the possibility of the props running backwards and that thought never occurred to me until I got home and put it on muffs and the actual tech called me.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

Why would you think this was their fault ? Props were off when they received your boat, would you expect them to know if they rotated in or out ? The work they did for you wouldn't warrant a sea trial.
This is simple stuff. Maybe you should just swap the props before something much bigger happens. Crazy/stupid... driving around with the throttles reversed

Why would I think this is their fault? Would I expect them to know whether they rotated in or out???? What kind of questions are those?? Um, YES! Let's see, they are a certified sea ray dealer. They employ professional mechanics. They have all the access to all the boat info. They work on these boats for a living AND they charged me $2,000 for the repairs! You're damn right I expect them to know that and to do it correctly.

 

[JC3]

Cincy, You have every right to expect the boat to be put back together the right way! Sorry you had to go through this but
it will work out and great memories will be made this spring and summer. I hope the dealership makes this right. JC

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

Thanks JC. I'm not looking for the dealer to do anything. I don't want any freebies and I'm not hauling it all the way over there to swap the props around which should take me all of 20 minutes. Now, if I find out there aren't new anodes installed behind those props THAT will be another story. In the end, I was just wanting to express my frustration with having "professional" service done which in this somewhat small way let me down again. That, and to confirm, it was of no consequence operating it like that for a few hours. All will be well . . ..

 

[scoflaw]

Why would I think this is their fault? Would I expect them to know whether they rotated in or out???? What kind of questions are those?? Um, YES! Let's see, they are a certified sea ray dealer. They employ professional mechanics. They have all the access to all the boat info. They work on these boats for a living AND they charged me $2,000 for the repairs! You're damn right I expect them to know that and to do it correctly.

Like previously stated, you can alter those drives to rotate in either direction.Do you expect them to be clairvoyant? Your work order didn't even require them to start the engines.

 

[SCORPIO]

I'd swap those props around ASAP, trying to think in reverse in a close quarters situation with possible wind/current, could get you into costly trouble. If you have a trailer, pull her up out of the water, use your prop wrench and pull them off and swap them to their proper location and go boating.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

Like previously stated, you can alter those drives to rotate in either direction.Do you expect them to be clairvoyant? Your work order didn't even require them to start the engines.

No I don't expect them to be clairvoyant. I expect them to do what is necessary to do the job right. Doing the job right includes actually knowing which prop is for which drive. If that takes puttin one drive on muffs and starting it so beit.
So in your book it was acceptable to just guess with a 50% chance of being right and reinstall the props and send me on way wow? I'm suppose to know they just guessed? My work order includes whatever is necessary to do the job right. Part of the job was reinstalling the props. And you don't think they were responsible for knowing which one goes on which drive? Wow. Part of says you have to be joking but maybe not.
By the way, they put a new trim pump in. Are they responsible for making sure the right fluid is in it or should I drain it, get it tested and confirm the results myself? Just want to make sure I'm doing my due diligence.

 

[Thornton69]

Inboard and outboard rotating props both come with their own advantages depending on their applications. Wonder if this was simply a case of the mechanic looking over his shoulder at another boat without having to put any thought into it (in their own mind) and placing the props the same?

 

[Happy Hour IV]

Just a thought, the OP said he removed the props and then took it to the dealership. I am an electrical contractor and the worst thing I get to inherit is a job started by someone else. It leads to problems. So I have a little empathy for the dealership. I suspect they would mark the props left/right stbd/port or at least set them on the swimstep in the correct location as they removed them. This way no thinking or analyzing is involved. With the owner taking them off the entire project takes on different parameters.

WOW, first time I verbally supported a dealership in anyway, I do all my own work.

 

[somefun]

Do you mean the props were flip-flopped? Meaning, the port prop installed on the starboard drive and starboard prop installed on the port side?

I'm assuming this is the case and that my brain misinterpreted your meaning because it sounded like the props were literally installed inverted which I can't see being a possibility. I have a single Bravo I and I can't see how any prop could be installed backwards (the way my brain pictured it).

I was thinking the same thing too! Backwards vs on the wrong outdrive. It took me a while to finally figure out what was going on! :smt101

 

[aerobat77]

thats really an interesting one i never heard before .

i,m fully with him that the shop is responsible and this is a safety issue with potential to loose control and crash the boat manouvering at the dock or any other demanding situation calling for a quick reaction .

from a pure technical point ov view : there should be some difference in manouver thru a reversed wheel effect from a single prop installation . if the props are cupped i guess there should be significant difference being on plane .

if thats an fuel injected engine : does the ecu know if the throttle lever is in fwd or reverse and if yes does is accept wot / full rpm in reverse ??? with correctly installed props i never in my life gave WOT being in reverse - who of you tried to plane out going backwards ? ;-)))

 

[BillK2632]

A rookie mistake in my opinion, they should be able to look at the propellers and know which one goes where. That said, we have spent more time talking about it than it takes to swap them to the right drive. It was on the trailer when you noticed right, why not just swap them then?

This type of thing is why I hate dealing with any dealership shop etc when it comes to my cars or boat - unfortunately there are very few "professionals" that are cable of doing true top notch work. They seem to want to get in, get out, get paid.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

This post went off the rails and I'll put it to rest with these last comments. I was simply expressing my frustration with yet another dealer service that was done poorly. I'm not angry and I'm not looking for the them to reimburse me. I just wish when I pay to have a professional do something - as rare as that is - that they do it right. I have no confidence in any of them despite the fact that this was a "minor" mistake similar to my issue with Ford. I have already swapped the props back. No harm done. I was just surprised that some on this board wanted to give them a free pass and say it was my responsibility.

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

thats really an interesting one i never heard before .

i,m fully with him that the shop is responsible and this is a safety issue with potential to loose control and crash the boat manouvering at the dock or any other demanding situation calling for a quick reaction .

from a pure technical point ov view : there should be some difference in manouver thru a reversed wheel effect from a single prop installation . if the props are cupped i guess there should be significant difference being on plane .

if thats an fuel injected engine : does the ecu know if the throttle lever is in fwd or reverse and if yes does is accept wot / full rpm in reverse ??? with correctly installed props i never in my life gave WOT being in reverse - who of you tried to plane out going backwards ? ;-)))

aero- my boat is set up different than yours. I have independent shifters and throttles so I can can full throttle in either direction. because the drives rotate in opposite directions and the props are opposite of each other when you swap them, you get the effect that FWD is reverse and vice versa.

here's a pic:

Look at the props - one is designed to spin counter clockwise and the other clockwise to go fwd. That means the drive it is on has to be the correct one. This is before I swapped them back. The port drive spins counterclockwise in FWD and the starboard one spins clockwise in FWD. if you flip the props then it will be spinning in the opposite direction of the intended direction.

 

[Mittens]

Even if the shop did not pull the props they can figure out which one goes where.... put one drive in gear, and you know then which is the left and right hand prop.

 

[Boater420]

Just a thought, the OP said he removed the props and then took it to the dealership. I am an electrical contractor and the worst thing I get to inherit is a job started by someone else. It leads to problems. So I have a little empathy for the dealership. I suspect they would mark the props left/right stbd/port or at least set them on the swimstep in the correct location as they removed them. This way no thinking or analyzing is involved. With the owner taking them off the entire project takes on different parameters.

WOW, first time I verbally supported a dealership in anyway, I do all my own work.

My sentiments exactly...why didn't the OP mark the props when he took them off? Why just hand it to a dealership and expect them to figure it out? Had it been me, I would have reinstalled the props in the correct position and then brought it to the dealer for the remainder of the work.

 

[Mike Blake]

Popcorn and beer anyone?

 

[Cincy Aquaholic]

Popcorn and beer anyone?

:smt038 Ha!

Well, I guess as long as people continue to ask questions, I'll continue to respond.

Why didn't I reinstall the props and take it to the dealer? Simple, why do more work when they will end up charging me more to undo?? Seriously, guys, you all are acting like putting the props back on the correct direction is some major ordeal that can't be done without a lot of additional work. The analogy some one made about undoing some hacks attempt to fix something is not even remotely close to this situation. To a trained mechanic, the removal of the props by me was not much more invasive then taking the damn cover off the boat. They should know how it goes back on! But if you're telling me the Sea Ray dealer mechanics don't already know which direction these drives run from the factory then god forbid they ever have to touch my boat again. Again, why is putting one drive on muffs and figuring that out beyond a dealers responsibility if they don't already know?

Very odd that some think it was ok for them not to know which way they go on and not responsible to figure out but it was also ok for them to just GUESS. That's the part that I can't understand how you guys are ok with that.

i have to believe some inexperienced tech was told to reinstall them not knowing they spin different directions and not noticing they were opposite running. :huh: