Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

After 3 years trouble free, the engine lost power and sounded like the prop was slipping. Put my spare prop on while out on the water...made no difference. It also sounds like cavitation and louder that usual. Drove it over 2 hours back to the marina and it did not get any worse, or better. The engine seems normal at 2000 rpm but the problem gets worse above 3000. It feels like I am pulling a cement block behind the boat??? Any thoughts on this before I try and find someone I can trust with this issue?

It starts fine and idles fine, although it seems to gone thru more fuel than usual during this loss of power

Re: Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

First order is to determine where you are and are you mooring this boat.If you have an excess of growth on the bottom of this boat,Badaboom,that's where you start.If you are not mooring and the bottom is clean you will have to determine if that prop is in fact slipping.Remove the prop nut and spacer or washers depending on the prop you are useing and scribe a mark on the outer hub and the inner hub next to each other.Run the engine to the point of failure and remove the prop again.If those scribed lines are now askew,you have a spun hub in that prop.

Re: Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

Thanks for the tip. While I do not moor in water (trailer), I do travel on rivers almost exclusively. The boat is a v-hull 30' houseboat. While I did not notice exactly when this happened it may have been related to exiting a lock here in Louisiana. When the gate opened a large mat of vegetation floated in and I had to drive through it. I watched carefully for lumber and other potentially damaging material. Within a 100 yds of the lock a warning horn sounded on the motor. When I idled down the horn stopped before I could see which system tripped. I suspected overheating so I reversed a few seconds. But the motor was bogging. After a couple of reverses I put a used back-up prop on but it did not make any difference (the back-up prop was almost new but it could also have had a spun hub). I initially thought I wrapped a wire or rope around the prop in the lock, but nothing was on the shaft.

I will mark the prop as you suggest and put it in the water again at a local lake. I am hoping that resolves the concern because that is symptom, despite the prop substitution. If that resolves the issue I will note it on this site.

Re: Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

New prop installed today took care of prop slip. Hard to believe the new back up prop also slipped. The dealer suspects that the sleave dry rotted and separated while sitting in the boat the last 3 years. I guess that is a possibity in the heat belt of the south. Thanks for the moral support until I proved the slipping prop theory.

Re: Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

I have a 2006 BF135 as well, no problems yet. Was your prop SS or Alum.?

Re: Honda BF135 (246 hrs)

It was a stainless steel that initially went...I replaced it with an almost new aluminum mercruiser and it slipped immediately causing me to post the first note. I ordered a new mercruiser and it worked fine this weekend. I will be ordering another aluminum now for backup and see if I can get the SS repaired. I like the way the stainless sounds (quiet) as to the aluminum (a little noisier) but it is safer for river exploration with our 30' houseboat.

A prop dealer thought the back-up prop might have failed because I stored it on the boat with the Louisiana heat. Maybe I should keep it in the boat refrigerator...not.