KnotConnected
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2012
- Messages
- 221
Hey all!
This past Sunday we took the boat out with some family, 6 people total (more than I've had before). I ran the boat about 10 miles out to the lighthouse and back at ~3400 RPM. About an hour trip in total. About halfway back to the dock I noticed some vibrating from the back of the boat. Not super violent, but certainly noticeable (My GF noticed it too, but didn't want to mention anything until we were back at the dock). I think I *may* have hit something small / light earlier on, because i did hear a subtle thump and noticed the anchor bounce in the bow pulpit, but at the time shrugged it off as just a wave that hit us wrong.
The vibration went away as we throttled down. There is also no mechanical noises or apparent engine issues, everything else seems to run and sound fine. I checked the gear lube back at the dock, and the reservoir was down about 1" from the line (it was right at the line when we left) which has me worried. I lifted the drive in the water and inspected the props, but didn't see anything glaring. I checked the drive lube the following morning, and it was still about an inch down.
History: This winter I had the marina replace the U joint assembly, U joint bellows, gimbal bearing and some seals. I took the boat up river twice this year, but each cruise was about 30 minutes and we never went much beyond idle. This was the first time we had it up to WOT and had it at cruising speed for a while (whole boat ride was about an hour).
The real SOB is we're planning a 4 day trip about 60 miles up the bay in 2 weeks, and I won't be up on the boat until then...
Any ideas what the issue could be? Could this be a prop or drive alignment issue that the marina botched that just surfaced now that we had some time on the boat at speed? Is there anything I can check or rule out without pulling the boat out or cracking the drive off? Could the lower drive lube just be from running the boat at speed for a while since it was filled?
Also, is this the kind of thing I could just put off until after the trip, or should vibration like this be taken pretty seriously?
Thanks everyone! As always, I super appreciate your help and guidance!!!
This past Sunday we took the boat out with some family, 6 people total (more than I've had before). I ran the boat about 10 miles out to the lighthouse and back at ~3400 RPM. About an hour trip in total. About halfway back to the dock I noticed some vibrating from the back of the boat. Not super violent, but certainly noticeable (My GF noticed it too, but didn't want to mention anything until we were back at the dock). I think I *may* have hit something small / light earlier on, because i did hear a subtle thump and noticed the anchor bounce in the bow pulpit, but at the time shrugged it off as just a wave that hit us wrong.
The vibration went away as we throttled down. There is also no mechanical noises or apparent engine issues, everything else seems to run and sound fine. I checked the gear lube back at the dock, and the reservoir was down about 1" from the line (it was right at the line when we left) which has me worried. I lifted the drive in the water and inspected the props, but didn't see anything glaring. I checked the drive lube the following morning, and it was still about an inch down.
History: This winter I had the marina replace the U joint assembly, U joint bellows, gimbal bearing and some seals. I took the boat up river twice this year, but each cruise was about 30 minutes and we never went much beyond idle. This was the first time we had it up to WOT and had it at cruising speed for a while (whole boat ride was about an hour).
The real SOB is we're planning a 4 day trip about 60 miles up the bay in 2 weeks, and I won't be up on the boat until then...
Any ideas what the issue could be? Could this be a prop or drive alignment issue that the marina botched that just surfaced now that we had some time on the boat at speed? Is there anything I can check or rule out without pulling the boat out or cracking the drive off? Could the lower drive lube just be from running the boat at speed for a while since it was filled?
Also, is this the kind of thing I could just put off until after the trip, or should vibration like this be taken pretty seriously?
Thanks everyone! As always, I super appreciate your help and guidance!!!