mercruiser 3.0 trip from hell

[Tom Maslar]

I had to get my boat out of marina on Nov. 15 2018 or be subject to fine/impoundment. Nov. 15 comes: early freak nor'easter forecast, three to four foot seas, 15 to 20 mph winds= no problem. I get to dock, 1st quarter moon but there is four inches of water under boat. No joke! Four inches!! Wind must have sucked the tide low. There are two boats left in marina and the notice to vacate by fifteenth is on the pilon at each boat, listing all the bad things that will happen because you work for a living. (It snows 4.5 inches that day. My out drive is buried in muck. I decide to trim up and cowboy it out to avoid a fine or worse. I step on my vinyl seat and it cracks into pieces from the cold. This is a bad idea. I have to navigate a mile from port o call to Homan's creek where my truck and trailer are waiting at a ramp. After pulling boat out of slip, I go about twenty feet...great! Almost out of marina, I can do this.....I hear a boom at the stern drive and the boat starts vibrating...no real power at full throttle....make it to the loading ramp and about ten feet from ramp I hear another boom and the boat stops vibrating...sounds perfect. At home, prop is bent, needed to replace anyway. My question: why the two noises and change?.....what was that?

 

[Scott Danforth]

was the prop bent prior?

you may have hit something

you mentioned you had your drive up? if you left it up, you probably took out your u-joints

time to pull the drive for the annual inspection.

 

[Lou C]

sorry to hear of your problems, it sounds like you hit something in the low water condition. This is why I have always pulled our boat out when the weather in Oct is still good. After the end of Oct, the witch of November starts stirring.....

 

[Bt Doctur]

sorry to see you waited soooooooo long

 

[harringtondav]

As stated above, you need to pull your drive and do an autopsy.

Our boat is on the trailer mid-Sept when I pull our rail lift. I drain the engine and button it back up in case we want to take a fall leaf watching cruise. That hasn't happened in over 10 yrs. Sooner or later you have to face the fact that boating season is over. Sooner is better.

 

[Lewis1111]

sorry to see you waited soooooooo long

:thumb:

 

[Tom Maslar]

Hey guys! Happy Thanksgiving! I waited so long because I was chasing striped bass every minute I had a chance, anybody here ever do that before? I guess I was the kid who didn't wear a helmet when he rode his bike. The prop was not previously bent, just worn out on tips. Had there been no low tide on an unprecedented order of magnitude-- my plan would have executed perfectly--jump in boat and go home. I see a poster suggests inspecting/pulling lower unit. After my first bay test I will either have sea tow take it for inspection/repair or pull it, as needed--time allowing, myself. This boat has a lot of recent repair time in it, of my own..

 

[Tom Maslar]

As stated above, you need to pull your drive and do an autopsy.

Our boat is on the trailer mid-Sept when I pull our rail lift. I drain the engine and button it back up in case we want to take a fall leaf watching cruise. That hasn't happened in over 10 yrs. Sooner or later you have to face the fact that boating season is over. Sooner is better.

I plan on taking a dial indicator and checking the runout on the prop shaft before remotely considering pulling the recently overhauled out drive. Will check runout at same time I change prop and flow torque. Runout and spun hub seem logical firsts to me?

 

[Tom Maslar]

was the prop bent prior?

you may have hit something

you mentioned you had your drive up? if you left it up, you probably took out your u-joints

time to pull the drive for the annual inspection.

As replied to other poster--logic implies investigating the most obvious causes first I.e., prop shaft runout, spun hub. All good? Proceed to more invasive investigation: pull out drive assy: check gimble and u&joints, check alignment. Make sense?

 

[Bt Doctur]

not knowing how high you had the drive removal and inspection would be the right thing to do

 

[Tom Maslar]

not knowing how high you had the drive removal and inspection would be the right thing to do

Uh?....ok, whatever you say sir. Thank you for the education. Lol

 

[tpenfield]

. . . At home, prop is bent, needed to replace anyway. My question: why the two noises and change?.....what was that?

We not know why you heard 2 'booms'. The prop being bend would certainly explain one of the noises, but maybe you hit 2 things. As the others have stated, time for some outdrive inspection.

 

[Tom Maslar]

:thumb:

Yeah me too buddy...New Jersey...go figure.

 

[Lou C]

I plan on taking a dial indicator and checking the runout on the prop shaft before remotely considering pulling the recently overhauled out drive. Will check runout at same time I change prop and flow torque. Runout and spun hub seem logical firsts to me?

That consideration should not be remote. If you ran with it up due to low water your ujoints could be bad. If they are bad and you continue to run it, if the fail the driveshaft will destroy your transom mount assembly and the boat will sink. So....move that job up on your priority list. If you look in any Merc, Volvo or OMC manual you are supposed to do it every season anyway.
And....if you have insurance....you might want to report this depending on what you find...if a bent prop shaft for sure I would because a strike bad enough to do that, could fracture the upper or lower gears/pinion gear, and then those fail, it will lock up the drive and self destruct.

 

[Tom Maslar]

That consideration should not be remote. If you ran with it up due to low water your ujoints could be bad. If they are bad and you continue to run it, if the fail the driveshaft will destroy your transom mount assembly and the boat will sink. So....move that job up on your priority list. If you look in any Merc, Volvo or OMC manual you are supposed to do it every season anyway.
And....if you have insurance....you might want to report this depending on what you find...if a bent prop shaft for sure I would because a strike bad enough to do that, could fracture the upper or lower gears/pinion gear, and then those fail, it will lock up the drive and self destruct.

When u joints go bad they knock! To a trained mechanic it is a very audible knock! Furthermore, a failed u-joint will not destroy the transom and sink the boat. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. This thread is officially CLOSED!

 

[GA_Boater]

Since you don't like what you're hearing - Obliged. Don't know why you asked for advice?

 

[jbcurt00]

When u joints go bad they knock! To a trained mechanic it is a very audible knock! Furthermore, a failed u-joint will not destroy the transom and sink the boat. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. This thread is officially CLOSED!

helpful tip:
try not to alienate members trying to give helpful advice for free.

yes, sometimes the advice is worth exactly what you paid. Probably not in this case, as multiple members all suggest the same, and they are likely correct.

Lou is a fairly smart, very helpful guy, and is likely to give very good advice if he posts a response.

Being rude and hostile tends to give members just what they need to start ignore your posts, your requests for help/advice and your topics. And not just the member whose advice you dont agree with. Lots of these guys have known each other for years, IRL or simply thru this (and other) forums.

it is NOT up to you to decide when a topic is to be closed. Its a Mods. A simple request sent to a Mod to close a topic is how it should have beenhandled.

might want to review Lou's post you quoted. He didnt say u-joints would destroy a transom. He said their failure leads to driveshaft damage can in turn can mess up your transom shield assembly, which covers the thru hole. That could allow water thru the transom, and if fast/bad enough of a leak, can sink a boat.

sorry, in your haste to disagree, you must not have read for content or couldnt understand what he meant. It was clear enough to me. Of course, I have yet to partake in a tryptophan buffet.

good luck resolving your drive problem(s)

 

[achris]

... a failed u-joint will not destroy the transom and sink the boat....

I'm going to throw my hat in this ring too...

Having done 2 autopsies for insurance companies (I'm not only a trainer MERCRUISER tech, but was also a dealer principal) on boats that went under. I found the uni joint bellows ripped to pieces and most of the gimbal housing destroyed because the 'weapon end' of the unis was flailing around and smashing everything in their paths, I can attest to the fact that damaged unis WILL sink a boat....

A bad uni will knock, most of the time. But the 'damage' from a prop strike with the drive trimmed up is a flicked clip. That doesn't manifest as a knock, but it does allow the uni joint to come apart, rapidly!

For the 10 minutes it takes to pull the drive, it's very cheap 'peace of mind'.... (and yes, installing the drive does take longer, 11 minutes....) If you have any doubt about the times I claim, check out my videos on removing and installing a drive...

Chris........