I think I may have hurt my motor

[frankthomas]

i was running today in freshwater with my 1989 Mercruiser 5.0 with Alpha 1 outdrive. It was and always runs beautifully. Got close to shore and in some vegetation. Not real thick but enough apparently. Got out of it as quick as I could. But then I had major propulsion loss. Motor was responsive and sounded normal but I could not even get on plane when it was no problem before. Limped back to dock. Temp was fine the whole time. Reversed a couple times thinking maybe vegetation wrapped around the shaft. Got it on the trailer and no vegetation on the outdrive. Prop spun freely. Everything looked fine.

Any ideas?

 

[MTboatguy]

Are you sure you didn't pick up some fishing line? It happens quite often when you get into weeds and stuff, those weeds have a good chance of grabbing fishing line as well when people are fishing from the bank. I would pull the prop and take a look at what you might have got caught up in and then clean and put everything back together.

Good luck.

 

[mr 88]

Also possible that you spun the rubber prop hub. You van put it in gear or put a block of wood between prop and housing,then try spinning the prop with both hands or some sort of prybar that wont damage the blades. Or throw on your backup prop and see what happens with that one on.

 

[DeepCMark58A]

Pull the prop to inspect.

 

[GA_Boater]

But then I had major propulsion loss.

More detail? Reached WOT or above and boat didn't move right but moved OK at lower RPM's? Sounds like maybe a spun prop.

 

[wahlejim]

Don't worry too much about it, there are plenty of things that will break before that motor does in a couple of weeds. I would be shocked if the weeds hurt that engine.... Unless of course weeds blocked the raw water intake and you overheated it. That would be a completely different ball game. Those late 80s gm 5.0 engines are darn near bullet proof

 

[tacx]

Im betting on a spun prop hub .

let us know what you find

 

[briangcc]

I'm betting the OP took care of the issue after tossing it in reverse.

After going through weeds I toss it into reverse in clear water to clear the weeds from the prop. And when I say weeds, I mean weeds thick enough to walk on. As long as there were no alarms going off, you're fine.

 

[KJM]

spun prop would be my bet.....but those weeds must have been awful tough, lucky you didn't block the water intake.

 

[frankthomas]

Hello OP here... so I took the prop apart and learned a lot. The prop assembly is a Mercury Flo-Torq II. All the parts looked good and undamaged. But I am thinking the drive sleeve looks a bit rounded. I posted a pic. Agree? I am hoping cuz I think that is probably the cheapest fix. And looking back 10 minutes before the weeds, going out a channel into Lake Michigan, big swells and I contacted a sand bar. Didn't think it was that bad but I'm thinking that was it and maybe the weeds were the last straw.

 

[mr 88]

Yes the drive sleeve is designed out of plastic for a reason and you STRUCK that reason. Something has to give and that is a lot cheaper than a propeller shaft to repair among other possible things. The older props will have a rubber hub glued into the prop and spline assembly and that will break free over time or when hitting something. That method is a more expensive fix so it looks like you lucked out,Might want to buy some charts and pay attention to your depth finder.

 

[superbenk]

Those FloTorq hubs are rounded from the factory. I don’t think it’d be obvious that it’s spun just from looking at it. But I agree that you probably spun it & need to replace. FloTorq makes that a super simple process (and cheap) assuming the rest of the prop is fine.

 

[Sprig]

The picture tells me you spun the hub. New ones are rounded on the 4 corners but yours is much more rounded, it’s spun. Install a new hub kit and I’m sure you’ll be good to go.