Major vibration

[jleger98]

OUCH! This is the boat that I have agreed to buy. Tim is going to take care of the prop and the pickup for the speedo etc. He seems like a good guy.

My main concerns are is the shaft bent, and are the strut bushings ok. Is there anything else I should be concerned with before I actually pay for the boat? Tranny, mounts??

[dogbert]

Originally posted by jleger98
OUCH! This is the boat that I have agreed to buy. Tim is going to take care of the prop and the pickup for the speedo etc. He seems like a good guy.

My main concerns are is the shaft bent, and are the strut bushings ok. Is there anything else I should be concerned with before I actually pay for the boat? Tranny, mounts??

Well, I wouldn't worry too much. The rudder & strut, if they are bent, are going to be rather obvious, just look from the back of the boat and see if they are aligned with the fins. The prop you should be able to tell by looking at it or running your fingers over it. The shaft requires a little more expertise (which I don't have). That window latch he's referring to is really no big deal. It's pretty easy to replace and mine loosens from time to time. You don't want it too tight or you won't be able to turn it. Speedometer takeoff is pretty straight forward, too.

My little run-in was a real fluke...I think if I'd have hit a tree stump or rock there would have been less damage. My dealer was amazed because the prop ding was relatively minor compared to the rest of the damage. We were wakesurfing at the time and it really didn't sound that bad. The engine never missed a beat and there wasn't vibration at 2300 RPMs and only a little at higher speeds. I just noticed it when I pulled it out of the water and was dumbfounded.

[jciscott]

just bought a new prop.....

Thanks to everypone on the help. I just bought a new ACME on Ebay to replace my old OJ. See the attached link.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...BSAA%3AUS%3A31

Now I just have to figger out how to check shaft straightness......

Oh... to the guy that was gunna try to remove a prop with out a puller... forget it.... Buy the puller. I have the ironman, even with the correct tool, it can be exciting......

[jleger98]

I am not concerned at all with the latch or the pickup. Even if Tim were'nt going to replace them it would not be a deal breaker. But what I don't want is to get it home and find out that the guy at the marina didn't know what he was doing and drove it with the vibration and messed up the strut bushings or damaged the tranny or something like that.

I'll just have to trust that Tim will take care of it, and drive it well when I get there.

[Tequilasun]

It would be hard for me to belive that the strut bushings were ruined, unless there is a noticable bend in the shaft.

I would not be concerned about the Trany. It takes a pretty good wack to hurt the trany (or running it a long time with a strong vibration) Usually the below the water line stuff is the sacrificial portion of the drivetrain during a strike.

[jleger98]

Tequilasun,

Thats been my experience too. But you just don't know how long the guy at the Marina drove it, or if it was damaged taking the boat out or something.

[dogbert]

Re: just bought a new prop.....

Originally posted by jciscott
Thanks to everypone on the help. I just bought a new ACME on Ebay to replace my old OJ. See the attached link.

You got a great deal...the prop looks brand new (you can always tell if it's been worked on).

[jleger98]

I have an ACME on my old boat. Love it. They are nice props.

[kko]

if you remove prop. and just kick it into gear watch shaft spin if it looks like any sort of wobble its best to remove it and have it checked straightend and balanced.oh use some lube on strut bushing while checking shaft.

[baroda5]

Prop-pulsion!!

Wow, we took the prop off tonight. Man, that's no fun job. Wouldn't want to have do that out in deep water!!! It came off with a bang. We had a few turns on the prop puller, and were regripping for the next turn, when it came unseated!!! Scared us!! But everyone was right, that job can't be done without that tool, or at least mine needed it! Without it, we would have been trailering to the dealer, that's for sure.

One blade is definately tweaked, very obvious once you get it out of the water and examine it closer. I attached a couple pics, one showing the bad, one showing a good blade for reference. I'm sending it out to Henry Smith Co. to fix it. Should be done by Friday. I'll let you know if that fixes it. I'll also blip the throttle without the prop on to check the shaft for wobble.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

[baroda5]

Reference Pic

Good Blade

[jleger98]

Remember to make sure you lube the shaft bushings if you run it out of the water for any more than about 5 secs. If you have a garden hose nearby or a buddy that wants to get wet, have em dump water on it while you pop the throttle. If you think the prop was bad, try doing the bushings!

Thanks again to Tim for stepping up to the plate and taking care of this ASAP!

[Tequilasun]

That's quite a bend in the prop. It doesn't take much to really throw a vibration.

[baroda5]

Yeah, you would think that the driver would know they hit something with that bend! But they claim nothing happened on thier test drives, and I claim it wasn't like that before. Such is life!

[dogbert]

Originally posted by baroda5
Yeah, you would think that the driver would know they hit something with that bend! But they claim nothing happened on thier test drives, and I claim it wasn't like that before. Such is life!

If it's only 1 blade, it's entirely possible that the damage occurred when the boat was not running or on the trailer. My lastest prop ding only affected 1 blade and I had the engine shut down at the time.