G23 Prop Fell Off .....

[scottb7]

I think is one speed fits most...LOL.

[Ryan1776]

You're probably right! DEAD SLOW AHEAD

[swankster]

It may be good to get you home but only if there is a light wind.

[Ryan1776]

as long as the light wind is a tailwind and its named.....hurricane Hugo.

[vision]

X80, X55, X35, X45, X46, Xstar, ASR, MXZ24, etc etc etc.

all heavy comparable boats that folks slam with 4-6k additional ballast and go bonkers with 400-550 hp.

No snapped shafts with these boats ^^^. And they are on the thinner 1 1/8" shafts!

Its not like the Gs are going into unchartered territory as it pertains to power and weight. These other boats are there and their shafts arent snapping.

Totally agree. Not an engineering problem. I still say it will end up being a manufacturing problem. Somebody is not following steel hardening procedures accurately.

[sja]

I'm not an engineer, but it seems there have been a lot of rotating shafts attached to propellers in a lot of different vessel designs for many years. This is such an apparently unique problem, that it seems logical to suspect a materials issue. Just curious and a little dismayed. How long could it take to test the strength/tempering of a couple of broken shafts?

[nyryan2001]

^^^^ agreed.

Daniel and Ryan's logic on the issue are sound... Just wrong conclusion IMO. All those boats I listed have same weights and forces.

obviously it's a steel quality or bad cuts on the key slot.

now, the tough answers are what's the best, fastest, cost effective way to remedy? Recall? Additional clamp on collar there where they snap to reinforce? Slightly longer strut for more and longer support on the shaft?

[Ryan1776]

SJA-1000% agree. This is not uncharted territory! Prop shafts have been turning wheels for along time!

As far as a test plan. Depends.
Who will do the testing. The steel company? (probably not) The manufacture of the shaft? Maybe, depends on their lab. But they could also outsource the testing to a 3rd company. You can see how this could be time consuming. Test setup, test run, report out findings.
Then you have to determine the fatigue cycling you want to proceed with. Block cycles? So you test say 300lbs-in torsion- for say 100cycles at maybe 1hz. Then go to 500lbs for 100cycles at 1hz, etc etc. Or you can do accelerated load fatigue. Maybe 2000lbs and run till it fails. That type of testing is usually done after a long history of testing and proven knowledge of the part.
I use to test a component that we would load it at 1500lbs and would run maybe 300-500 cycles, test completed in about an hour. By the number of cycles that that part yielded we could determine if the parts were to spec for 3 lives. As you said, this type of part, prop shaft, is nothing new, so I'd be surprised if they didn't have that previous knowledge to validate new shafts, or verify the issue with the current production.


NYRyan-I'm confused on your comment on wrong conclusion? What do you mean? You stated exactly what Dan and I talked about; material issue. Or am I reading this incorrectly?
You're correct though, those other boats are the same, no reason to believe otherwise.
Just like a stated before, if you recall the whole lot without knowing what is the root cause you could really be shooting yourself in the foot by possibly swapping a bad shaft where a good shaft was already running.
After it's determined a new lot of parts passes testing they could certainly do a complete recall IF they cannot determine which boats are ok.
As one person mentioned a tech came out and didn't "see" an issue and then his shaft broke. I'm not surprised. It's not a visual thing. Especially if the crack initializes inside the prop boss.
As far as a fix? You correct the material issue. That's it. No bandaids. Changing the strut means a major validation test plan. Where would the resultant load be transferred now? We all seem to agree it's a material issue. So by adding bandaids you'd need to do a complete validation for the system.

[nyryan2001]

SJA-1000% agree. This is not uncharted territory! Prop shafts have been turning wheels for along time!

NYRyan-I'm confused on your comment on wrong conclusion? What do you mean?

that they need thicker shafts

that they have responded and acted adequately on the issue.... a year now in to this and they are still snapping, nothing being done other than observation and replacements as they snap

[ffmedic74]

Ryan1776... The dealer is the one that told me about not having a tracking system.

[swankster]

I lost the 2014 I had ordered because my 2013 didn't sell soon enough. It was a real downer but so far no problems with the 2013. With all this trouble I'm not sure I want to get rid of mine. So far I have 120 hours, two minor prop repairs (send rain to North TX) and still no vibration. It sounds like most of the failures have occurred before the 100 hour mark. How many are out there without problems?

[scottb7]

I think it is not one year but 2 years since the first post of lost propeller.

[V8 Killer]

V8- just cruising along and it snapped?

Was crossing the main body of my lake with cruise set (back to dock / empty ballasts) at either 25 or 30 (don't remember, I cruise at both speeds which varies based on wind/wave size). All happened very quickly, probably 1.5 seconds from first vibration to the snap.

[V8 Killer]

Update on my G23:
I received it back from Buxton last Friday morning, complete with a complimentary detail (I was dead tired and it was after midnight Sunday/Monday when we got back so I took it to them very dirty Monday).
HUGE compliments and "thank you's" to Buxton Marine for a 4 day turn around, that's pretty amazing. In those 4 days they also took care of a couple of very minor warranty issues, the 25 hour service, and a repair on the interior where someone, somehow, managed a couple of tiny holes on some seat vinyl the day before the driveshaft snapped. I don't know many dealers (Nautique or otherwise) that could / would have managed to turn my boat back out to me so quickly considering the labor involved after obtaining the parts from Nautique.

Nautique, I'm told, doesn't cover the toe. Just standard policy, which I think is a shame. Mercedes, BMW, and every car manufacturer that bills themselves as the best covers towing during the warranty period. Heck, even non-premium brands have towing coverage! So why doesn't the boating industry have that, especially for the top brands? Why should I be out $300 for a tow-in on something 100% covered by warranty? If $20,000 Kias and $30,000 GMCs have it, shouldn't a $130k premium boat have it? (Nevermind the fuel cost to tow the boat to your Nautique dealer, pick it up, and my missed time at my job that pays for this boat...at least cover the tow-in Nautique.)

But alas, my boat is back and ran flawlessly this weekend. Nautique's quick shipment of the parts and Buxton's amazingly quick R&R is greatly appreciated.

Dusty

[scottb7]

And that is pretty much my point on nautique doing nothing for current owners. Can't they at least say that they will cover towing if your propeller falls off? So many people on this thread are over complicating the response, trying to figure out why the failure, and most irritatingly saying "relax" Nautique will make good. But in the meantime can't they just say they will reimburse towing up to $300 once dealer verifies propeller shaft failure????