G23 Prop Fell Off .....

[greggmck]

Agreed...where can I find a job that allows me to afford a G23 and create diagrams for PN all day? If you're hiring hit me up.

Yes. Go to great schools, get degrees in Physics and Engineering. Work for 30 years earning some of the most valuable patents, design the latest generation cloud systems and you too can retire early and surf all day with your kids. And when the water is rough you can make pictures to help others to better understand how their boats operate. So consider yourself hit up!

[heel5man]

My second prop shaft failure happened yesterday. First was on our 17 G23 and this time on the 18 G23 with mid-30s hours. We were heading home going maybe 20 mph with no ballast and four in the boat. Thankfully my buddy (also with 18 G23) was nearby to come assist, but we laughed about his shaft breaking while towing!

My dealer said his customers' failure rate was around 75% this year. They provided great service by overnighting the new shaft and will have us back on the water within 48 hours. Hope CC can get to the bottom of it soon.

[scottb7]

My dealer said his customers' failure rate was around 75% this year.

Wow

[GMLIII]

Darn so sorry not good. Glad you will be back in action prior to the Holiday

[ironj32]

My second prop shaft failure happened yesterday. First was on our 17 G23 and this time on the 18 G23 with mid-30s hours. We were heading home going maybe 20 mph with no ballast and four in the boat. Thankfully my buddy (also with 18 G23) was nearby to come assist, but we laughed about his shaft breaking while towing!

My dealer said his customers' failure rate was around 75% this year. They provided great service by overnighting the new shaft and will have us back on the water within 48 hours. Hope CC can get to the bottom of it soon.

For those have issues in the 18's, which engines are you running. How about the dealer with 75% failure rate...they mostly the H6 or XR7? Also, do you know if your shaft key slot is/was shorter than what they used to be?

I noticed that my key slot is much shorter on mine this year, not extending back to the strut, unlike a friend who has a 2017 G23. I wonder if that is in effort to remediate the problem?

[heel5man]

For those have issues in the 18's, which engines are you running. How about the dealer with 75% failure rate...they mostly the H6 or XR7? Also, do you know if your shaft key slot is/was shorter than what they used to be?

I noticed that my key slot is much shorter on mine this year, not extending back to the strut, unlike a friend who has a 2017 G23. I wonder if that is in effort to remediate the problem?

I have the H6, but not sure about others that experienced the failure. The GM at my dealer said he had fixed 4 this week alone.

One thing I thought was interesting... I asked him if he ever had to do a second repair on the same boat. He said so far, no, and he’s been dealing with this issue for 4-5 years. That is really puzzling to me. It would seem like the failure rate on the replacement prop would be the same unless the parts were different.


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[Tallredrider]

Interesting point about no failures on the same boat twice. Also someone else observed that it seems if you get beyond 100 hours, your risk of shaft breaking goes way down.

Is Nautique the only boat mfg to use the key with a dimple? They have done this since 1997, but I wonder if this weakens the shaft to the point a 17 inch prop can then break it. Until I picked up a spare today, I had never seen one with that dimple (I've not yet swapped my own prop out).

[jfrollins]

2018 G23, 67 hours,sheared off shaft cruising at 30mph. Received boat Sept 2017

[N2B8EM]

Just saw a new G25 delivered to one of my neighbors and wondered why since he got a new G23 last year. In turns out he had 3 prop shaft failures in a year. I even overheard employees at the gas dock talking about this issue.


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[j2nh]

Wow, I am surprised that this is still happening. I love my Nautiques but nothing is perfect and this is clearly an engineering failure. At some point these boats are going to need larger shaft diameters, new struts, couplers and the props to handle the force exerted. Big undertaking for CC but it can't be cheap replacing all these shafts and props not to mention keeping new boat owners off the water.

[ST3]

For those of you that have lost a prop can you recall anything hours or days in advance of the failure that may have been a warning sign? (Audible or physical via the hull or controls)

Also, those that have had the failure...were you primarily surfing and what was your production month/year?

We travel long distances on our lake and I am in fear of this failure happening when we are out of the country (lake is in US and Canada) with no towing services...just have to hope a friend or neighbor is around for the rescue.

We are at 50 hours with a production date of 02/18. G23

[charlesml3]

For those of you that have lost a prop can you recall anything hours or days in advance of the failure that may have been a warning sign? (Audible or physical via the hull or controls)

Also, those that have had the failure...were you primarily surfing and what was your production month/year?

We travel long distances on our lake and I am in fear of this failure happening when we are out of the country (lake is in US and Canada) with no towing services...just have to hope a friend or neighbor is around for the rescue.

We are at 50 hours with a production date of 02/18. G23

Yes. If you're paying attention, you'll notice a vibration. This is caused by the crack in the shaft prior to it shearing off. If you feel this vibration, you don't have much time. Don't try to no-wake speed back to the dock. You won't make it. Even at the slowest speed it'll do, the shaft will still shear.

There seems to be little correlation between surfing, wakeboarding, year-model, or hours. There are plenty of Gen 1 2013 G23s on the first drive shaft. My neighbor's is. He has over 750 hours on that boat. There are some people on their third drive shaft. It seems to be incredibly difficult to predict.

-Charles

[DealsGapCobra]

If I had a G I think I would pay close attention to the shaft in the area where these break. I don’t know how long the time between a crack forming and failure but frequent inspections would seem prudent.

[2019 G21]

When your prop decides to exit, being there is no load, does the engine race to redline or is there safe guards that prevent valvetrain damage? I would assume the engine cuts fuel or spark if max RPM is reached.

[j2nh]

The engines are rev limited.

As for inspections I seriously doubt that you will see any cracks prior to the breakage. Microscopically maybe, visually no.

The shafts are too close to strength limits and the result is failures. Either larger shaft diameters or a change in metallurgy is the answer.

Great that these are being taken care of quickly under warranty but what happens when the warranty expires? This could be a 1K hit plus time off water. Resale value?