New 2001 SAN -Tranny woes!

[2001SAN]

Hi all,

Second time out in the new toy. Felt a vibration when accelerating (4 on board, no skier). Took it back to the dock and sometime later when I tried to start the boat the ignition beep would not stop. I pulled the hatches on the vdrive and seemed to hear an intermitent 'clatter' or knocking from the vdrive. Panic time!

Went to start the boat to put it on the trailer and the battery was flat. Swapped it with the spare and beeping stopped but not straight away.

All guages were good and no check engine light. Vdrive light went out after 1200 on a small 'test drive' after replacing the battery. My instant reaction was 'oh s*** - new gearbox $$$$$$$££££££££' but after reading a bit online when i got home I seem to see the damper plate popping up as a potential cause for tranny knocking. I checked the prop in the drive way and it seems to have had a bend on one of the blades but I'm not sure what I hit but if I did it was def at low speed, maybe round the slip somewhere. In total the boat was driven for less than a few minutes.

Anyways, she's going in on monday for a new impeller and shaft seal/packing so i guess I'll now then when the boat tech gets a look.

I'll try and summarise with a couple of questions:

Could hitting the prop at slow speed cause these issues or total a v-drive?
Anyone round here had similar problems, or encountered the worst case scenario, and had to replave a v-drive?

Excuse my rambling but this is my first 'bad day on the water' in 4 years boating and I'm panicing. Not looking forward to two days of not knowing...

Words of wisdom anyone?

D.

[H2O]

Check transmission and VDrive fluids. Try turning the propeller with your hands. It should turn rather freely. If prop hit something it needs to be checked by a prop shop. The strut may have been bent also. Eyeball the strut to make sure it is straight ( 90* to boat and aligns with the tracking fins). A minor hit should not damage the VDrive or Transmission. Check the 4 bolts that attach the coupler to the VDrive. Unlikely the damper plate would suddenly start making noise.

[2001SAN]

Will do. Thanks for the advice.

D.

[2001SAN]

Well, i checked the v-drive oil and it was a little low so i drained and refilled. transmission oil seemed ok - nice and pink. took the boat to the river for a water test (switched prop as well). The sound, upon further inspection, sounds like slipping when the boat is just in gear. Increase the revs and it seems to go away. I couldn't bring my self to go and faster as the noise just sounds wrong to me and i don't want to break anything. Coupled with that, I'm getting a constant alarm when i turn on the engine. This only started happening yesterday as well. No alarm when the boat started on the slipway but it reappeared after stopping and starting 10 minutes later. I press start once, press it a second time and it beeps continuously. Is it maybe a voltage thing? The battery is reading low on the voltage guage (12.1 or so) but fine when tested with a multimeter (12.8). My head is fried.

It's going into the shop tomorrow so fingers crossed.

If anyone has any ideas feel free to chime in - i need virtual reassurance!

D.

[Chexi]

If for some reason your boat does not exhibit these symptoms when you take it into the shop, next time you are out videotape it and share the video with your mechanic.

[crobi2]

Does it have perfect pass? Sometimes when perfect pass is not getting enough juice (corrosion on wires, loose ground, whatever) it will beep continuously. The depth sounder may also have a depth alarm that is set higher than the depth of your river (it could also be a voltage/ground problem with it). My money is on the perfect pass however.

[2001SAN]

I do have perfect pass and I think you might be right. From what I remember the PP screen looked as normal when not beeping but was 'blacked out' when beeping. The confusion and panic about the gearbox was taking most of my attention and I had assumed at the time that the beep was something to do with that. I have to check when I get home this weekend (if I have the boat back by then).

I know this is a little off topic but I plan to give the boat a full service when it comes back. I read on here not to use the Fram orange oil filters. Why is this? I can get the fram ones no problem but the Motorcraft FL1A as recommended round here is not so easy to come by.

Thanks,

D.

[crobi2]

The insides of the orange filters just look to be made cheaper. About 10 years ago some guy cut open about 30 different filters to see how they were made and found out that many appeared to be made by the same company.

Good ones included:

Motocraft Fl1A
Purolator
Wix

and if you got extra bucks to spend:

mobile 1
K&N

It's funny, I just saw a purolator commercial where they cut open the cans and compared them - looks the same to me as they did in that guys experiment 10 years ago.

to find that website google "oil filters revealed"

[2001SAN]

I found the very same page your talking about today! I ordered a K&N, was only a little cheaper than the fram. Tech is looking at the boat tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

D.