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Hey y'all, I'd love to pick your brains for a moment so as not to spend thousands of dollars needlessly.
Long story short, was using my 2009 230 (343 Coastal Ed, PCM v-drive) in reverse, accidentally bumped the throttle, heard huge clunk/grind as it sped up, and from thence forth, the boat was toast. When put in gear (F or R), the vibration (more like a shaking) was bad, bad, bad to where I would have caused far more damage had I given it any throttle. I had to be towed back to the ramp.
To clarify a few things:
1) Once a similar thing happened when I hit reverse hard (had to that time, not an accidental bump of throttle)....heard the clunk/grind sound, immediately went to neutral, and boat was fine. Same sound this time, but no longer was it fine.
2) Engine runs perfectly, this is absolutely not an engine issue.
3) Prop is perfect...this is more like the entire boat shakes...it's not a prop thing. I did not hit anything.
4) Upon pulling boat out (was towed to ramp), when I spin the shaft, it's clearly not centered in the bore, nor is it inside the boat. In fact, it's way off and the shaft actually rides against the outer edge of the bore at about 10 o'clock, then is way far from edge of the bore at about 4 o'clock.
5) Tranny SEEMS to be OK...at least as far as engaging F/R. Again, this almost behaves as if the shaft were bent (doesn't appear to be bent, keep in mind, just behaves as if it were). There is absolutely no grinding or friction in the tranny when I engage it...only the shaking/shuddering from the shaft being so off center.
6) This is weird...last night while surveying the damage, I found a nut lying in the bilge that I would have seen had it been there before. And, while the outside of the nut is corroded with normal rust, the inside is clean, indicating that it was recently holding something together. I didn't snap a pic, but it's a little bigger than the lock nut used to hold prop to shaft, and it IS a nylon lock nut. I have ZERO clue where it came from. I have a feeling this may have something to do with this, and am in amazement that it potentially fell off.
7) I thought through the physics of what could have happened, and assuming that nut held something in, it's possible that the shaft was somehow basically pulled out of the tranny when I gunned it in reverse, as the force of the prop would be trying to do exactly that (i.e. pull the shaft out of the tranny). To further that case, I went out this morning and since I recently changed the prop and couldn't use my normal prop puller because there wasn't enough room between the prop collar and the strut, had to get creative. Well, this morning the prop puller fit in there with plenty of room to spare, suggesting that MAYBE the prop shaft is essentially "pulled out" a little bit. Now, the other possibility is that when I reinstalled the new prop, it just wasn't pushed on as far, leaving enough room for the prop puller to fit in there....I have to at least acknowledge that possibility.
8) The boat was taking on more water than normal, significantly more. No clue why unless somehow the bore was damaged and letting in more water since the shaft was no longer centered in there. I don't know what the bore looks like as far as seals go, so I couldn't speak to this. I list this last because it may be totally irrelevant to this issue. However, it's worth noting.
What the heck could that nut be that I found? I don't have detailed drawings of the transmission, so I cannot identify it. I cannot find anywhere feeling around on the bottom of the tranny where it would go. I honestly have zero clue. It's a huge nut. It almost fits on that little threaded stub that faces toward the bow on the tranny....that's how big it is. I can get it on there about a quarter/half turn.
That's about all I can remember as far as salient details. Bottom line is this one has me baffled. I am praying it's not a new tranny issue. That would be devastating. I cannot figure out how the shaft is held in this V-drive unless it's that collar that faces the bow where the end of the shaft (presumably) is threaded and sticking out just a little bit.
I don't want to go to the dealer for them to tell me it's far worse than it is, hence this post. I can fix most things on a boat, and I'm hoping this is no exception. Would appreciate any and all thoughts. Thank you all so much.
Long story short, was using my 2009 230 (343 Coastal Ed, PCM v-drive) in reverse, accidentally bumped the throttle, heard huge clunk/grind as it sped up, and from thence forth, the boat was toast. When put in gear (F or R), the vibration (more like a shaking) was bad, bad, bad to where I would have caused far more damage had I given it any throttle. I had to be towed back to the ramp.
To clarify a few things:
1) Once a similar thing happened when I hit reverse hard (had to that time, not an accidental bump of throttle)....heard the clunk/grind sound, immediately went to neutral, and boat was fine. Same sound this time, but no longer was it fine.
2) Engine runs perfectly, this is absolutely not an engine issue.
3) Prop is perfect...this is more like the entire boat shakes...it's not a prop thing. I did not hit anything.
4) Upon pulling boat out (was towed to ramp), when I spin the shaft, it's clearly not centered in the bore, nor is it inside the boat. In fact, it's way off and the shaft actually rides against the outer edge of the bore at about 10 o'clock, then is way far from edge of the bore at about 4 o'clock.
5) Tranny SEEMS to be OK...at least as far as engaging F/R. Again, this almost behaves as if the shaft were bent (doesn't appear to be bent, keep in mind, just behaves as if it were). There is absolutely no grinding or friction in the tranny when I engage it...only the shaking/shuddering from the shaft being so off center.
6) This is weird...last night while surveying the damage, I found a nut lying in the bilge that I would have seen had it been there before. And, while the outside of the nut is corroded with normal rust, the inside is clean, indicating that it was recently holding something together. I didn't snap a pic, but it's a little bigger than the lock nut used to hold prop to shaft, and it IS a nylon lock nut. I have ZERO clue where it came from. I have a feeling this may have something to do with this, and am in amazement that it potentially fell off.
7) I thought through the physics of what could have happened, and assuming that nut held something in, it's possible that the shaft was somehow basically pulled out of the tranny when I gunned it in reverse, as the force of the prop would be trying to do exactly that (i.e. pull the shaft out of the tranny). To further that case, I went out this morning and since I recently changed the prop and couldn't use my normal prop puller because there wasn't enough room between the prop collar and the strut, had to get creative. Well, this morning the prop puller fit in there with plenty of room to spare, suggesting that MAYBE the prop shaft is essentially "pulled out" a little bit. Now, the other possibility is that when I reinstalled the new prop, it just wasn't pushed on as far, leaving enough room for the prop puller to fit in there....I have to at least acknowledge that possibility.
8) The boat was taking on more water than normal, significantly more. No clue why unless somehow the bore was damaged and letting in more water since the shaft was no longer centered in there. I don't know what the bore looks like as far as seals go, so I couldn't speak to this. I list this last because it may be totally irrelevant to this issue. However, it's worth noting.
What the heck could that nut be that I found? I don't have detailed drawings of the transmission, so I cannot identify it. I cannot find anywhere feeling around on the bottom of the tranny where it would go. I honestly have zero clue. It's a huge nut. It almost fits on that little threaded stub that faces toward the bow on the tranny....that's how big it is. I can get it on there about a quarter/half turn.
That's about all I can remember as far as salient details. Bottom line is this one has me baffled. I am praying it's not a new tranny issue. That would be devastating. I cannot figure out how the shaft is held in this V-drive unless it's that collar that faces the bow where the end of the shaft (presumably) is threaded and sticking out just a little bit.
I don't want to go to the dealer for them to tell me it's far worse than it is, hence this post. I can fix most things on a boat, and I'm hoping this is no exception. Would appreciate any and all thoughts. Thank you all so much.
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