Engine seemed to slip twice. OK now.

[Carl C]

Last week on the Detroit River when I tried to plane out the boat failed to plane and the engine revved up. I verified drive was full down by the SOUND of it and tried again. Same result. I idled out to the middle of the river a ways and tried again to slowly plane. Success! Not wanting to risk a tow I headed straight up the lake to near the boat ramp. Boat was running normal and top speed was normal. I shut it down and we took a break. Planed out again and all seemed normal. Saw lightning and headed in. The next day I marked prop alignment and put the boat in Lake Oakland. It planed and ran normally. I did a fast plane and it did not slip. So wtf happened? I figure that while drifting down the river maybe a stick got in there and kept the drive from going full down or maybe some debris was caught up in the prop. I'm planning a long cruise next week to Put-in-Bay and am still a little concerned. Could a coupler going bad do this? The prop marks did not move. Can a Bravo 1 prop even slip with the square slip in hub?:confused:

[Walt. H.]

Carl,
No, the square slip-in hub (Flo-torque) can't slip without actually breaking first into pieces, and I would rule out a bad coupler since you have successfully powered up from slow to wide open throttle w/o a slip and if it was a coupler you would be smelling burning rubber.
I would venture to say you most likely caught something around your lower unit that was short enough not to tangle up into your prop but large enough to deflect clean water to it, something like a clump of floating algae/weeds or a thick plastic bag that once contained ice that was thrown overboard by someone, maybe even a big dead fish.
I've fallen victim to those items many times, and I usually clear them by stopping and backing up a few feet then proceed forward the same as I would to clear a blocked speedo pick up.

[Morgan's Cloud]

I was thinking trash too.
I've seen stuff that should have taken the prop off , broken and wedged on the unit without causing any damage,miraculously. No mystery there ... you caught it. It's when the stuff presents a problem and then breaks free and vanishes that it drives you nuts.

If you can pull a few strongish standing starts without any trouble I'd say you can eliminate the coupler.

edit Walt got in before I did.. but Please , please everyone , stop thinking that you will ALWAYS smell rubber if your coupler goes.
When mine went , due to alignment, it was a totally odourless event due to the splines going.. NOT the rubber coupler.

[Carl C]

OK, thanks for verifying that the Bravo 1 cannot slip and the most likely culprit was debris.

[Walt. H.]

Yes wiping the splines smooth in the coupler would be odorless but I bet you'd hear it making noise to some degree when that happens, either a squeal or a grinding growl sound?

[Carl C]

Yes wiping the splines smooth in the coupler would be odorless but I bet you'd hear it making noise to some degree when that happens, either a squeal or a grinding growl sound?

No noise, no smell and I have the HD coupler with steel splines.

[Walt. H.]

No noise, no smell and I have the HD coupler with steel splines.
No Carl, I was responding to Morgan's issue when his coupler went bad due to the splines wearing out because of his alignment, you're good.

[Carl C]

No Carl, I was responding to Morgan's issue when his coupler went bad due to the splines wearing out because of his alignment, you're good.

Oh, got it. he snuck that edit in there on me!

[Tidbart]

Carl,

You can have a coupler go bad with no noise, no grinding, no smell, no smoke, and good splines.

Read here. http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=65171

Hope it was something else.:crossfing:

Bob

[Carl C]

Carl,

You can have a coupler go bad with no noise, no grinding, no smell, no smoke, and good splines.

Read here. http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=65171

Hope it was something else.:crossfing:

Bob

Yes, I followed that thread but could a coupler slip twice in a row and then be OK? I guess I will find out Tuesday when I hit Lake St. Clair with a full tank of gas and a heavy load!

[mike o]

Mermaid " of Lake Michigan" getting Gig -E with Ya, wanting to check out your "cabin"...........:wink:

[Carl C]

Mermaid " of Lake Michigan" getting Gig -E with Ya, wanting to check out your "cabin"...........:wink:

Well if it's the Lake Michigan Mermaid then she is on the wrong side of the state but I'll take her into the cabin anyway. <3

[mike o]

Y wouldn't Ya..........:kingme:

[Tidbart]

Yes, I followed that thread but could a coupler slip twice in a row and then be OK? I guess I will find out Tuesday when I hit Lake St. Clair with a full tank of gas and a heavy load!

Honestly, I have no idea. Hope not. Best of luck with your next run.

B

[Walt. H.]

I guess I will find out Tuesday when I hit Lake St. Clair with a full tank of gas and a heavy load!
Just how heavy are these lovely heavy loads you'll be taking along with you? :smileybo: How much of a rpm drop would you incur? :boggled:
Just fun-in with Ya' now.:wink:
Walt

[MOP]

Yes wiping the splines smooth in the coupler would be odorless but I bet you'd hear it making noise to some degree when that happens, either a squeal or a grinding growl sound?

When Ken's splines let go all you could hear was Vroom Vroom! Made no noise what so ever, it did however push my rope very nicely for about 5-6 miles!

[roadtrip se]

The shorty compounds a debrie problem. If you have a stick snagged, or anything else back there for that matter (like weeds) between the drive and the transom, you are not getting on plane. Happened to me many times. No big deal. I just pull the drive up, clear it, and try again. A quick shot in reverse can accomplish the same thing, but I usually like to take a look at what is going on back there, first. You smoke an XR hub and chances are pretty good the shaft and the prop are going to be gone, too.

[Dr. David Fleming]

Carl,

Macomb Daily, the St. Clair Shores newspaper ran an article couple of weeks ago about a unique and large weed bloom hazardous to boaters occuping a large part of the shallow northern part of Lake St. Clair. In Anchor Bay. Not only did it stink, but was breaking up and large sections were washing down the Detroit River. Personally I have been dodging the small section that have gotten loose all summer. If you are running across the lake on plane - you are probably running over it - you can tell by the water color change from blue to olive drab - weeds just below the surface. I would suspect the weeds in the prop when you were running at low speed in the Detroit River. Sure sounds like prop cavitation to me - made worse by that high pitch performance prop.

How has Homeland security been treating you this year? They have hauled me over for two safety inspections first was the Coast Guard second by Wayne County Sheriff - they always want ID for anyone on the boat. Wondered if you were out when they pulled that the body out of the River south of Belle Isle, and that foreign national that was picked up swimming across the Detroit River? All those white PVC pylons floating out off-shore in Lake St. Clair are the government cameras that are watching eveyone - be sure to wave when you go by em.

[Walt. H.]

When Ken's splines let go all you could hear was Vroom Vroom! Made no noise what so ever, it did however push my rope very nicely for about 5-6 miles!
Come on Phil, a good mech you are will open the hatch and listen past the outside exh noise to hear it.

Here's one from when a drive broke and locked-up and took the coupler out because the engine won out by not stalling at speed, notice the twist in the splines. ouch! :wink:

[Morgan's Cloud]

Yes wiping the splines smooth in the coupler would be odorless but I bet you'd hear it making noise to some degree when that happens, either a squeal or a grinding growl sound?

In my case you're quite right .. We experienced a sound almost exactly like anchor chain being dragged up onto the deck coming from under hatch.
But the coupler failed at about 125 hours and we only ever heard the sound for about 20 seconds , on and off total .

But from what the mech told us , they often don't always make any sounds at all.
Each case is different .

[Carl C]

I think I picked up a clump of weeds or other debris while drifting down the Detroit River. I'll know for sure Tuesday morning and will report the results. I sure hope it's OK since I am looking forward to an overnighter at Put-in-Bay.:crossfing:

[joseph m. hahnl]

you Just can't tell what lurks in the depths.

http://www.videodetective.com/photos/106/004469_18.jpg

[Morgan's Cloud]

:eek: And he's got a prop wrench in his hand (fin) :shocking:

[Walt. H.]

She monster from The movie Creature of The Black Lagoon, catching a free ride on Carl's drive unit.:embarasse

[Carl C]

The boat is OK! I just completed a 160 mile round trip overnighter to Put-in-Bay for the "bartender olympics". Great time, lots of peeps. Danced with 7 girls including a too cool dirty dance with two girls. Alas, nothing more came of it. My guest rented a room and I slept alone on the boat. This is my "cuddy" area with a thin mattress pad and blankets and pillows. It's really cozy sleeping in there especially with the fan running.
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx275/CARLC222/Pictures533Medium.jpg
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx275/CARLC222/Pictures534Medium.jpg
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx275/CARLC222/Pictures535Medium.jpg

[mike o]

2........:wink: