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?

[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.

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.

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"...........

[Carl C]

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

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..........

[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? How much of a rpm drop would you incur?
Just fun-in with Ya' now.
Walt