Help, prop hit rocks, potential damage?

[Logic Solutions]

Hi,
New boat owner here. Just whacked a propeller in Boston harbor.
I'm going to take it to a repair shop, but would like some advice on the most
likely damage, to avoid getting taken by the repair shop.
First, its a 18.6' bowrider with COBRA 4.3 liter V6 and OMC COBRA outdrive.
Its a 1989 with 245 hours.
The propeller on it was its second, the first got chewed by the previous owner.
I took about a quarter of a blade out of it, Saturday.
I then limped home at about 1800 engine rpms for an hour. (Max rpms is 5500).
I put another prop on that had some minor damage to it.
The boat still ran OK, and could go over 40mph.

But, when the boat is out of the water, and I spin the propeller, I can hear
a light clunking sound in the bottom of the outdrive. If I push in on
the propeller a little while turning, the clunking sound goes away.
In the water with the trim up so that the prop is almost out of water, I can
hear the clunking sound. Under power in a right turn, the boat vibrates a bit,
but that could be related to the slightly dinged propeller.
Over 40mph, the boat vibrates, but again possibly due to the prop.
Also, at low speed, 5mph or so, turning the wheel is a little jerky, not
completely smooth. On an inboard with powersteering, I thought it was
supposed to be smooth.

Has anyone had experience with grounding an OMC outdrive, and the resulting
damage?
Does anyone know of the expected performance and behavior of OMC outdrives?
I've heard that OMC is not as good as Mercruiser ODs.
Is there specific problems with OMC outdrives I should be aware of?

Any help, similiar stories, etc. appreciated.

Thanks
David Beberman

[acss...@eku.acs.eku.edu]

In article <CsH63...@world.std.com>, l...@world.std.com (Logic Solutions) writes:
> Hi,
> New boat owner here. Just whacked a propeller in Boston harbor.
> I'm going to take it to a repair shop, but would like some advice on the most
> likely damage, to avoid getting taken by the repair shop.
> First, its a 18.6' bowrider with COBRA 4.3 liter V6 and OMC COBRA outdrive.
> Its a 1989 with 245 hours.
> The propeller on it was its second, the first got chewed by the previous owner.
> I took about a quarter of a blade out of it, Saturday.
> I then limped home at about 1800 engine rpms for an hour. (Max rpms is 5500).

Are you sure about those max rpms. Mercuriser max rpms is 4200-4600 for a
standard 4.3 and 4400-4800 for a 4.3 LX.

dsc

Dudley Cornman - Systems Programmer
Academic Computing Services
Eastern Ky. University
Richmond, KY 40475-3111
(606) 622-1986

[BillrJones]

In article <CsH63...@world.std.com>, l...@world.std.com (Logic Solutions)
writes:

:I took about a quarter of a blade out of it, Saturday.

:I then limped home at about 1800 engine rpms for an hour. (Max rpms is
:5500).
:I put another prop on that had some minor damage to it.
:The boat still ran OK, and could go over 40mph.

:But, when the boat is out of the water, and I spin the propeller, I can
hear
:a light clunking sound in the bottom of the outdrive. If I push in on
:the propeller a little while turning, the clunking sound goes away.
:In the water with the trim up so that the prop is almost out of water, I
:can
:hear the clunking sound. Under power in a right turn, the boat vibrates
a :bit,
:but that could be related to the slightly dinged propeller.
:Over 40mph, the boat vibrates, but again possibly due to the prop.

If your boat suffered damage you will need to call your insurance agent as
repair cost is covered and is generally quite high. Five years ago my
insurance company paid $1200 for lower unit repairs (I believe it was a
bent drive shaft) plus another $40 to repair the prop. Probably twice that
now. In my case, the insurance adjuster visited the repair shop before
authorizing the repair to validate the extent of the damage. My guess is
that yours will too. It was a long time ago, but I also seem to remember a
clunking sound as a symptom (assuming the engine is in neutral; clunking
sound is normal if the engine is in gear).
Running a boat with a damaged propeller can itself cause significant lower
unit damage. The repair shop said that my damage was as likely to have
been caused by my "limping" back to shore as by my impact with a stump. I
recommend anybody that runs in unknown waters or waters known to have
hidden dangers buy a cheap rebuilt aluminum prop (about $80) and keep it
on-board along with the tool needed to change props. NEVER RUN WITH EVEN A
SLIGHTLY DAMAGED PROP.