Broken skeg and play in prop shaft.

[Trichard310]

Hi everyone, I took my boat out today, got in a hurry and didn't raise the prop enough. Ended up braking off the skeg and noticed I have in and out play with the prop shaft, no side to side (hit it pretty hard). Also noticed some broken metal at the propeller base, on the housing. It rings all the way around.....totally clueless? I tried to get a picture of it. Obviously, I have $*%= something up. Mercruiser alpha one 3.0. Looking for guidance on what steps to take next???

 

[Chris1956]

You did hit that hard. You should be able to get a new skeg welded on. Look for a replacement at Mercruiser. You will want to pull the drive and take it to a good welder. A good welder will not need to drain the gear oil or strip the gearcase. He can weld the new skeg over the old one. Likely $200 or so.

First pull the prop off. check the thrust hub. It may have been damaged. Replace if cracked or worn. If the in-out movement in the prop shaft is 1/8" or so, it is fine.

Replacement outdrives are available from SEI.

 

[Scott06]

Hi everyone, I took my boat out today, got in a hurry and didn't raise the prop enough. Ended up braking off the skeg and noticed I have in and out play with the prop shaft, no side to side (hit it pretty hard). Also noticed some broken metal at the propeller base, on the housing. It rings all the way around.....totally clueless? I tried to get a picture of it. Obviously, I have $*%= something up. Mercruiser alpha one 3.0. Looking for guidance on what steps to take next???

not sure what drive but I'm assuming an alpha one gen 2 based off the pic. the in and out play is normal as long as there is no runnout, side to side. Was the prop messed up?

You maybe able to have it welded or you may need a new lower depending on how far the crack around the base of the prop goes. as long as the propshaft retainer nut can stay on with the crack you may get lucky. If the crack extends beyond where the nut threads into the housing it will fail

 

[Trichard310]

not sure what drive but I'm assuming an alpha one gen 2 based off the pic. the in and out play is normal as long as there is no runnout, side to side. Was the prop messed up?

You maybe able to have it welded or you may need a new lower depending on how far the crack around the base of the prop goes. as long as the propshaft retainer nut can stay on with the crack you may get lucky. If the crack extends beyond where the nut threads into the housing it will fail

Yep, alpha one gen 2. No the prop is fine, just minor scratches. No runout and I'm not seeing any cracks in the housing. I wasn't sure if the in and out play was normal so that's great. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Trichard310]

You did hit that hard. You should be able to get a new skeg welded on. Look for a replacement at Mercruiser. You will want to pull the drive and take it to a good welder. A good welder will not need to drain the gear oil or strip the gearcase. He can weld the new skeg over the old one. Likely $200 or so.

First pull the prop off. check the thrust hub. It may have been damaged. Replace if cracked or worn. If the in-out movement in the prop shaft is 1/8" or so, it is fine.

Replacement outdrives are available from SEI.

Thanks for the reply. Feeling not so bad about it now. I will pull the prop and have a look.

 

[Texasmark]

The in and out may just be the overrun clutch. You said broken metal at the propeller base but did not say propeller had broken metal. With that I am assuming the skeg took the hit and the prop survived...since it was probably up in the air as compared to the tip of the skeg.

Put the shifter N and notice the distance between the offset in the leading edge of the prop barrel and the LU casting. Push on the prop toward the LU. It should move in about a quarter of an inch. Release the prop and it should spring back to where it was.....overrun clutck....ok. Not a problem.

Set your trim to a pretty much vertical position of the outdrive and have the boat on the trailer sitting on a solid surface. Take some sort of measuring device and rotate the prop till the tip of one of the blades is at the closest distance to the ground. Get something and record that distance. Rotate the prop to the other prop blades making the same measurement without moving the measuring instrument. If all the blades measure the same you are/should be ok on any potential prop damage.