Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

[bankermike]

I hit my prop on the loading ramp when putting my boat on the trailer. I thought all I did was "booger up" my prop but on my next trip to the lake, I discovered that the prop has no power to it. I have a 91 Alpha One powered by a 5.7 V-8. The shaft from the motor to the drive spins but when I shift into Fwd. or Rev. nothing happens. I can shift into Fwd. or Rev. and get some resistance on the prop when I try to turn it manually but when I apply more pressure I can get the prop to turn.
Where do I start? I've got the boat in my shop and am ready to begin pulling the drive unit off but I'll wait to hear from you guys before I proceed. I've never pulled a drive unit but I'm willing to give it a try. Any advice or pointers on pulling trhe drive?
Thanks for your help!

Michael

 

[tommays]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Does the shaft spin freely in netural ?



If your luck is good all you did was shear the rubber prop hub so it slips under power



The easy thing to do would be to try a different porp and see what happens



Tommays

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Why not start it on muffs & see if the prop spins?......
If it does, then I think Tom is on the right track......
Hopefully, he is right......
But if it won't spin in gear, you have damaged something internally in the gearcase.......​

 

[bankermike]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

No such luck on the spun prop. I already checked that. The prop does'nt spin at all. There is no click when shifted into gear as normal. It's like it's not shifting at all. The rmp's will adavnce when the shifter it worked but nothing engages. No grinding, clicking, knocking...nothing at all. I check the linkage up top ang everthing appears to be order there as well.

Thanks

Michael

 

[bankermike]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

The prop does spin freely in Ntrl.

 

[thrasher]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Sounds to me like you have broken the select fork on the output shaft. There is a fork that moves the drive shaft backwards or forwards to engage reverse and forward. If the transmission was in neutral and the prop hit the ramp with enough force, iot would bend/break the select fork, that would prevent you from selecting either direction.

It definately sounds like you need to drop the bottiom of the drive and check the select mechanism.. If it's just the select fork, it shouldn't cost much to replace.

Gary

 

[bankermike]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

The drive was in gear with power applied when I hit the ramp. I had been hearing some clicking/knocking for sometime prior to this happening that I'm pretty sure was a u-joint. Could the weak u-joint broke upon impact?
Looks like I'm going to have to drop the outdrive. What's the proper procedure for doing the job?

Thanks

Michael

 

[thrasher]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Hi Michael,

Based on your answer, I think the U-joint is more likely than my proposed selector fork. I hadn't realised the transmission was in gear and the prop turning when you had the strike. Either the reduction gears are damaged or the U-joint.. The U-joint will be much cheaper and easier to change than the gears, so keep your fingers crossed that it's the U-joint. But as you stated, that does mean removing the outdrive..

Good luck with the removal and I hope it's not too expensive.

Gary

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Sounds like it's time to pull the drive and do a little inspecting. Be sure to place the throttle lever in the forward position before pulling the drive.

 

[KaGee]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

The drive was in gear with power applied when I hit the ramp.

Michael

Ah Hah! The rest of the story!

Another reason for NOT powering up your trailer.

 

[pjrogers]

Re: Hit Prop On Ramp...drive Won't Turn

Oh man, no kidding! It has always struck me as odd that folks don't seem to want to use those winches on their trailers as, well, winches - they're there to pull the boat up. I've seen it a couple of times that a boat driver powers onto his trailer and when the bow of his boat rises as it slides up the bunks - holy moly what a surprise, the stern is levering down at the same time. And bang, suddenly the poor boat takes a jump when the skeg hammers the ramp.