Is this a bad prop?

[Amdavis76]

Hey guys,
I took my prop off my 2009 Merc. 60 4-stroke to replace with a smaller pitched prop and noticed that the brass hub in the center is not perfectly aligned. Being that this is the first time I have ever pulled the prop I never noticed this before. The motor doesn't have too many hours on it and I've never hit anything with it. It still looks brand new. Two questions: (1) Is this okay? I'm thinking not but who knows, maybe sloppy clearances are allowed on props. (2) Would this mess up the lower end of my motor? It might create some sort of wobble on the lower end and cause excessive wear. I've attached a picture. The gap on the bottom is about .045 of an inch where the there is absolutely no gap on the top side. Hopefully being that the boat is only 2 years old the warranty (3 years) will cover this.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Is this a bad prop?

Lots of luck on getting the warranty to cover your prop...small print exception type of subject, but nothing ventured, nothing gained especially if the prop is in pristine shape with no visible indication of something you did.

If you want to check the runout, get a dial/digital caliper and set it on a concrete driveway. Rotate the prop and check the runout of the blade tips. If it is uneven as you said the hub is, then yes this is a condition that later on could possibly wear out the seals or bearings in your lower unit...but 4.5 thousandths of an inch on a 10" (thereabouts) prop is 0.45% and not all that much however. If it is a rubber hub prop, seems that they didn't didn't get the hub pressed in evenly when they built it.

HTH

Mark

 

[steelespike]

Re: Is this a bad prop?

If you didn't experiece any vibration it wouldn't seem it could cause any problems.
See if you can get them to exchange it if it bothers you.