Last year was really busy and the boat did not get much love come fall other than hauling it out of the water, a general pickup and put away, and the normal winterization. It had received a full cut and polish in the spring and looked like new when it went in the water. Also last year was the first time it spent any time in the water, in a slip, when it wasn't in use. Since new it has been stored on the trailer after every outing, whether a day trip or overnighter. I was sick and disgusted when I pulled it out and saw that from the waterline down it was covered in brown stuff that looked like organic growth, like varicose veins, although I had washed it and brushed the waterline down throughout the summer. And the zincs were absolutely covered in whatever it is that grows on them, they were obviously doing their job. I was concerned about the lake that billed itself as "the cleanest in Oklahoma" and also about the possibility of stray current based on the growth on the zincs. I asked the folks at the marina, but of course they didn't know what stray current is.
Come this spring we took the boat to a car wash to blow the crap off. Nope. The zincs came clean but the brown growth stuff hung tough. It took oxalic acid and lots of work to get it off. Then I went to spray CLR on the outdrive, and ... ahhh WTF? What I would call the cavitation plate is mostly gone with a gaping opening that goes up into the outdrive. I have a theory, but would like your thoughts on what going on here. First, I usually put the boat in the slip bow first. Once I backed in when someone else was in my slip and I went to the other side of the dock and took one I knew to be open. It was on the sun side so I backed in, but didn't get close to the structure or tie it up such that it could move back into the slip and hit the structure. And I was concerned most of the summer because for the first time the bilge had some water in it, and I couldn't find the source. I had the shop at the marina service the outdrive, replace all seals and bearings with an OEM kit that I sourced since they only used Sierra parts, not that there is anything wrong with that, just not my thing. Then afterwards it was no longer a minor leak but now a torrent stream running down the inside of the transom. So I went to the shop to talk with the mechanic and found out that the factory certified technician who ran the shop was not the wrench who worked on the boat, as we had discussed and agreed upon. And then I saw the box that the kit came in setting on the shop floor with a bag of o-ring seals still in it, which they said, "oh, we never replace those". Yeah, right. If I didn't want those changed out too I would have bought the kit that didn't have them. So we did it again, this time with me watching. Also at that time I noticed the little black plug up on the top of the drive that gets pulled to access a bolt to take the drive apart was missing. It looked like a monkey had used a pry bar to get it out, chipping the paint around the hole. Even though he said it wasn't necessary for proper operation, just for looks, I made him replace it. That service plus some RTV sealant at the thru transom penetrations for the trim tab controls fixed it.
So how this happened, or what happened has me stumped. There are no marks on the props, in fact they were changed out to a new spare set at the time of the service. They still look new. The props show no signs of impact. Is it possible that when taking it apart they pulled that plug and impacted the bolt/nut below hard enough to crack the cavitation plate, which later broke and fell off?
So your thoughts please. And any leads you may have on a used housing. If I have to buy a remanufactured or new lower unit its $3K to $4.5K installed. And any idea what happens to all the boats that were totaled in the TX and FL hurricanes? Seems like there could be a supply of parts from those events.
Attached files
Come this spring we took the boat to a car wash to blow the crap off. Nope. The zincs came clean but the brown growth stuff hung tough. It took oxalic acid and lots of work to get it off. Then I went to spray CLR on the outdrive, and ... ahhh WTF? What I would call the cavitation plate is mostly gone with a gaping opening that goes up into the outdrive. I have a theory, but would like your thoughts on what going on here. First, I usually put the boat in the slip bow first. Once I backed in when someone else was in my slip and I went to the other side of the dock and took one I knew to be open. It was on the sun side so I backed in, but didn't get close to the structure or tie it up such that it could move back into the slip and hit the structure. And I was concerned most of the summer because for the first time the bilge had some water in it, and I couldn't find the source. I had the shop at the marina service the outdrive, replace all seals and bearings with an OEM kit that I sourced since they only used Sierra parts, not that there is anything wrong with that, just not my thing. Then afterwards it was no longer a minor leak but now a torrent stream running down the inside of the transom. So I went to the shop to talk with the mechanic and found out that the factory certified technician who ran the shop was not the wrench who worked on the boat, as we had discussed and agreed upon. And then I saw the box that the kit came in setting on the shop floor with a bag of o-ring seals still in it, which they said, "oh, we never replace those". Yeah, right. If I didn't want those changed out too I would have bought the kit that didn't have them. So we did it again, this time with me watching. Also at that time I noticed the little black plug up on the top of the drive that gets pulled to access a bolt to take the drive apart was missing. It looked like a monkey had used a pry bar to get it out, chipping the paint around the hole. Even though he said it wasn't necessary for proper operation, just for looks, I made him replace it. That service plus some RTV sealant at the thru transom penetrations for the trim tab controls fixed it.
So how this happened, or what happened has me stumped. There are no marks on the props, in fact they were changed out to a new spare set at the time of the service. They still look new. The props show no signs of impact. Is it possible that when taking it apart they pulled that plug and impacted the bolt/nut below hard enough to crack the cavitation plate, which later broke and fell off?
So your thoughts please. And any leads you may have on a used housing. If I have to buy a remanufactured or new lower unit its $3K to $4.5K installed. And any idea what happens to all the boats that were totaled in the TX and FL hurricanes? Seems like there could be a supply of parts from those events.
Attached files
Comment