Coupler failure

[Bryant calandra]

I recently purchased a 2015 Bryant Calandra that had 100 hours on it. We have had the boat in the water three times and on the third trip, I had just pulled out of a no wake soon and as I slowly throttled up, the engine reved really high. I pulled back to neutral and thought, the prop fell off the boat. No propulsion either forward, or back. We raised the motor and the prop was still there. There was no burning smell, no smoke, no rattling, no banging or anything. Just felt like the prop fell off and the high rev. After taking it to mechanic, he said the coupler was totally stripped. He said he had never seen that Before and was surprised it happened in a rather new boat. He has to pull the engine and replace. He also said that the boat warranty had expired a year ago so this is out of my pocket. A few questions,
what would cause this and what should I do differently to prevent it from happening in the future. I have an older Bryant 182 that has never had this issue.
Also, wouldn’t there be some sort of warranty coverage for an issue with a part that shouldn’t wear out within a three year time span?
signed :
Puzzled Bryant Calandra owner!!!

 

[ajgraz]

Do you trust this mechanic? Are you sure it’s not just a spun prop?

 

[alldodge]

There was no burning smell, no smoke, no rattling, no banging or anything

If it was the coupler, there would be burnt rubber, and if you put it back in gear at idle it should continue to move normally, unless the teeth stripped out, but then there should be some kind of noise if not very loud. Even if teeth were stripped out you should be able to see the prop move some.

Might be something else inside the drive, shift cable come loose. or spun prop as ajgraz mentioned. If the boat has digital shift then it could be solenoids

What motor and drive and happen to have serial number?

 

[tpenfield]

"He" is the mechanic?

Might want to check into the warranty issue. Improper alignment of the engine could cause pre-mature failure of the coupler . . . but you would probably have noticed a lot of noise/vibration leading up to it.

Do you have any maintenance history of if/when the outdrive was taken off for maintenance or if the engine alignment was checked. since you bought this second hand, does the PO have any maintenance records, etc.?

 

[Rick Stephens]

If you wonder if the mechanic is right, and to co cut to the chase, take a flashlight and look through the gimbal bearing at the coupler splines. Striped out will be obvious - all the teeth will be missing and ground up into dust.. No smell from striped splines.

Double check the warranty, but I bet he's right on a three year boat. When you bought it, did you have the outdrive gone through and the alignment, fluids, battery, impeller checked and replaced as needed?

 

[Bryant calandra]

The motor is a MAG 350 mercrusier 300 HP
i don’t have any reason not to trust the mechanic. They deal with Bryant boats so I though by taking it to him might be the best move. I replaced my upper and lower unit on my 182 Bryant with an aftermarket unit, but thought I’d leave this to the experts on this expensive boat. I was not made aware of the motor being pulled previously so I am not certain about the alignment being correct or not. Would the mechanic have to remove the upper/ lower unit to replace the coupler? I understood they would just remove the motor and replace the coupler from the inside.
I was able to spin the prop with ease either way even with the boat in gear. There is no rotation of the shaft whatsoever. I’m not certain how the mechanic knows the coupler has totally stripped the splines unless they removed the unit and looked inside. But when I asked if they had to remove the lower unit to check the fluids, I understood they did not have to do that. Maybe they pulled the upper to check it out. Shouldn’t they align it and make certain the motor mounts are secure as normal protocol?

 

[Bryant calandra]

I also mentioned the possibility of a spun prop. He said the prop I had did not have a rubber sleeve in it. He checked for hits or dings on the prop to see if a strong hit could have snapped the shaft, but there was none to speak of. I can’t speak for what happened with the previous owner. You would think the rubber bushing would give way before the splines wore off. I just want to hear what you guys have to offer as thoughts or ideas so I can mention them to the mechanic. I told him to please check deeper into the drive to see if anything else needs to be replaced while the motor is removed or the upper unit is off. These repairs get expensive!!!!

 

[Bt Doctur]

I was able to spin the prop with ease either way even with the boat in gear. There is no rotation of the shaft whatsoever.

If you mean you shifted into gear and turning the prop does not turn the input shaft then its a drive issue. Have you checked the drive oil level and condition
per the other post, get a flashlight and look inside at the splines to see if there are any

 

[Bryant calandra]

The drive oil is full. I could spin the prop both ways while the boat was in gear. It did not catch either way. I actually cranked the boat and put it in gear and the prop would not spin at all. I push it with a stick to feel if there was anything spinning but could not feel anything. Does that sound like totally worn splines?
i assume the mechanic looked at the splines via the gimbal bearing to see there were no splines remaining.

 

[alldodge]

The drive is in gear and prop can be turned without issue by hand. Even if the teeth were stripped, there should be some kind of resistance.

Without someone looking and showing pics so we can advise, I/We have no way of knowing. We can advise but only is we can see what shape things are in.

Without this kind of info suggest just pay the what they want and hope it doesn't happen again.

 

[Bt Doctur]

You cant see the coupler splines with the drive on or off from the inside. Is this a Bravo or Alpha drive.
Either one can be shifted into gear to check the drive. When shifted into gear the input shaft must turn when you turn the prop. If turning the prop and your in gear should turn the inputshaft. If it does not, its a drive issue not a coupler issue

 

[Maclin]

Based on what I have read so far I would not just order the coupler replaced. There are too many simple things to check first. As has already been mentioned, you cannot see any part of the coupler that can be used in any meaningful diagnostic process while the drive is still on the boat. Your prop not catching in either direction when in gear, forward or reverse, is more indicative of a drive problem, not the engine coupler. Your mechanic's reasoning that you gave here is not evidence for a bad coupler.

A spun coupler (rubber part) is the result of improper alignment. You will know if this is the problem (smell and smoke and maybe rubber bits). I had an engine coupler fail at a pretty good speed, engine ran away and hit the rev limiter as the boat began to stop, horrible rubber burning smoke and smell. It happened due to some one in the past, maybe even the original installer, having not bent the locking tangs down onto the bottom motor mount nuts and the engine worked its' way down over whatever period of time and got out of alignment.

A coupler can also fail over time due to the splines on it giving out due to improper or non-existent greasing. This is easily checked from outside the boat once the drive is removed.

 

[fishrdan]

Any which way the repair goes, the drive will need to be removed, so might as well have them pull the drive and see if the coupler splines are shot. If the coupler is good, problem is in the drive that they just removed. If the coupler is bad, they will need to align the engine, which can't be done with the drive installed.

 

[achris]

No rubber hub and you referring to 'prop' not 'props' tells me most likely a Bravo 2. Wish your opening post had a bit more information. ... No resistance to turning the prop either way in both gears tells me the yoke isn't turning. That tells me snapped drive shaft or a problem with the shift. Either cable broken or a clutch problem. What it also tells me is it's most unlikely a coupler.

Chris. ....

 

[Bryant calandra]

The drive is a bravo 3 unit.
I appreciate everyone’s replies. I learn a little something new with each post. I am miles away from the boat so I am not able to take any current photos.
When you refer to a problem with the drive, what does my issues sounds like? Broken input shaft? I heard no rattling or shaking, just a fast rev. Then I backed it off. Tried over and over and nothing happened. Same fast rev. Nothing caught. I thought broken linkage in the drive unit. I figured you would smell something if it wore out or burned due to heat. But there was no signs of that.
i will tell you, this is a cable shift system. Not digital shifter. The cables move both directions on top of the engine when the shifter is moved. It sounds as though it engages, but the prop does not turn. I have heard talk about spun prop and wished that was the issue, but I also understood that even with a spun prop, it would spin slightly with little or no resistance. That was not the case. It didn’t spin at all. So I ruled that out. At this point, I hope maybe it is a coupler, but nothing more. And I imagine any good mechanic would have to use an alignment tool when resetting the motor or we would have another coupler issue later down the road.

 

[Bryant calandra]

Photo of serial number of engine, boat type and model
hoping the warranty is still good on something that is less than three years old.

 

[achris]

So, Bravo 3. 2 counter-rotating props. Does the other prop spin in the opposite direction when you spin one of the props?

Chris.........

 

[Bt Doctur]

With the drive removed you should be able to look at the inside of the coupler and see the splines or no splines. If it did rip the coupler you will find long needles in the grooves of the inputshaft. When you remove the drive , the control box is in neutral and the drive will automatically shift into gear upon removal. turn the inputshaft and the prop shaft should turn.Yes or ,No

 

[Bryant calandra]

Achris,
yes, the other prop rotates the opposite direction.
BT Doctur-I can’t answer that since I’m away from the boat currently. The mechanic should be working on it this week. Hopefully he will have it up and running by the end of the week so can enjoy the 4th on the water.

 

[Bt Doctur]

If he replaces the coupler and it turns out to be a outdrive problem I would withhold payment