Spun Hub or Something Worse ??

[fdreano]

I have a 2001 Sea Ray 180 bowrider with a 3.0L Mercruiser I/O. Took the boat out on fresh water, flat calm lake today and things ran well for 1/2 hour. Returning to shore the boat would not get on plane. Motor revved up but the boat didn't go any faster. It idled back to the dock just fine. Pulled boat on trailer and no plastic bags, lines or seawood on prop or anywhere else. Put boat back in the water and same problem. Do I have a spun hub in the prop ?
I hope that is all that is wrong ?!?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Spun Hub or Something Worse ??

Was the engine temperature normal? If it was getting hot, you could have a spun engine coupler. That's bad $$$. If the temp stayed right on target, you most likely have a spun prop hub. Mark the prop and hub with a marker or something that won't wash off. Put it in the water, try to get it on plane. Then take the boat out of the water. Then look at the marks. If they are no longer lined up, you have a spun hub.

 

[fdreano]

Re: Spun Hub or Something Worse ??

Boat never overheated.....in fact, on the second try....the boat had been sitting for 5 hours. I started it up and immediately headed out from dock and no more than 50 yards from the dock the same symptom occurred....boat had been operating less than 1 minute.

 

[fdreano]

Re: Spun Hub or Something Worse ??

Turns out it was a spun prop hub...very strange....the rubber insert just disintegrated...as soon as I started to dig it out with a screwdriver it just turned to powder. Weird ?!

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Spun Hub or Something Worse ??

It had been spun so much, that it melted, basically. It can happen.