Came out of gear??

[Overboard]

Need some thoughts from the pros. I was out on the lake today pulling the kids on the tube and everything was going well until coming out of a starboard turn (levelling the boat by turning to port) it “came out of gear” Rpm didn’t jump but I was throttling back slightly during the turn and the boat just stopped like I pulled it out of gear. Pulled it into neutral and back into forward gear and it engaged normally, tried fwd/reverse all worked well after that.

There was no noise and no vibration that accompanied the sudden stop, wasn’t running the boat hard (other than pulling a tube)

Question: if I hit something, would a prop hub or engine coupler spin and then hook up again after? And any other thoughts.

Thanks!!!


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[mmwjr]

Typically when a prop or coupler spins the rpms jump up and the boat slows down. There is still enough friction to maneuver the boat up to about 2000 rpm then it will start slipping. Several years ago I made a 2 hour trip with a spun prop at 8mph to get home. Had a spare prop but not the right wrench for the Brave 2 nut, that was corrected by the next outing.

Even if the clutch disengaged the rpms should go up, maybe since you were throttling down it wasn't as obvious.

How fast and how long did you operate the boat after this happened?

[jparsons121]

+1. All would usually be accompanied by increased rpm. Once the load is off the engine increase in rpm would be pretty fast and easily noticed.
Was this a tight turn and possibly cavitation?
Prop lost bite, but was still in gear?

[jrsick]

Is everything running right now?
I had similar situation that I believe was caused by the prop partially/completely coming out of the water. There was an rpm surge followed by some strange sounds.
That's the thing about sitting next to your engine; you hear everything.

[shrew]

Silly but......any chance you simply knocked the shifter with your elbow?

[Overboard]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

Typically when a prop or coupler spins the rpms jump up and the boat slows down. There is still enough friction to maneuver the boat up to about 2000 rpm then it will start slipping. Several years ago I made a 2 hour trip with a spun prop at 8mph to get home. Had a spare prop but not the right wrench for the Brave 2 nut, that was corrected by the next outing.



Even if the clutch disengaged the rpms should go up, maybe since you were throttling down it wasn't as obvious.



How fast and how long did you operate the boat after this happened?

I agree Mike that as I was throttling down when it happened and as soon as I felt “slack” in my forward momentum I pulled back right away which may have made an RPM jump harder to hear in the moment and much less profound (had the music up for the tubers as well so engine noise was drowned out a bit).


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[Overboard]

Originally Posted by shrew

Silly but......any chance you simply knocked the shifter with your elbow?

I was actually throttling down when it happened and immediately after thought it may have been cavitation so before going all the way to neutral I pushed the throttle foreword a bit to see if the boat would surge ahead and all I got at that point was an RPM surge with no forward movement or any other audible sound (music was off at that point).


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[Overboard]

Jparsons121 & Jrsick

Sorry guys, see my reply to shrew,


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[shrew]

You could, conceivably have a condition where you chop the throttle fast enough that the engine RPM's are slower than expected for the speed being carried by the hull. Then when you advance the throttle, the prop can't bite into water that is travelling past it faster than it is spinning.

In other words, like trying to peddle a bike down hill in first gear. You're peddles are rotating, but the geared speed is slower than the speed of the wheels, creating that 'free wheeling' situation.

Something similar could be occurring when you attempted to advance the throttle again.

[Overboard]

Originally Posted by shrew

You could, conceivably have a condition where you chop the throttle fast enough that the engine RPM's are slower than expected for the speed being carried by the hull. Then when you advance the throttle, the prop can't bite into water that is travelling past it faster than it is spinning.

In other words, like trying to peddle a bike down hill in first gear. You're peddles are rotating, but the geared speed is slower than the speed of the wheels, creating that 'free wheeling' situation.

Something similar could be occurring when you attempted to advance the throttle again.

Interesting, I had not considered this, thank you Shrew. I will be out hopefully before the weekend to jump in and pull the prop to look at the hub, I will post my findings.


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[Overboard]

So after far to long away from the boat I went out and found the prop hub has some wear to it after pulling it out, I cannot make it duplicate the condition but I suspect that is because I am not pulling anything and it was just me and my daughter on glass for water so I will be replacing the hub anyway and I’m going to make a prop change at the same time. The weather has been garbage and doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon so I fear I will be winterizing next week anyway. I have never hated the transition from summer to fall more since owning a boat.


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[CaptGreg]

I've found all kinds of strange things on my 4200SCR. After a day's fun on the water, my starboard trans would still feel like playing so while stopped at the dock and in neutral, the starboard would actually slip into reverse AND rev up. I became used to this for about a month or so until I could change out the throttle cabling and finally the helm control which was actually the culprit. Have fun and be prepared for anything. I only bring this up because your helm could actually be the problem. Consider the cheap fixes first but even the helm control could have an issue.