Grindig noise

[Atondo]

I was out at the river this weekend and while on tow my engine turned off..I have a 05 VLK with a 340 monsoon, i turned the engine on and continued for another 30 yards and it turned off again. i noticed smoke coming from the v-drive but my warning light was not on.every time i would start it from there on and put it in gear the engine would shut off.upon checking the v-drive oil i noticed that it was real low i added oil and let it cool down an hour later i was able to ride it with no problems but noticed a grinding noise coming from the v-drive area...Has anyone ever experience a similar problem? or any idea what my problem might be.

Edited August 19, 2010 by Atondo

[WakingMeHappy]

Define “real low” on oil and how long did you run it this way?

[winddawg]

I have a 2004 LSV with the 8.1 so I don't know if it is the same Walters v-drive as yours but mine failed last year with 335 hours on it. Here is what happened. I was running about 35mph just me and the wife and the boat shut down and I mean stopped like someone unplugged the ignition system.

Just before it happened I had no indication anything was wrong; no warning lights, no alarm nothing. It took me a few minutes to nail down what failed the engine, the tranny, the v-drive, or something in the prop. After checking the engine oil level and transmission I reached down to pull the dipstick out of the v-drive and literally burned my hand. After pouring water on the case to cool it I determined there was no oil in the unit, it was all in the bilge. I had a half quart of engine oil so I poured it into the v-drive and fired up the engine. All was good except for the terrible grinding and rattleing coming from the unit. I was about 15 miles from my dock so I took it slow 4mph and called a friend to pick me up.

Fast forward to the transmission shop and Kevin at Kevin's Prop Shop (he does great work) in Antioch determined the the retaining mechansim on the main output shaft nut was improperly installed at the factory and the allowed the nut (which is installed with a rolling resistance torque wrench) to loosen up and allow the two gears to "grind" and the unit to fail. Insurance paid out, after some back and forth, for the replacement and it was about 3k for all of the reapairs and cleanup.

PM me if you have any questions.

-Dave

[Atondo]

Thanks for replying guys, Winddawg thats exactly what happend to mine the only differance is that i didnt move the boat after i realized that it didnt have oil. I did however ride it for about 200 yrd after putting oil in it. i was able to notice the differance in the grinding noise...and no oil was noticed in the bilge..Wakingmehappy i should say it didnt have any oil i was only able to see a small amount on the tip of the dipstick..Are v-drives rebuildable????

[MN_LSV]

Similar thing happend today. 2003 8.1L LSV 500 hrs. Pulling a wakeboarder, felt a little vibration then a heard a loud grinding noise so I immediatly took it out of gear and shut it down. Checked all the fluids, and they were all fine. V-drive was hot. Started it again with seat open, put it in gear, heard grinding again, immediately took it out of gear. Grinding was definately from V-drive. Got towed back to landing, and dropped it off at the dealership this afternoon. All I know is that sounded like an expensive grind Not looking forward to hearing what the diagnosis and cost of repair will be.