2018 lsv prop clearance please help

[Dwake]

Can anyone measure the prop clearance on there 2018 lsv?

 

dealer has re-aligned engine 2x now on this boat and i am loosing faith in them.

first mis-alignment you could really see it.

this time I noticed some gel coat bubbling above prop, the said it was out of alignment again. WTF.

Feels like burn got worse.  I told them to fix the gel coat and if course they didn’t 

now i feel the prop is to close.  Its less than an inch.  Probably like 3/4 inch.  I have it in a lift, not trailer and cant really get under it( long story  allergic to weeds in water near dock).  Had to try and measure it under water out in deeper water.

[JBell]

24 minutes ago, Dwake said:

Can anyone measure the prop clearance on there 2018 lsv?

 

dealer has re-aligned engine 2x now on this boat and i am loosing faith in them.

first mis-alignment you could really see it.

this time I noticed some gel coat bubbling above prop, the said it was out of alignment again. WTF.

Feels like burn got worse.  I told them to fix the gel coat and if course they didn’t 

now i feel the prop is to close.  Its less than an inch.  Probably like 3/4 inch.  I have it in a lift, not trailer and cant really get under it( long story  allergic to weeds in water near dock).  Had to try and measure it under water out in deeper water.

Sounds like an incorrect propeller size. Not a misaligned engine. Your engine is typically moved to align with your prop shaft. So aligning the engine wouldnt even fix the problem.

[Dwake]

It’s the factory prop.  No buts about it.  I verified it long ago.  
something fish going on .  Because my shaft has moved 2x now

On 6/21/2020 at 8:51 PM, JBell said:

Sounds like an incorrect propeller size. Not a misaligned engine. Your engine is typically moved to align with your prop shaft. So aligning the engine wouldnt even fix the problem.

 

[gregtay]

1 hour ago, Dwake said:

It’s the factory prop.  No buts about it.  I verified it long ago.  
something fish going on .  Because my shaft has moved 2x now

 

Do you know what prop is on there?

[Pnwrider]

13 minutes ago, gregtay said:

Do you know what prop is on there?

If it’s factory, only options were 2277 or 2249. Neither should have gel burn. 

[JBell]

On 6/23/2020 at 10:21 PM, Dwake said:

It’s the factory prop.  No buts about it.  I verified it long ago.  
something fish going on .  Because my shaft has moved 2x now

 

If your shaft is moving there is something wrong with your strut or the cutlass bearing in the strut. Your shaft should not be moving around at all. An engine alignment moves the engine and transmission to align with the shaft coupler. Not the other way around.

The reason I ask about your prop is because the only other reason your prop would be too close to the boat is the your strut or shaft is severely bent. And if either were bent that bad you would be having much more issues than just bubbling on your gel coat.

Pull your prop and look for the number stamped on the middle.

[Dwake]

On 6/26/2020 at 1:18 AM, JBell said:

If your shaft is moving there is something wrong with your strut or the cutlass bearing in the strut. Your shaft should not be moving around at all. An engine alignment moves the engine and transmission to align with the shaft coupler. Not the other way around.

The reason I ask about your prop is because the only other reason your prop would be too close to the boat is the your strut or shaft is severely bent. And if either were bent that bad you would be having much more issues than just bubbling on your gel coat.

Pull your prop and look for the number stamped on the middle.

Prop is the 2249.  Had long stern talk with mechanics.  What’s been happening is the engine has been lifting.  I hope they got it sorted because it’s bull it has happened 2x now.  When the engine alignment lifted up it brought the whole train with it.  Hence the prop shaft tilted towards the boat ( like a fulcrum/pivot).  Now that I looked at it, I can see the prop burn is now forward of the prop tip.  So when re-aligned it tilted back down.  So geometry wise it makes sense.  But why is my alignment goofed 2x now.  And I have also determined that the prop clearance is about 3/4”. Seems tight but thats the standard.  I have always heard 1/2” is trouble.

 

all I can fathom is the dealer didn’t properly check alignment at the 10hr interval and then the first time the fixed it it wasn’t done properly and it got loose again.  I thought after alignment is done with the screw pins they bolt it down to specific torque.  Maybe they were supposed to replace washers or something that can’t be reused.  And that’s why it loosened up.  

[csleaver]

On 6/28/2020 at 9:50 AM, Dwake said:

Prop is the 2249.  Had long stern talk with mechanics.  What’s been happening is the engine has been lifting.  I hope they got it sorted because it’s bull it has happened 2x now.  When the engine alignment lifted up it brought the whole train with it.  Hence the prop shaft tilted towards the boat ( like a fulcrum/pivot).  Now that I looked at it, I can see the prop burn is now forward of the prop tip.  So when re-aligned it tilted back down.  So geometry wise it makes sense.  But why is my alignment goofed 2x now.  And I have also determined that the prop clearance is about 3/4”. Seems tight but thats the standard.  I have always heard 1/2” is trouble.

 

all I can fathom is the dealer didn’t properly check alignment at the 10hr interval and then the first time the fixed it it wasn’t done properly and it got loose again.  I thought after alignment is done with the screw pins they bolt it down to specific torque.  Maybe they were supposed to replace washers or something that can’t be reused.  And that’s why it loosened up.  

There really isn't much distance for the prop and shaft to move even if the bushings in the transmission mounts failed and allowed the drivetrain to lift up during extremely heavy load and hard acceleration before it would contact the strut.  There are no 'one time use' washers or fasteners that I have ever seen on the engine or transmission mounts, unless something is worn or damaged.  The only height adjustment on the mounts are threaded shafts with jam nuts and the side to side is done with trunion shafts with pinch bolts.  It wouldn't matter how bad of an alignment was done, I can't see any scenario that would cause what you described other than damaged or bent running gear, like the strut or propshaft.

I could be completely wrong about this, but if the boat has the correct prop, and there wasn't a bent or damaged piece of running gear, it would be the first time I have heard of an improper alignment causing this kind of issue on any boat ever.

[justgary]

7 hours ago, csleaver said:

There really isn't much distance for the prop and shaft to move even if the bushings in the transmission mounts failed and allowed the drivetrain to lift up during extremely heavy load and hard acceleration before it would contact the strut.  There are no 'one time use' washers or fasteners that I have ever seen on the engine or transmission mounts, unless something is worn or damaged.  The only height adjustment on the mounts are threaded shafts with jam nuts and the side to side is done with trunion shafts with pinch bolts.  It wouldn't matter how bad of an alignment was done, I can't see any scenario that would cause what you described other than damaged or bent running gear, like the strut or propshaft.

I could be completely wrong about this, but if the boat has the correct prop, and there wasn't a bent or damaged piece of running gear, it would be the first time I have heard of an improper alignment causing this kind of issue on any boat ever.

This is an interesting issue.  I agree with you that the jam nuts stop the motion on the mounts.  I had to use a 2x4 to shift my engine 0.030" after I changed my strut.  However, the engine has a lot more torque than my 2x4 does.

@Dwake, you didn't say if the mount nuts were loose or if the entire mount was loose.  I can see all sorts of trouble if the mount is not correctly fastened to the stringer.  Whichever it is, it would take a huge amount of engine movement to move the prop 1/4", assuming that the fulcrum is the strut.