New prop,shaft and rudder--??water brake also??

[Lee]

At the end of last season I hit something under water and took out the prop,shaft and rudder of my 06 VLX. The local Malibu dealer repaired the damaged and winterized the engine. The first time out this season seemed uneventfull. At full throttle the boat screamed at 47 MPH (1235 prop) no vibration just the sound of a happy engine. When I pulled the throttle back to neutral It felt like I had a very effective water brake, 47MPH to 0 in 2 seconds. This was accompanied by the boat taking a very hard left turn on its own. A deep sounding hum was herd until the boat came to a stop. No vibration felt. This same finding is reproduced every time. I have over 100hrs on the boat and this has never happend.----Help.

[gooddog]

Since the shaft and rudder were bent, I would bet the strut was bent also. If it is, it could cause the shaft to be in a bind and cause the prop to stop spinning and act as a brake in neutral. Check and see if you can easily turn the prop by hand on the trailer. The end of the shaft should line up exactly with the rudder. If the strut is bent it will probably be bent to the left, viewing from the back of the boat.

[SmoothWaterMan]

The end of the shaft should line up exactly with the rudder. If the strut is bent it will probably be bent to the left, viewing from the back of the boat.

I'm not saying the strut isn't bent, but the shaft may or may not line up with the rudder when aligned with the strut and engine. The rudder/strut/engine position have no specific coorelation (sp?) to each other, therefore don't use the rudder as a guide to shaft or strut alignment.

In terms of determing a bent strut, a hard bend you can see visibly, a minor one you need to unbolt the coupler to tell. Either way I'd ask the shop about it first. (It could also be a transmission related)

Peter

[John I.]

What kind of prop did you have on prior to damaging the underwater gear? Was it also a 1235? (Acme, OJ, 4 blade, 3 blade?)

[gooddog]

The end of the shaft should line up exactly with the rudder. If the strut is bent it will probably be bent to the left, viewing from the back of the boat.

I'm not saying the strut isn't bent, but the shaft may or may not line up with the rudder when aligned with the strut and engine. The rudder/strut/engine position have no specific coorelation (sp?) to each other, therefore don't use the rudder as a guide to shaft or strut alignment.

In terms of determing a bent strut, a hard bend you can see visibly, a minor one you need to unbolt the coupler to tell. Either way I'd ask the shop about it first. (It could also be a transmission related)

Peter

I agree Peter, that there isn't a specific alignment relationship with the rudder/strut/engine. I believe the factory tries to get it as close as possible though as a matter of quality. All the ones I have seen look very much in alignment with the naked eye. I have compared quite a few because I am now on my third strut on my boat (which appears perfectly aligned after the repair.) The first one I bent on a stump didn't hurt the shaft but you could still see the misalignment from the bent strut. The second one took out all the running gear and the bend was obvious..

I'm just saying that you can usually tell if the strut is bent by inspecting it carefully with a center line of sight through the rudder.

[Lee]

What kind of prop did you have on prior to damaging the underwater gear? Was it also a 1235? (Acme, OJ, 4 blade, 3 blade?)

I had the same prop (1235 Acme) prior to the repair job. Also I am told the strut was replaced also. Could there be binding going on from misalignment of shaft-strut-transmission with no vibration?