www.iFourWinns.com

Hit a rock while boating in the San Juans (Washington State) this past week. Missed a buoy while trolling and ended up gently kissing a reef at low tide. (My luck this year has been bad, but lucky enough there wasn't more damage.) The boat is fine, in fact I was surprised that the prop was involved, I didn't even notice the damage to it until the end of the day. Remarkably, there was no noticeable effect on the boats performance the rest of that day - no vibration, no sign of normal effects of prop damage - we went on to boat another 40+ miles. When we got back, I pulled her out to check and saw the full extend of the prop damage. Edges were scarred and a small piece was bent back on one of the three fins.

In any event, I tried to take the nut off and found it cinched on too tight for my tools to take it off. I want to make sure:

You turn the nut COUNTER CLOCKWISE to remove, right?

Merc or Volvo?

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Volvo (sorry about that)

Lower the outdrive some to take stress off the shift cable. Shift into gear (don't remember which way first). This will prevent the propeller shaft from turning. Remove the nut counterclockwise. If you have a DuoProp you will need Volvo's wrench to remove the inner nut on the inner propeller. This will also require that you reverse the shift lever to lock the propeller shaft from turning the other direction. Once the nut(s) is removed, pull on the prop. It should come off. If it doesn't use a dead blow hammer to knock it loose. DuoProps are notorious for sticking on and being difficult to remove if left on for too long without being re-greased.

To replace the prop, just put in gear the opposite to lock the propeller shaft and tighten the nut. Remember, to grease the splines of the propeller shaft well with a waterproof grease after you have cleaned them up. The best I've found was OMC TripleGuard grease (thick blue grease) I believe it's under the Johnson/Evinrude name or Bombadier.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

So far, so good. The prop came off easily enough and my replacement is ready to go. Getting the OMC grease is harder than I thought around here. The stores within miles don't have it, but almost every one recommended 'anti-seize.' Looks like a high performance grease (silver in texture). Think I'm okay there? Mark

Should be fine. Your technically not lubing anything, just preventing it from siezing. As ling as it's waterproof. Best thing to do is to remove and regrease your props at least twice a year. I do mine every 4 months.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

You could, for $22.33 (plus s&h), also get pretty much a lifetime supply of the Volvo recommended prop shaft grease from dougrussell.com. Part #1141644.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Sadly, Doug Russell requires a minimum order of 30 dollars, so that 17 dollar tube of grease is automatically raised to 30. I could buy two, but I'd feel ripped off.

The local marine shop uses a generic mercury grease on just about everything in their shop, they told me they'd sell me a tube for 5 bucks.

Any objections?

Mark

Don't sweat the grease. Any "waterproof" grease will work just fine. All it's really accomplishing is keeping the hub from corroding to the shaft.

I agree. I wouldn't use anti-seize - it's a pretty specialized type of grease and I wouldn't feel good about getting it in the water. You just want some kind of film between the shaft & hub that won't come off easily.

Sorry, I forgot about the $30 minimum. What a crock.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

To tie up loose ends on this thread - at least for this project - the new prop went on without any trobule, thanks to you all. Great tips (lowering the stern and putting into gear saves knuckles), you were all helpful.

The skag was chipped when I hit the rock, about a 1/4" indent on the bottom (about the middle of the fin). I am thinking this is not going to affect the performance of the boat. Am I right?

As for "anti-seize" (a brand name) - there *is* a marine version. Finding it is the difficult part.

Mark

I owe you a pic of the prop. THIS is how it looked after kissing that rock near Roche Harbor, WA. Oddly enough, we spent the next 44 miles on that prop without a care in the world. No vibration, nothing. Was good enough to catch up with these Orca whales....



We were very lucky that day. In more ways than one. Second prop I've lost up there in 15 years on the waters of Puget Sound.

The rest of the summer was spent on the Willamette River and surrounding lakes, breaking in the engine rebuild. Everything worked beautifully, knock on wood (or whatever is handy).

The Air Wave (that's her name) is tucked away for the winter -- inside storage. Good thing because it's snowing here in Portland tonight.

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