My Boat almost sank! Jet cut itself to pieces!!

[JROCK]

Hi guys... well I was cursing out at Mohave this Saturday at 8:00 pm looking for a spot to camp with my gf and all of a sudden I head some funny swishing noises.... I slowed down to take a look under the engine cover and felt the ass end of the boat going under pretty bad.... I was in the middle of the lake so I just threw on the bilge and hauled ass for the shore... The boat started sinking and shaking then my motor started over heating...... I just barley made it to shore and beached it pretty hard so if i did sink it wouldnÂ’t ruin the interior and motor... I threw open the engine hatch and there was water pouring out of my valve covers so I thought all the water must have came from my engine somehow. I left the bilge running and unpacked all my camping stuff, since I wasnÂ’t going anywhere that night and after about an hour I noticed that the bilge pumped the boat almost dry. It was then I could see where the water had really came from... The jet had two gaping slash marks in it from where the impellor had cut open the jet housing and pumped water right into the engine compartment. I took the cover off of the jet and noticed that the top of the cover also had huge slashes in it. It looks like the entire impellor shifted way far forward and cut the jet to pieces. Anyway I am going back down this weekend and will get pictures, but WTF could have caused this? I just put some fresh grease on the bearing maybe I over greased it .......Any insight would be a great help. Jezz I am sure glad I didnÂ’t sell this boat like I wanted to, someone would want to kill me right now. Now I am looking at the cost of a new engine and a jet if I want this thing to runÂ… I am starting to think the boat gods hate me

[MikeF]

Sounds like the hard chrome on the impeller shaft was worn through..or bowl bushings worn through..leading to the impeller grabbing the wear ring and grinding away at the suction housing. Gonna cost a pretty penny. Could have been worse if you had to haul out your boat off the bottom of the lake. :cry:
I would take the boat over to MPD. Jack will let you know exactly what is wrong and what it will cost to fix it. If you can do some of the work yourself you will save a little money. Most of those parts are expensive and I do not know if anything will be salvageable.
He is located in Costa Mesa and is an easy drive from LH. I consider him to be the best and his labor rate is very good! You'll be pleased with the results.
His phone # is (949) 631-2040

[JROCK]

I called Jack and he says that the bearing must have disenegrated and then the shaft pushed foward and took out the main engine seal... damn now I need to weigh my options.... new engine and pump is going to be some bucks or just sell the damn hull.....

[MikeF]

Damn! :yuk: Some boat lessons are hard learned. I did not take into concideration of the engine damage too. Do you have any type of mechanical background to be able to do some of the work?

[Oldsquirt]

Don't be too quick to condemn the engine. Even if the shaft moved forward it may not have gone far enough to actually push on the driveshaft. Just finished replacing an "E" pump where a similar thing occurred. Measured the crank endplay and it was right where it should be at .006". Most of the damage to the suction housing turned out to be from the wear ring spinning. The impeller and shaft had not moved all that far, just enough to spin the wear ring.
Pull the pump and then measure the endplay of the crank with a dial indicator. I'll bet you are OK in the engine department.

[PC Rat]

A few years ago, the shaft bearing went out in my pump. The impeller went forward, ground itself into the suction housing, and windowed the impeller. When you window the impeller, you lose bowl pressure and therefore can't cool the engine. All the slack was taken up in the driveshaft and it pushed the engine's crankshaft forward, it took out the crank and mains.
Hope yours wasn't as bad as mine, but then again I had to get all new and better stuff!
Brian

[miketsouth]

http://store1.yimg.com/I/waterheater_1816_1043337
I put one of these in my boat. It has a 5' cord and a little bulb, and is sun powered. I stuffed the bulb under the piece of rubber that usually holds a 3point mount and siliconed in in there. Gives a relatively good bearing temperature indication. I mounted it where i could casually look back and see it. 110-120F @85F OAT) is a regular temp, but i have seen as high as 140F on extended runs, say 20 minutes at 4000rpm.
Hopefully it will alert me to a bad condition. I dont know what these bearings usually run in temp, but all the bearings i usually see get hot enough to go "hiss" when you spit on them before they fail completely.
If anybody knows what temps these bearings usually run, please say.
mikeT
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/katiejet/teriblast2.gif

[Mighty Thor]

On the Berkeley JE I wound up with the snap ring had been improperly seated in the shaft groove and it distorted enough to pop out of the groove. The impeller ate through the wear ring and into the housing. if it had kept going it would have done the same thing that your's did. Note to rebuilders DON"T USE THE OLD SNAP RING, GET A NEW ONE! It is cheap insurance to prevent an expensive problem. The mechanic who rebuilt the pump wouldn't own up to his error and that's how come I got the boat cheap. Pretty obvious what happened when the snap ring is bent to hell and halfway up the shaft.

[Mr.&Mrs.Budlight]

Most guys don't know that there is two ways to install a snap ring. Always install the sharp side toward the load. If you look at one close you can see the difference. Budlight :sqeyes:

[Mighty Thor]

And in this application you mean the load coming from the shaft and not the load being placed on the thrust bearing, which I suspect the last dip stick did not understand, plus I am almost certain that he put back the original snap ring since I found another new one under the rear seat of the boat.