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42 searay broken shaft

Discussion in 'Sea Ray Yacht' started by chesapeake46, Oct 31, 2013.

  1. sunchaserv

    sunchaserv Member

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    A good shaft shop should be able to tell if current shafts are 304 or 316. If 1.75" is breaking, an Aqualoy 19 or 22 may well fill the bill. I'd consider 1.75" marginal for the Cats and if 304 possibly the issue.
  2. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    A cheap shot at SR without knowing the facts.....
  3. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    The fact of this case? True but my comment was meant in general...

    Like how many balsa cored sea ray hulls have quietly been replaced by the factory after suffering severe damage due to water intrusion and delamination...

    Or when hundreds of gas engines ingested water because they miscalculated the risersr heights...

    It s not about sea ray, it s about boat builders in general often making these kind of mistakes so assuming that because a big name is behind a boat it is properly engineered just doesn't work out in the real world
  4. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    So lots of good info here. I am in the ship repair business and have ben for a long time. Shafts are an area of constant concern for our customers given the scenario in a failure. The posts about checking alignment and the fit between prop and shaft are spot on and not to be taken for granted. My previous boat was a Sea Ray 390 and I also experienced an unexplained shaft failure. I do not attribute this to S/R as it can happen to any boat. The reality is that these shafts are under tremendous strain. Items can contact the prop without you ever knowing it. There can be suttle vibrations that go undetected. And yes, shaft material can have flaws in them that do not manifest themselves until years later and exacerbated by the aforementioned issues.
    The best way to prevent unexpected failure is to check the running gear even if you are not aware of a problem. Check alignment, inspect cutlass bearings, do a blue fit on the props each time you pull them and I recommend a simple Non Destructive Test (NDT) of the shafts using dye penetrant and developer to look for signs of cracks or inclusions. This should be done especially where the shaft begins it's taper (weakest point) and around the key way. Here's a few pictures of my shafts being NDT'd.

    Attached Files:

  5. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    Then why bring in off topic issues as you are doing below, what do they have to do with the OP's topic?

    Have seen this program first hand. The number of repaired hulls versus the tens of thousands of larger sized hulls that SR has built over the years is a pretty small %.

    I will venture to say that out of the Hundreds of thousands of gas boats SR produced this is not a very significant number.

    But you certainly seem to be making it about them...

    If you have been in the industry for some time, you realize that SR has always had a large target on them. Every builder would like some of there market share and some have been quite successful in those endeavors. But I can tell you that they probably have the largest staff of engineers and resources in production pleasure craft and apply more engineering / testing to their product than any other. You also have to realize that not all product development decisions are ultimately controlled by these engineers, as there are a lot of "cooks in the kitchen".

    Regardless, the OP is talking about an 18 year history, possibly non-OEM replaced equipment, owner provided labor at haulouts, and known or unknown grounding events, doesn't really seem like an indictment on engineering...
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Searay like any builder has had some issues but it's a small percentage of issues compared to the amount of boats they build(like any builder). The difference is that Searay (much like Cat) does step up to the plate and fix/warranty their problems without a fight. They don't build the best boat, but they build the best boat in their price range/style. They build an above average quality boat, for an average owner and average usage for an average price and they do that very well. You're not going to take a Searay and fish Marlin tournaments (although I had a customer that regularly did in St. Croix), cross the gulfstream in 12' seas, or run the boat to Brasil. Just as well, you're not going to leave Friday for Nassau from Fort Lauderdale and be back on Monday with a Nordhavn because that's how long it will take you to get there and back.

    I had a 2001 Wellcraft 42' back in 2007 that had completely soft foward deck, completely soft swim platform, and 3 soft spots in the cockpit, and wellcraft told the owner to go pound sand.

    I also was managing a 2003 42' regal back in 2005 that developed pea sized blisters every square inch of the hull below the water line. They offered to fix it if we ran it to and from St. Augustine, which would've cost the owner $7,000. They then offered $3500 for him and the cheapest bill from a reputable yard was $13,000.00 so the owner had to pay the difference. The same boat had VERY milky woodwork throughout and they wouldn't do anything about that.
  7. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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  8. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Quote from K1W1s article;
    "but had given him little information other than that ''the prop fell off''"

    I still hope that's better than "the front fell off"..
    ,rc
  9. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    The results are in.....

    Just in case you were sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for an answer....

    I spoke with my friend last night about his wheel and broken shaft.
    The marina sent the wheel and shaft out to be checked, by whom I don't know, but the results were that the shaft and the wheel were not the same taper.
  10. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I wonder, Any comments on a different sound, hum or vibration with new shaft & wheel? Or SSDD?
  11. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    He has not run it with the new gear yet.
    This happened right at the last run of the season.

    Spring will tell but he said he never really felt any vibrations
  12. RT46

    RT46 Senior Member

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    My previous boat would bang in gear on the stbd side no matter what I did and the prop was always loose on the key way no matter how tight the bolts were on launch.

    Also, ran the boat 100 miles once to get back home with a nasty vibration.
    I thought the engine was going to grenade any second.
    The next day I found a birds nest of pot warp on the prop.
    I removed the birds nest and never had an issue with the shaft.

    as far as I know the boat is still running strong with the same shafts.
  13. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    That will do it. I once saw a 75' Hatteras MY come into Ocean Reef many years ago. One of their engines wouldn't run in gear just neutral. A diver came out with a 13' Zodiac and pulled enough crab trap line off of the shafts that it completely filled the Zodiac like a mountain 3' high. They must have left it on Autopilot and never once went around the crab trap lines. It was unbelievable and the talk around the docks there for a long time.
  14. Chris Stone

    Chris Stone New Member

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    I have a 1991 Sea Ray Sundancer with 375 cats. The shaft on the port engine broke, just behind the strut, so I lost the propeller and now need also a shaft. Can someone give me the sea ray part number for the shaft, or tell me where I can find a used one. The propeller is a nibral 22 X 25, looking for a used prop also. I have owned this boat for 15 years, never have run aground, or hit anything hard, other than a lobster trap line, here or there. I have heard some sea rays have this issue? I only saw this one other time back in 2000, when I ran a 1998, 40' Sundancer to the Bahamas for a charter company back then. The shaft broke, crusing in open water, off of Freeport. Shaft broke in the same place, and lost the prop in 900' of water.
  15. PacBlue

    PacBlue Senior Member

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    The vast majority of shaft breaks are all at the same point - a stress riser at the keyway fatigues over time and lets go. Could be age, prop/key fit, alignment, shaft material issue, bumping objects underway, a whole host of events. I have had friends on Chris-Crafts and Californians who had the same thing happen to them, donated a nice prop to a 1000'+ bottom. Unfortunate way to ruin a day on the water, but it happens.

    Go online to Sea Ray or chase someone down at Marine Max, their largest dealer. It would be interesting to see how responsive either of them are with the SR brand being offered for sale at this time.
  16. MBevins

    MBevins Senior Member

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    Enquire with a good sized prop shop. They'll have a machine shop that makes them and will probably already have the drawings for the shaft.
  17. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Shafts do break. It s good idea to inspect them for cracks or corrosion. A year ago the boat i used to run was sold and when the wheels were pulled to be checked, an inspection revealed one of the shaft has a crack. Would eventually have failed...

    You don't really need a part number. Any good prop shop can make a new shaft. There are different grades of shaft material, make sure they use the right one or maybe consider upgrading