400 Verado propshaft breakage

**mn808gade** · 09-29-2017, 12:22 AM

may i ask,what tool is that in your hand -th

**noli** · 09-29-2017, 06:18 AM

.

with all this shaft breaking, hope folks are taking advantage of the 3 year extended warranty on the 400R?

...just run to your bank and get the money out that's all

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**Chaz** · 09-29-2017, 07:16 AM

Originally Posted by mn808gade

may i ask,what tool is that in your hand -th

A spring loaded depth / diameter micrometer .

**lightspeed** · 09-29-2017, 09:02 AM

We just rigged 2 32 doug wrights with these motors so far no problems about 15 hrs so far

**JPEROG** · 09-29-2017, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by lightspeed

We just rigged 2 32 doug wrights with these motors so far no problems about 15 hrs so far

Another sign of how efficient the 32 is. The cases don't need to be as high as others to achieve the low to mid 120 speeds that they are seeing. I know Eve has a decent amount of time on his and has not broken one yet even with his wfo running habit.

Joe

**Double Rigged** · 09-29-2017, 10:07 AM

It's all that extra HP from the computer flashes those west coast guys are getting to make their boats faster LOL!

**NICE PAIR** · 09-29-2017, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Double Rigged

It's all that extra HP from the computer flashes those west coast guys are getting to make their boats faster LOL!

I thought it was the hard water. ;-)

**mn808gade** · 09-29-2017, 11:01 AM

thanx-th

**AZMIDLYF** · 09-29-2017, 11:10 AM

Think it's the air myself...

WILDMAN, was the 400R gearcase running higher than all the 300XS motors on the Liberator?

**WILDMAN** · 09-29-2017, 11:23 AM

Yes, it was 1 1/8" higher. 2 3/8" above the bottom

**JPEROG** · 09-29-2017, 11:33 AM

I am really surprised with all of the shaft failures out there that they haven't lost any on the 36 Doug Wright at Performance Boat Center. They have put just under 2000 miles on it and I swear that Myric tries to break it. We ran the living s**t out that thing like it was our last ride ever. That being said, maybe there was a process fault for a period of time. Its definitely an expensive mystery that Mother Merc has to solve.

Joe

**conmax** · 09-29-2017, 10:39 PM

don't really have much new info. mercury did replace the lower on the 27 speedster under warranty and the boat has now been delivered.
bob leach, owner of eliminator was told by some metallurgist that 300m material would be stronger just like our Chaz said.
the broken shaft lower that i saw at eliminator also had the seal and bearing wiped and hogged out. this could easily happen and likely has once any propshaft breaks.
merc still hasn't warranty replaced the one that failed after about 1 yr on the very fast 28. that boat ran 134mph with 36" cleavers. according to the owner, 36's are too big for overall use on that boat. sluggish to plane and accelerate. ok with lite load on cold day.
these boats were all set up between 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 above the bottom. a long straight edge between the last few feet of the bottom to the center of the nose cone was used. of course, the notched was above this by several inches. as long as other boats are set up the same distance from the bottom, it should not matter if they have lower transom like the DW race boats. the props should see about the same forces if mounted at the same height. what could make some difference is the distance between the engines and the tunnels. i expect that if the hull or "y" axis mounting were different, it would result in more or less force transmitted to the shafts.

**Bullhead Bully** · 10-30-2017, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by stoker2001

yup,hears first hand from WC about Paul Wallners AKA "bully" TWO lost CNC blades at bottom

blows my mind that mother merc would consider using two-piece welded shaft in that application??word has it they kicked down for both of Pauls wheels..

Hi Kevin, I haven’t logged on in a bit. Thanks for thinking about me. LOL when it comes to breaking stuff. I seem to have a reputation going that I have to uphold. To answer a few questions. Yes mercury took great care of me spent a lot of time working with me and explained the way the gearcase is designed that it is a carbon steel/stainless steel two-piece friction welded shaft due to the design the internal components and how it shifts need to be made of carbon steel ( as are all other my career outports from what I understand ) I’m an engineer and building gear boxes is not my forte so I will leave it to them.
Keeping the vibration out of the gearbox is key. My propellers were spinning in at that time they were getting dirty water coming off the tunnel. By changing rotation and doing a few other modifications it cleaned up the water going to the gear case dramatically. Time will tell how it works. But again many many thanks to mercury. They’ve been very helpful and have completely taken care of the issue for me. For now. Let’s hope forever.

By the way. New 22 Talon and new 28 SS Nordic on the way. Three more 400s splashing soon 👍👍👍

**powerabout** · 10-31-2017, 07:53 AM

I wonder how hot the oil is getting and is that a difference in the different boats?
How does the propshaft roller look in the failed cases?

**MODVP22** · 10-31-2017, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by engineermike

17-4PH has nearly the same strength as 4000 series high-strength steels, but the corrosion resistance roughly equivalent to 316 stainless. It's fairly common and available but nowhere near the cost of exotic materials.

Interesting you mention that. I work for a medical device manufacturer and almost all of the instruments have gone from 316 to 17-4