G23 Prop Fell Off .....

[NautiqueJeff]

Greg Meloon gave me a call today to discuss the shafts. It sounds like they are still putting significant resources into the issue, and they are indeed using a new manufacturer as of a few months ago. Like some have said in earlier posts, the original shaft manufacturer's quality had slipped, and that caused some bad shafts to get into production. A few months ago, they changed manufacturers because of the issues with the original manufacturer's shafts. Since then, the failure rate has been extremely low. I wouldn't expect it to ever reach zero because of other contributing factors (engines out of alignment, improper prop installation, etc.), but it sounds like the new manufacturer's shafts have held up very well so far. Greg made it clear that Nautique's intention is to provide an exceptional experience for their owners, and they are working hard to be sure they are addressing this issue to provide that experience.

During our conversation, we talked about the number of G-series boats out there versus the number that have experienced this issue. It sounds like the number of boats that have had a shaft break, while not insignificant, is not a large percentage of all G-series boats. In my personal experience, I have owned seven G-series boats, and I have had zero shaft failures. I run my boats quite a bit, including pulling tournaments and pulling numerous high-level riders. I know that my 2016 G23 did end up breaking a shaft while the second owner had it. Other than that I know of one on my lake that has broken, and that was a camp boat that had many hundreds of hours put on it during the year. I am not even sure how long ago that happened. It was quite some time back. There may be others around here that have broken, but those are the only ones that I am aware of. My point is that while the issue is not something that should be taken lightly (and Nautique isn't), it also isn't happening to a large percentage of the G-series boats. It sounds like Nautique has got a good supplier who so far has been consistent in supplying quality shafts with what appear to be strong results in the field, at least so far. Nautique has been supporting anyone who experiences the issue, and I would expect that to continue for a reasonable amount of time.

[Evening Shade]

Broaching is more expensive than a simple CNC cut.

The current shafts that keep breaking seem more expensive than broaching. A product that never fails is far cheaper than an inexpensive product that fails.

[SoCal G-Man]

It would be interesting to know by a company insider on the total breakage count by model and year

VERY few G owners I meet in my travels are here on the PN forum. I would also like to know that data...

[swc5150]

Lol, nothing to see here

[GMLIII]

I've heard this is not a widespread issue, so I'm sure there won't be many, if any, more pages to this thread.

We are at 38 pages now and growing each week

[swc5150]

I've heard this is not a widespread issue, so I'm sure there won't be many, if any, more pages to this thread.

[GMLIII]

How many pages can a thread have on PN? Are we going to run out of pages on this thread? LOL

[SoCal G-Man]

What about going with a splined shaft like MC uses? This would eliminate the key/keyway. MC switched to splined shafts in 2006 or 2007

Unfortunately all the old keyway props couldn't be kept as spares.

Broaching is more expensive than a simple CNC cut.

[Kenv]

Come on gadgetwiz....this is too easy...you set em' up...i'll knock em' down....LOL - - The reason the boat turned around and took a picture of you was......They posted it on here....LOL "Another G21 loses it's prop" Ha ha ha.....OK....I kid...I kid....but you KNOW they were thinking that. Oh...by the way....I'm at 170 hours on my G21 with no failure. Knock on Nibral......LOVE LOVE my G21

[gadgetwiz]

Glad I found this thread. I haven't had this problem yet, but I'm buying a trolling motor. Picked up a new 2017 G21 last September and have 250+ hours on it. The idler tensioner broke last year. Nothing more demeaning than being towed back to dock by a 20 year old 16' fishing boat. Some other guy drove past us while we were being towed, stopped, turned around, and took a photograph of the whole affair.

By the way, what size trolling motor is that? Is it really big enough to push a G-series boat?

[Evening Shade]

I think so, maybe that is why mine has not broken yet. But that is just a gut impression that 2016 seems less, but it is definitely not immune.

There are boats in this 36 page thread that have had multiple failures, so replacement shafts break also. Suppose 5% of shafts break (just my best guess), which is 1/20. That would mean about 1/400 owners will have a shaft break twice, assuming that the owner or dealer is not doing something that causes the shaft to break more often.

The new supplier mantra has been worn out since 2013. There is no reason whatsoever to believe this is the case, or was the root of the problem.

I still think the key with the stem on it may play a role in weakening the shaft, but nobody commented last time I suggested it might be an issue. It seems to break right where the extra hole is.

What about going with a splined shaft like MC uses? This would eliminate the key/keyway. MC switched to splined shafts in 2006 or 2007

Unfortunately all the old keyway props couldn't be kept as spares.

[j2nh]

I think so, maybe that is why mine has not broken yet. But that is just a gut impression that 2016 seems less, but it is definitely not immune.

There are boats in this 36 page thread that have had multiple failures, so replacement shafts break also. Suppose 5% of shafts break (just my best guess), which is 1/20. That would mean about 1/400 owners will have a shaft break twice, assuming that the owner or dealer is not doing something that causes the shaft to break more often.

The new supplier mantra has been worn out since 2013. There is no reason whatsoever to believe this is the case, or was the root of the problem.

I still think the key with the stem on it may play a role in weakening the shaft, but nobody commented last time I suggested it might be an issue. It seems to break right where the extra hole is.

You could very well be correct. Given the frequency of the breaks it seems that the engineering safety factor built into the design of the size of the shaft is too close. If the pin in the shaft is enough to cause a failure then the shaft is too small in diameter. Too tight a margin, an out of alignment shaft or strut an imperfectly balance prop etc. None of these have to be obvious to the operator but maybe just a subtle alignment problem is enough to snap the shaft.

Nautique's solution should be to share information with owners and assure them that the root cause will be found and they will be made whole regardless of the year of the boat or whether they are the first or fifth owner.

[cptotr]

This is what the rep said to me. I don't necessarily believe it either as I believe we've all heard a similar response, but here it is. If it is true, it might validate the claim that 2016's had less failures while they were only getting shafts manufactured to the correct specs.

He said that after the shafts started breaking in 2013, they went back to the supplier and found out that their manufacturing tolerances were off on the keyway. After they discovered that, he said that Nautique started checking them as they were being brought in and rejecting the ones that were out of spec. He said that they got to the point that all shafts were being made to specs and as a result Nautique started to get complacent and relaxed their quality control checks and the shafts slowly returned to the poor quality standards that they previously were. This is when they switched to the new shafts from a new supplier. They supposedly have 1000's of hours of testing and installs on customers and pro rider's boats have not had a single shaft failure.

He went on to say that other people have suggested a larger diameter shaft and that he believed that would also fix the issue, but would require a lot more work switching out V drives or at least components in the v drive to accept the larger shaft. There's no way they're going to be doing that because not only would they have to fix the affected boats, they'd have to do all of them. Nobody would want their G to have the potential for a broken shaft if they knew there was another solution out there.

He did not say exactly when these new shafts started shipping out, but indicated that it just recently started and that I was definitely getting the "new" one. I wish I would have gotten a clearer answer when this supposed supplier change happened.

That's exactly what the rep told me when I contacted Nautique about a month ago. Again, I don't buy it and think it is time for them to come out with an official statement telling people what the problem is, what they're going to do to fix it, and tell the owners that they will stand behind it. It's as simple as that. I don't believe anybody is asking for too much here.

[Tallredrider]

Seems like the 2016s have the least amount of failures....is this accurate? Any boats with multiple failures?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

I think so, maybe that is why mine has not broken yet. But that is just a gut impression that 2016 seems less, but it is definitely not immune.

There are boats in this 36 page thread that have had multiple failures, so replacement shafts break also. Suppose 5% of shafts break (just my best guess), which is 1/20. That would mean about 1/400 owners will have a shaft break twice, assuming that the owner or dealer is not doing something that causes the shaft to break more often.

The new supplier mantra has been worn out since 2013. There is no reason whatsoever to believe this is the case, or was the root of the problem.

I still think the key with the stem on it may play a role in weakening the shaft, but nobody commented last time I suggested it might be an issue. It seems to break right where the extra hole is.

[Zride]

Everyone send a link to their dealer and explain this is happening. We request an official acknowledgement of the issue before we will purchase any other Nautique a. I want a g23 as a second boat, but with this going on. Heck no will I even think about it, that’s why I chose 210. Tried n true! But come on Nautique!