2014 G21 hard vibration

[nathanjcoleman]

Yesterday approaching our dock very slowly and gradually my G21 started a pretty violent and rough vibration felt on the steering and throughout the whole boat as well. I immediately pulled it out of the water and inspected the prop, rudder, fin, driveshaft, etc. as best I could and found nothing visibly wrong. Any idea what this could be?


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[charlesml3]

So there really are only 2 possibilities:

- As you were coming in, you hit something and dinged the prop. Even a small bend can cause a big vibration.

- The drive shaft is cracked and it's about to shear off.

[blueroom]

Almost the exact thing just happened to us a couple of weeks ago. We checked the prop, rudder, shaft - everything looked fine. Turns out, the bolts connecting the prop shaft to vdrive had worked themselves loose, almost all were finger tight, causing a pretty severe vibration - almost a shudder when you were at speed and turning. Ours got loose enough that there was concern with the cutlass bearings in the strut possibly being damaged, getting replaced as we speak.

Point being, there are actually a number of different things that can cause vibrations (struts, bearings, motor mounts, shafts, props, etc.),

[nathanjcoleman]

Almost the exact thing just happened to us a couple of weeks ago. We checked the prop, rudder, shaft - everything looked fine. Turns out, the bolts connecting the prop shaft to vdrive had worked themselves loose, almost all were finger tight, causing a pretty severe vibration - almost a shudder when you were at speed and turning. Ours got loose enough that there was concern with the cutlass bearings in the strut possibly being damaged, getting replaced as we speak.

Point being, there are actually a number of different things that can cause vibrations (struts, bearings, motor mounts, shafts, props, etc.),

Thanks for chiming in. I dropped off at the dealer yesterday to have them take a look. Hopefully it isn’t anything major.


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[Austin179]

Thanks for chiming in. I dropped off at the dealer yesterday to have them take a look. Hopefully it isn’t anything major.


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Ever figure out what the problem was?

[nathanjcoleman]

Yes. It was a cracked driveshaft. Evidently Nautique had a little problem with this on some slightly older models, so the dealer contacted Nautique about converting it under warranty, even though it is past the warranty period. Nautique paid for it all, no questions asked. Picked it back up from the dealer Saturday!


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[charlesml3]

Yes. It was a cracked driveshaft. Evidently Nautique had a little problem with this on some slightly older models, so the dealer contacted Nautique about converting it under warranty, even though it is past the warranty period. Nautique paid for it all, no questions asked. Picked it back up from the dealer Saturday!


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Yep. Another few minutes and it would have sheared off completely and lost the prop. Nautique would cover it either way, but it's good you didn't get stranded.

-Charles

[Austin179]

Yes. It was a cracked driveshaft. Evidently Nautique had a little problem with this on some slightly older models, so the dealer contacted Nautique about converting it under warranty, even though it is past the warranty period. Nautique paid for it all, no questions asked. Picked it back up from the dealer Saturday!


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just curious, but were you able to see the crack by inspecting under the boat or was it removed by the dealer and inspected?
any idea where about on the shaft it was cracked?
any pics?

[nathanjcoleman]

just curious, but were you able to see the crack by inspecting under the boat or was it removed by the dealer and inspected?
any idea where about on the shaft it was cracked?
any pics?

You could not visibly see it from under the boat. Everything I saw looked fine. I don’t have pics but I know the dealer had pics that they sent off to Nautique. I’m sure I could ask him to email them to me. I do not know exactly where it cracked.


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[NautiNorris]

I have a 2015 G21 and had a similar problem a few weeks ago. It ran smooth all day and without hitting anything it started with a slight vibration that kept getting worse. I slowed down to a crawl and then the prop sheared completely off the shaft and dropped into 60 feet of water. Fortunately, I was close to a marina and they sent someone out to tow me in. Nautique covered the repair and replacement of the shaft and prop, but it seems like they really need to do a full recall on all of these boats with this known problem. It could be ugly if you are out in big water with no help around and no prop.