Water intrusion with a $4000 bill

[jkallen21]

2006 SANTE.
they repack the rudder without issue. But that didn’t stop the water from coming in. They traced it to the prop, but they put 10 hours of labor into removing the prop and said they just couldn’t. this was a former Nautique dealer that I’ve used for years and they had their best mechanic on it. they had to cut the prop and replace it.
I’m not doubting the work that they did or that this was necessary, I’m just curious if anyone else has had this experience. the prop had never been removed prior.

edit: I wasn’t clear that it was the prop SHAFT that was stuck, not the prop - they had to cut and replace the shaft as a result, not just the prop.
they broke a $500 shaft puller (that I was not charged for AFAIK)

[bturner]

A stuck inboard prop is a real thing which is why several manufacture's have made beefy pullers with names like "Ironman Prop Puller". I think anyone that has bought used and sometimes neglected inboards has run into a couple over the years. I've been lucky in that respect as I've managed to be able to use heat, penetrating oil and pressure over time with said Iron Man Prop puller to get the ones I've had to come off. This is especially true of systems that use a tapered shaft where that taper is part of what is counted on for the clamping force. This is one area I liked on the, dare I say the name out loud, MasterCraft's with their splined shafts but there again there is no guarantee that you won't have the same issue there. Even my own long time owned boats would surprise with a loud pop and clang when the prop finally let go when using a puller.

As far as cost goes, that's tough one as you're playing with cost and effort as the hours rack up. No one I know wants to cut off then replace a drive shaft and prop, especially on a vDrive, so it doesn't really surprise me they would spend considerable time/effort trying to remove it. You can use heat to a degree but as with anything when using heat you may end up creating more damage than just biting the bullet and cutting the prop off.

[jkallen21]

Thanks. They mentioned the same thing about heat - they said it can be used to a point and they felt they’d reached that point.

[SilentSeven]

What exactly was stuck? Was it the prop or the transmission flange on the prop shaft?

I need to R&R my prop thru hull at some point and i'm nervous about how I'll remove the trans flange from the shaft.

[jkallen21]

The shaft would not come out of the boat. The prop came off