You have got to be kidding.....!?#%@
 

I can't believe this. Today was absolutely perfect 80's not a cloud in the sky, light breeze. Ofcourse I have to work until 5:00pm. Fly home, get the wife motivated, hook the boat for a dinner cruise, Fuel the boat up, unload the boat, wait for the wife who's bringing up the rear (with a 2 and a 3 year old). O.K while I have a minute I'll do a quick fluid check. Everything looks Great. WOW! the wife pulls up and gets the kids onboard. The kids head down to the "fort" a.k.a. V-berth. It's about 6:15 and it's still 70-75. I'm thinkin' were a little late getting on the water but what the hell. We head out and start cruising, really just putting around (25-30mph). We were headed for a restaurant on the water. They serve one of the best Rib-eyes I've had. My mouth was really watering. The kids were under control, The beer was cold. The wife was happy. The sun was smiling. BAAAMMMMM, ping ping ping ping ping ping ping ping ping. What the $#%&(!!! Oh man sounds like a rod. Son of a B!tch. Take a closer look and listen. Good oil pressure. Dipstick looks good. Prop still able to turn. Water temp good. All belts intact. I can't figure what the hell happened. Turn the boat around (no power steering, shut down one engine) head for home. When we got back I figured I would check the drive for any thumps or cluncks. Sure enough, I can feel the vibration from the upper drive. THANK GOD IT"S ONLY A COUPLER!! My boat has 50 hrs and I blow a coupler ( I think) . What kind of chit is that. I thought those bravo's were the cats a$$. I've only got 496's (375). I thought they were supposed to handle something like 500h.p and 650 foot lbs. of torque. I wasd cruising 25 and mine gives out. The morale of the story.....When you think your going to eat Rib-eye sometimes its better to eat peanut butter and jelly with a glass of milk. Drink one for me!

WOW, sorry to hear that dude.

Hope it is minor and repaired under warranty.

I had a problem with my outdrive a couple weeks ago, and it sounding just like you were explaining. Hopefully yours will not be what mine was. My complete upper unit was trashed, I had to install a complete unit to fix my problem. Good luck with the repairs.

If it is the coupler, you drive alignment is probably off. See if you motor mounts are loose also. Pull the drive and try and get an alignment tool in there.

Sounds elementary, but be sure to lube the coupler with coupler grease.....

Sorry to hear the bad luck

Sounds like a drive or U joint, not a coupler. I have never heard of a coupler making a lot of noise. It just spins and smells like burning rubber.

RESULTS ARE IN: The entire upperdrive is JUNK! Gears, teeth from gears, Metal every where. Some people think it dumb buying new boats but let me tell you I'm glad it's under warranty! Boat will be ready for the 4th.

WOW! thats got to be a world record for dumping a new drive!!good luck!

Wow that sucks. Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm with dyno, that's pretty quick to disintegrate a drive especially with stock power.

Good luck to you. Hopefully, your fully covered and work os on time.

I think that the drive was shimmed wrong, thus resulting in a slight offset in the gear alignment further resulting in a total cluster F%&K!
105 I have an 02 29 Outlawwith 496 mag's. Normally I can get into the 73's on GPS. If I was to by NEW again it would probably be a Fountain Excutioner. The price is just about the same as a new 33 Outlaw (135,000)but I'm pretty sure the resale as well as the fit and finish of the Fountain would be a little better. Ofcourse this is only an opinion. There is certainly Pro's and Con's to both boats.

I'd doubt it's any consoluation, but a similar thing happened to us. The whole upper unit went. The boat was only a couple months old, and it was apparently a factory defect in the way the unit was assembled. You'd have to ask the husband for particulars, he has that third leg that helps with understanding these things. All I know is the boat was broke, he wasn't happy and it was my job to keep the Captain Morgan comin'. I hope it's fixed for you in time for the 4th...that would really blow.

Thank goodness for warranty, just sounds like you got a bad one. Twins do come in handy though.

I have a 3, 4 and 8 year olds. One time we lost an engine due to ignition. The kids went to sleep, drank some beer, talked with the wife and generally had a good time.

I've got close to 600 Hp driving my original 1994 bravos with 400 hours, never rebuilt. I have another set with Imco uppers just waiting.

I've been boating for almost 40 years (since birth). Stuff does go wrong. Just smile and try to go with the flow;)

Definately have to go with the flow and make the best of it. We were towed for 26 miles going all of 5 to 6 mph. It took forever. It was all I could do to refrain from singing "tow tow tow your boat gently down the stream". I somehow don't think that would have went over too well. LOL

On a good note - Baja took care of us. No worries. Everthing will be fine.

The Local Marina (Glen Harbor Marina) was able to get the entire upper sent from Mercury. The boat will be ready for the 4th. Don Roberts and the rest of the crew at Glen Harbor were really great about the whole situation. Considering I DID NOT BY THE BOAT FROM THEM, I really think that says something. They could have told me to blow smoke. Thanks guys!