Coming back from diner tonight the top cap on the port drive "blowed-up", all four screws are still there with little chucks of the top cap that were left. Everything else from the top cap I imagine is at the bottom of lake Champlain!!!

Made a nice mess on the swim platform but while idling in we had plenty of time to use the transom shower to clean everything up (of course we had the haz mat spill protection condom around the boat so as not to contaminate anything). Nice smell by the way! Could see what looked like the top of the shaft and all. Dropped of the rig at the shop they are getting on it first thing. Clean the transom once on the trailer with simple green and water now it's go time for the guys at Vermont Home and Marine!

Anyone done this and what should I expect??? Those guys are proficient and know what they are doing so I am just asking for more information regarding this top cap "cato".

Going Cato! Rocketry term !

Cato
Main Entry: Ca·to
Pronunciation: 'kA-(")tO
Function: name
CATO: A catastrophic failure, generally explosive, where all the propellant is burned in a much shorter time than planned. This can be a nozzle blow-out (loud, but basically harmless), an end-cap blow-out (where all of the pyrotechnic force blows FORWARD which usually does a pretty good job of removing any internal structure including the recovery system) or a casing rupture which has unpredictable, but usually devastating, effects.

Sorry to hear about that...hope its not a total loss.
Good luck, let us know.

Good luck with her GLH. You need to get it right back together since it seems to be your main form of transportation! I love seeing guys that actually use thier boats a lot, and I think you fit the bill.

Like I say, if you ain't breakin', you ain't boatin'.

GL ... Hope they're working shifts on that cato .. NY/NJ will not accept this as a no show. We're expecting you this w/e ... and you heard from DaveP who'll be attending Good luck getting her back together quick and relatively cheap LOL

Aftermarket billet caps. Don't put cheap weak brittle castings back on that important part.

Some times the tower in the cap will break and bust the cap.But never heard anything that severe.

or It broke a tooth off a gear and a tooth stacked in between the pinion gear and forward gear and pushed the top gear up sheering off the top cap.

I have seen a bunch of pinion gears the first to go. Knocking out teeth like a Mississippi redneck in a bar fight drinking old Milwaukee best draft.His girl friend is the same way [Toothless]and she is from Arkansas ,She's the one he was in the fight with when he lost his front teeth

I beleive 27Fountain/Will also had this happen on his drive. Basically the bolts backed out/sheared off and the top cap was no more.

GLH,

Extended use causes tons of pressure on the upper cap, especially on the counter rotating drive. This is very common on XR's. Upgrade to the Max Machine works billet cap w/ stud kit. This is the best on the market, and should definetely solve your problem.

Steve

A friend had this happen to him in his 25 AT w/1100hp.
It happened at around 5800rpms which I think was somewhere in the 90's.
That boat no longer has that motor in it.