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I have a 07 24' Sea Chaser center console with a single 07 225 E-Tech on the back. I have owned this boat from new and it sits in the water at my boat club in Fort Lauderdale. I use the boat almost every weekend. A few weekends ago while doing about 10 knots through what the locals call "condo canyon" I bumped the throttle up a little to do about 15 and all hell broke loose (literally). My top 2 mounting bolts sheared off and the engine flopped down. Because of the stress on the rigging, the motor shifted into neutral and went full throttle. I immediately shut down the engine and drifted to the side in one of the worst places. This area is a narrow part of the ICW with concrete walls on both sides and it is NOT a slow zone. We were getting pounded against the wall by 5'-6' wakes with the motor slamming left and right (not one person slowed down). This broke off the mid-section. Luckily a friend went by about 15 minutes later and pulled us to a safe place until our Tow Boat showed up. The motor never fell completely off (I was amazed). Most people have never heard of this happening and most people never check those bolts. I have looked at other motors and do usually see some corrosion right where those bolts meet the engine block. I would like to recommend that you guys crack open a beer, take 30 minutes, and do a complete inspection of those bolts before your next time out so that this doesn't happen to you. FYI, the insurance company paid up and I'm going to re-power. (I have no idea why I can't post pictures)
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When you have a problem, you don't mess around do you? Frankly, I'm retired since 1991 but in all my 30+ years in the trade with OMC... I have never heard of such a happening, even going back to 1960 when the first 75hp V4 came upon the scene and the retaining bolts were aluminum.
Now, those same bolts have been upgraded to stainless steel... and I can't imaging having two of those thing snap in half to place you and yours in such a situation. Glad that you weren't out to sea with a storm moving in and that no one was hurt.
No, I don't think I'll chance to tell you how to fix that problem.
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My guess is that there was some sort of electrolysis between dis-similar metals. But yes, both bolts snapped in half right at the engine block and yes, they were stainless steel.......Why am I "not authorized "to post attachments"? How do I get authorized? A picture is worth a thousand words.Comment
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Usually the problem with attachments being refused is due to the graphic being way too large. A camera's basic setting in measurements is huge and it needs to be converted, that is lowered, to about 1000 pixels. I use the program ACDSee which does everything I need it to do but there are many other programs, some free, others very reasonably priced. No need to go the PhotoShop route for basic needs.Comment
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Sounds to me that they were over-tightened. Had mine corrode and could't remove them without breaking them off. Ended up cutting into them.Comment
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