Nuts! First time crap jammed in jet what to expect.

[Liveto99]

I went Boating in the Hudson river this weekend, well there is tons of crap in there. So a few times I thought there was something in my motors. I did the back up trick, all was ok. Then on my way back 60 miles to go at 7:00pm my starboard motor starter to shake and cavatate. There is no mistaking that there was a problem, I mean you will know. So I slowed down and it was fine, I tried the reverse clean out a few times but when it started back up it would shake like heck over 4000 rpm’s. FYI the boat will do 25 mph with one engine at 4K and the other at 7800. But I knew there was a problem so I pulled over to a dock and opened the clean out port. My first time shoving a hand in them. There was a shaft running through the center and a little prop behind it, I was carful it felt sharp. I opened the other and it was the same. So I was like great I guess I have to go in. I had not planned to go swimming so a few old ledies clapped as I took off my pants and jumped in the water in my underwear. I held on the back and scoured the intake grates with my feet then felt inside them and could not find anything. So back on board, and got my arm all the way in the clean out port. Felt both and all the way around. Found a tiny nut like thing jammed between the edge of the prop and the sidewall. That’s it! I did not know till I went out and tried it out. But scooted back to home port at WOT.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

That is all it takes even a small piece of fishing line will disrupt the thrust. Glad you managed to locate the object and clear it out

 

[Julian]

Found a tiny nut like thing jammed between the edge of the prop and the sidewall.

Yup....that is all it will take. And if you can't get it out from the clean out port....unless you have scuba tanks, you wont have any better luck from in the water. Glad you were able to find the culprit. Sometimes a little bit of drift wood gets jambed in there...which is when you need a good knife and some patience to cut it out!

 

[2kwik4u]

...Sometimes a little bit of drift wood gets jambed in there...which is when you need a good knife and some patience to cut it out!

I catch small pieces of drift wood anytime we anchor in the Ohio here near Louisville. 4 or 5 times now it's happened. Not a big deal, but a bit disturbing the first time it happens in moving water. Every single piece has been the size of my thumb or smaller. I'm amazed how small the debris is that causes a problem.

As a tip Wal-Mart sells a small folding knife for $4. I keep 2 or 3 on board all the time. They are sharp enough to cut all kinds of things out of the pumps, ropes, stubborn potato chip bags, etc. If it dulls or you drop it in the water, it was only $4 no big deal! Also, these often go on sale for $1. I check every time I walk though a Wal-Mart just in case. I'll buy 4-5 at a time. Super handy to have around as a "disposable" tool.

 

[jaysen]

this same thing happened to me a few nights ago. the boat would go forward but wouldn't go beyond 5 mph. I tried accelerating and the engine revved but no pick up. a bad storm had just passed and stirred up the water (and I got stuck in the middle of it). opened the hatch and reached in to pull out a potato chip bag and a baseball sized piece of aluminum foil. scary stuff on rough water but nyc is not know for clean water. my question is, what is the reverse or back up trick?

 

[Liveto99]

@Julian A little help with that? I think and what I do is, go in reverse as fast as possible. Then put it in forward and pull the safety lanyard. Hard to mentally do coming from years of outboard use as I think I’m going to blow a lower unit.

 

[MidnightRider]

@Julian A little help with that? I think and what I do is, go in reverse as fast as possible. Then put it in forward and pull the safety lanyard. Hard to mentally do coming from years of outboard use as I think I’m going to blow a lower unit.

Almost, but you'll want to pull the safety lanyard "before" you jam it in forward (only cause if you put it in forward first you'll some what stop the reverse momentum you just tried to create).

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

That is the reverse move and it works pretty well however anything that is wedged between the impeller blades will not dislodge I came up with that move back in 2001 for our lovely weed population here in Tampa bay FL as it is a constant issue but solid objects lodged in the pump or fishing line rope etc. That will require physically removing the obstruction. And ropes are especially worrisome because what people don't realize is if enough rope winds around the driveshaft it can actually build up enough to split the hull intake tunnel and do serious damage , so if you hit a rope kill the engine asap. and do not try to run that engine to shore or to a dock leave it off. And in this case especially do not dive under the hull to try to remove this as you could get tangled under the hull and remove yourself in the process.