09 mercury optimax with 140 hours, Lower unit trashed!

[lightpants]

I was taking my boat out for the 8th day this year. I idled from my mooring to the dock, and then out of the no wake zone. I throttled up to about 1/2 throttle and was cruising about 18 mph. I went about 1000 yards and there was a grinding sound, and the boat stopped moving forward. I immediately shifted into neutral and shut odd the motor. I checked all the gauges and restarted the motor. IT ran fine but there was a slight metallic noise that usually wasn't present. If I shifted into forward or reverse, There was a horrible grinding sound. I shut the motor off and called for a tow. After I was towed to the marina, who is a Mercury dealer, I find out everyone leaves at 4 on Fridays! The tow boat directs me to tie up at their floating dock, and leave my keys hidden on the boat, which I did.

Some stuff happens with the marina that I will explain, if anyone is interested. I would also like opinions on this as well.

But the reason I started this thread is, they called me Monday after the mechanic looked at it. They told me the lower unit drain plug must have come out, leaked all the oil out. and therefore destroyed it. Has anyone ever heard of a lower unit drain plug coming out spontaneously like this? I keep my boat on a mooring, so it was not on a trailer on in a slip where anyone could mess with it, without a boat. I used it 7 days previously in the past 2 weeks.

What do you guys think?

[jrolin1]

Was the drain screw gone when they looked at it? That sounds strange. I did have a Yamaha that had the wrong washer on it so it leaked a little. But I saw it before it caused problems.

[lakerunner]

Someone lost theirs and yours was a quick replacement

[Bryden24shp]

That's what I'm thinkin, too! In over 30 years of boating, I've never seen one loosen up and fall out.

[lightpants]

I find it a little strange as well. For someone to have taken it, they would have to take a boat out to my boat, on my mooring, and remove it, all without anyone seeing them. Here is a picture of my mooring taken from the dock. My boat is pretty far out there, all by itself. The marina said the plug was missing when they looked at it.

The other thing that drives me crazy. I have heard strories of people having their boats damaged when they are sitting at a marina, in the yard. So, to be safe, I took pictures of my boat, when they took it out of the water, before anyone even looked at it. I snapped this picture of the outboard. THE DRAIN PLUG IS AN INCH OUT OF THE PICTURE! If I would have panned left 2", I would have definitive proof that the plug was gone, it would be clearly visible in the picture. In the original picture, you can zoom in and see the fill plug. Why me!??!

[cwag911]

Call your insurance company, that's what you pay that money for.

[lightpants]

Call your insurance company, that's what you pay that money for.

I did, I am just waiting to hear back from BoatUS.
I hope I can get some help from them. I just wasn't sure this would be a covered event. Thoughts?

[rockhound]

read your policy, i would call it vandalism, do you have comprehensive?

[lightpants]

read your policy, i would call it vandalism, do you have comprehensive?

I read my policy line by line this morning. There is a list of exclusions, but I don't think it falls under any of them.
Fingers crossed!

[BoatCop]

When was the last time service was done on the lower unit? It's possible that the plug may not have been tightened properly and slowly backed off.

You'd be surprised at how long a lower unit will run with just water for lubrication. We had one (on a 250 Verado) that, when serviced, drained out 100% water. There was no trace of oil in it. No idea how long it had run like that, but it was no more than 100 hours, since that was our service interval. Pressure test showed a leaking main rear seal, and inspection of the gears showed no significant abnormal wear.

Re sealed and fresh oil, and no further issues.

Yours had to have been running like that for some time in order to grenade.

[lightpants]

When was the last time service was done on the lower unit? It's possible that the plug may not have been tightened properly and slowly backed off.

You'd be surprised at how long a lower unit will run with just water for lubrication. We had one (on a 250 Verado) that, when serviced, drained out 100% water. There was no trace of oil in it. No idea how long it had run like that, but it was no more than 100 hours, since that was our service interval. Pressure test showed a leaking main rear seal, and inspection of the gears showed no significant abnormal wear.

Re sealed and fresh oil, and no further issues.

Yours had to have been running like that for some time in order to grenade.

I had changed the lower unit oil, two years ago, at the end of the season. But I didn't use it last year as I was rebuilding the pontoon. Previously, I change the oil every year.
I was thinking that, possibly, I didn't tighten the plug when I changed it two years ago, and that is the cause of this whole thing. But, I used it for 7 days this year. Everyone else that I talk to says, the motor will run about 5 minutes without oil before it blows like it did. I am not saying your wrong, but that is what I have been hearing.
It would be interesting to know how long the lower unit was running without oil, but I have no way of knowing. I know, from now on, I will glance at the lower unit, and make sure the plug is there, every time I dingy out to the toon!

[badmoonrising]

Damn Jim, that sucks. Boats on moorings have been vandalized around here, as have boats in slips. I'd file a claim with Boat US and go from there.