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Old 07-05-2008, 11:39 PM
SEMIJim SEMIJim is offline
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The good news is the flush and oil change went well. Oil pressure is normal (around 35 lbs. at idle and about 40 lbs. at anything much above that) and the engine sounds happy. The bad news is the problem remains.

I am not confident the "slippage" issue is necessarily the reversing gear or that, even if it is, it isn't being provoked by something going on with the prop. Here's the thing: Under anything much above about dead slow, and operating in reverse, we're not getting the power we should, there's excess vibration, and it just doesn't feel or sound right.

I dove on the bottom today, and there's nothing wrapped around prop or shaft, and the prop blades feel like they're free to move in and out. I detected no nicks or anything in the blades.

Here's another odd thing: As we were making a "U-turn" to head back in, under moderate power, during the entire turn we heard an unusual noise. It sounded kind of like a high-pitched buzz or low-pitched whine. The Admiral thought it sounded like the kind of sound we used to hear occasionally, running under power, when we'd cross large wakes.

I'm wondering if what we're experiencing isn't cavitation. That maybe there's something seriously wrong with the prop.

So I guess we're going to have to find somebody locally to take a look at things.

Jim
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