Ran into a submerged, un-marked, non-movable object at WOT.

[ProcraftMike]

Not a good day fishing on Friday. I took off most of the motor skeg, bent my Raker up pretty good and twisted the splines on the propshaft. I put my new back-up prop on, but you can tell that there is a slight wobble to the prop, because of the shaft. This is a 1997 Johnson 130 with a V-4 lower unit. Would the propshaft be part number 436888?

Do insurance companies normally cover repairs like this? I have a $250 deductable, which I'm sure this will surpass. I had a new skeg welded on Saturday morning ($125)and I used the boat Saturday night. I really don't notice any vibration, but I want to get it fixed before I use the motor much.

Is there something else that should be checked out, given the information above? I don't believe I have water in the lower unit, but I will check it out this week. Should I be concerned about bearings or gears? The prop spins smoothly in neutral.

[Subman]

I had two lower unit rebuilt and covered by insurance. (%^&* barely floating logs and one huge rock in the Flint river)

[Won Hunglo]

This is covered if you have collusion coverage. Hopefully you have a good insurance company that will immediately replace the lower unit & prop with a new one with no hassles. This is when you find out why some insurance companies are hated or loved when it comes claim time.

[Won Hunglo]

Wow! That lower unit is really Xed!

[RUSTY63]

Is that the number stamped in the shaft?

[ProcraftMike]

Rusty, I was doing a search on my favorite site, ebay and it was listed as a v-4 propshaft with this part number. If I don't have any luck with the insurance company, than I will have to piece this together myself. Is ther much involved in changing a propshaft? I have had this lower unit apart before, as I had to put a different upper driveshaft in it to work with my motor.

[Kerry201pro]

Mike, You need to get insurance company to look at it first. They may balk about you welding the skeg back on. You should be covered hitting a object on the water. Get you claim filed and they should take care of all of it and forget the ebay and let them slap in Bomb parts on her.

[SEAHORSE]

Don't forget to include new fwd. gear and pinion in the estimate, which may "total" the gearcase. With a bent shaft, the gears took a beating which will cause them to fail after a while. Also check both splines on the driveshaft and the notches on the shaft where the pinion locates.
They are known to "move" or crack with a hard hit.
Good luck.

[ProcraftMike]

I called the insurance co. and my local dealer this morning. I do have coverage for this. The dealer recommended not to run the motor anymore, due to the possibility of some internal damage that I may end up making worse. I'm taking it in to have them look at it and get me an estimate

This bites...I took Thursday and Friday off to go turkey hunting and to do some fishing in the evening. I guess I am stuck using the canoe . I am going to run the boat over to the dealer during lunch today. I doubt that I will have this back by Wednesday night. .

[Texas GUs]

I had two claims withen around a year and my insurance canceled on me... They told me I had too many claims... Just FYI. State Farm....

[ProcraftMike]

I have General Casualty. They have been good with my auto claims. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[LookOutForShoals]

Yeah State farm is a tad touchy with Claims.....BUT I think they are by far the cheapest and they won't usually deny claims.

I hit a rock in a boat I had less than a month, they paid 4800 in repairs. Cancelled me, and refunded me 127 or my 145 dollars I paid them for the year of coverage. I think they said there policy is to cancel anyone who has a claim within the first 3 years, and anyone who has 2 claims in a year for like the first 10 years. Then after that you have some leniency.....

[Kerry201pro]

Yeah have a bud who had state farm, same story. IF that is there policy, glad I changed from them many years ago. Maybe Eric will let us know how he feels on State Farm and claims dept

[Bassin Billy]

YEP!! State Farm will drop you. 1 busted t/m and 1 busted lower unit sent me finding new coverage. Not long after l/u claim I recieved my cancellation notice that they wouldn't renew my policy. It gave me 6 weeks to find new coverage.

[61Woody]

I think RBA Steve has a lower unit off his 90 e-tec he just put a jet drive on, maybe that would work.

[Bassmeister]

Mike, I hate to hear that bad news! Check on that L/U That Steve has it should work and it's brand new!

[ProcraftMike]

I got a call from General Casualty already this afternoon. They are going over to the dealer tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I will know more by noon tomorrow. I hate it when the insurance companies nickel and dime these repairs. It has happened with my auto repairs and I suspect it will happen here. The lower unit was brand new last year. I'm lucky if I have 20-30 hours on it.