Oops My Bad

[seatys501]

This past weekend I took my 2008 180 Challenger out to go tubing for the first time. After getting beat up for an hour we were wrapping up and were driftign to shore so i tried to fire it up to pull away and it stalled. I realised what had happen after tryign to start it a few more times. I had sucked the tow rope up in the impeller. Not realizing it was still in the water and concentrating on getting away from the shore I mad a bad mistake.

Anyway to keep from havign to get towed we did what we could. Tried to pull the rope out but wasnt going anywhere. Decided to cut it close to the impeller and intake. Tried cranking the engine a few more times it ended up starting. Though it was relief we soon relized we were not out of the woods. There must have been rope in the impeller still as any increase in throttle brought a LOUD vibration. Anyway, I wanted to crawl back to the doc which was probably 2-3 miles away. So we did. As paddle boats passed us we were on our way. We decided to stop a few times and reach in and see if we can pull out any rope. And we did. Good thing my friends 10 year old son was there with small hands. We pulled out a load of nylon pieces. Then continued but still had the vibration. We stopped maybe 3 more times and continued to pull out more. But got to the point we couldnt feel it anymore. Still with that vibration we made it back to the doc. I put in a ticket to have the tech look at it. I have not gotten a call yet.

I am wondering if anyone here has done this before and what kind of damages I may be looking at? Would it be easy for the tech to get underneathe and pull it out? Are there chances I made damage to my impeller?

Thanks

 

[cjb]

When you got the boat out of the water, did you look to see if there was any more rope in the pump area?

 

[Craigmri]

When you were removing rope pieces, were you pulling them out the output side of the pump or were you under the boat pulling them out the intake side?

Maybe you'll be lucky and after its all cleaned out you wont have wear ring or impeller damage.

Don't feel bad about it. We've all done this kind of thing at one time or another.

Craig

 

[Sikiguya]

You might end up with what I had...a replacement wear ring. The impeller probably wasn't damaged that bad. It could be fixed. What you had experienced was I had when I sucked up a tow strap in the water by the ramp. Good luck and hope you get your boat back soon!:cheers:

Love the image of a paddle boat passing a jet boat! Priceless!

Did they at least offer to tow you in?!:rofl:

 

[Craigmri]

Good one Jim!

Jim,

Your ruthless bro :ack:

Craig

Love the image of a paddle boat passing a jet boat! Priceless!

Did they at least offer to tow you in?!:rofl:

 

[scooper77515]

Isn't yours a twin engine? Did you suck rope up both?

 

[Sikiguya]

No, it was just the port engine. It was the strap minus one S hook...the lighter end must have pull up and sucked in. It was wedged pretty good. Same scenario....I actually didn't realized it as I was in a no wake zone. When my wife tried to open it up, it vibrated hard. I cruised back...but since I had the starboard engine...I didn't get lapped by a paddle boat. Sorry dude!:rofl:

 

[bigler]

my friends XP got a bent drive shaft from sucking in a tow rope. hopefully your boat wont have anything like that wrong

 

[roneagan@cfl.rr.com]

Ropes

I have done 1t twice in 8 years... It is usually wraped around the shaft on the intake side.. Both times I have been lucky and just cut the rope out, it took a while but no issues once all removed..

 

[scooper77515]

I got ya! When you said you limped back, I was picturing you doing it on the engine with the rope sucked up in it. Not on the other engine just slowly.

That is why I was wondering why you didn't just crimp off the hose on the messed up engine and open up the other engine and take off at whatever speed you wanted. Or even waterskied a bit before you went in :reddevil:

 

[Sikiguya]

:ack:That is actually something I am surprised by! With only one engine...there isn't enough power to make the boat run right. It's lathargic. I had it happened twice when my starboard engine didn't stay on and I had not realized it.

 

[01Challenger]

yeah, that same thing happened to me before. It happens so fast there's no time to react. We spent two hours in the river removing the rope but could not get it all out and had to be towed in by a wave runner. Then once in my driveway, I got the rest of it out slowly. There was still another 8 feet wrapped up in there. No damage though.

 

[seatys501]

Wow that was a lot of replies in one day. Well, my boat is docked so i couldnt see under it. During the times we stopped I did swim under and dig my fingers into the grate but didnt feel anything. Everythign we pulled out (and it was a lot) came from the output. I have my friends son do most of it with his small hand. At the very end he did say he still felt some way back but couldnt get a grip. So i know there is more in there. I still havent heard back from the tech. Guess im not going riding this weekend. I think they are swamped with work. See attached pic of pile of nylon we pulled out.

 

[Craigmri]

I hate to say it but what you removed from the outlet side was simply the tip of the iceberg. The mass of crap is still on the inlet side of things. Lets hope its nothing more than a clean out.

Craig

 

[moe man]

I did this once when my buddy was on the tube, it sucked him towards the boat so fast.

It bent my impeller, replaced it this winter!

 

[seatys501]

What kind of cost would be involved with parts and labor on a bent impeller or a bend drive shaft?