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first Bennington on water less than a month

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Biggie Bigs

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Hi all, first post here ....
A little background.  Been a boat owner and operator for 40+ years, and have NEVER caused any damage.  Speedboat and pontoon.  In JUne we bought our first Bennington and followed all instructions re break in and operation.  This past weekend, (getting nauseaous as I type this ....) was cruising on a lake.  Throttle has always been very smooth, too smooth, IMO compared to prior boats when going from forward to neutral to reverse.  No definitive "click", no handle to pull up to shift into reverse.   No definitive "when" this happened but apparently at some point, the boat was shifted too suddenly from forward to neutral to reverse.  Towed to dealer, bad bad news.  Was told we hit something, cracked housing, water in lower unit, and sheared.
I cannot provide much else information from dealer other than obviously not covered under warranty and $$$$ bill.
Sick about this of course and now a bit uneasy about driving this boat going forward.   Safety, caution and common sense are always first.
My main questions re all this:
Are throttles on Bennington pontoons normally this "smooth" ?  
Could someone using the boat prior have done a sudden reverse and boat works for a while then finally fails? <--- the reason for this question is others (whom I trust re operating) used it prior weekend with no issues 
Sorry for the long sad story and thanks in advance for any advice, answers, and NO thanks for any unhelpful criticism :)
 
 
 
Mine has a distinctive bump going from F-N-R, although you can easily by-pass neutral if you get a little too excited with your shifting. I very rarely ever use the end of the throttle to shift. I usually lay my hand on the shift housing, and shift with my thumb and first finger. 


I know the nauseated feeling when something goes wrong. I felt that when I hit that log, and tore the toon a little, or when I hit a rock in a low water area, and had to get the lower unit replaced. I was very leary about taking it out.


Only good thing about my gear being torn up and replacing the lower unit, is that now I have a spare LU in the barn, minus some good gears, so if I do hit something that mess up the housing, I can replace parts from the spare. I'm glad I though about telling the dealership that I wanted the LU that they took off, otherwise they would have kept it for the spare parts for someone else's motor.  
 
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Never had the distinct "bump", which makes me wonder if something was not right from the factory.  Did not pursue unfortunately as dealer and lake 4 hours drive/tow difference.  Chalked it up to Bennington difference over a different pontoon
 
Not a factory issue ,your dealer does the rigging .


You stated " Was told we hit something" I would call my insurance company 

Biggie Bigs said:
Never had the distinct "bump", which makes me wonder if something was not right from the factory.  Did not pursue unfortunately as dealer and lake 4 hours drive/tow difference.  Chalked it up to Bennington difference over a different pontoon
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Are you the first owner? What boat and motor? Digital controls? Where are you?
 
Yeah, the motors have thier own brand of controls so that would vary with motor brand not boat.  For my Suzuki, there is a detent feel and audible click when changing gear.
 
It seems if YOU hit something you would have known it instantly with that damage.  A forensic, so to speak, of the LU should tell what happened.  The front should have some impact damage if that is the case.  Did it hit with the prop?  Alum or SS.  Did gear/shaft material get pushed through the case or something come through from the outside?  Can you post some pics.  Yeah call insurance co.
 
Definitely call your insurance agent! That said, others have posted some good questions that you hopefully can answer. I've got a Mercury and it shifts pretty easily between F-N-R, much more so than my previous Volvo-Penta. As such, I try to be very careful about doing that, even at low speeds. I would hope that there is some kind of mechanism (much like a car) that would prevent such a thing from happening when the speed is too great that it might cause damage.  
 
On my Yamaha I have to be paying attention to know when it goes into neutral and reverse. There is no definite click. Not what I was use to with Mercruiser I/Os. 
 
I have a Mercruiser I/O. I have a distinct "clunk" whenever changing gears..... 


Yup make an insurance claim.....
 
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I also have a mercruiser I/O and that is what I keep comparing it to.  Never in 25 yrs ever went from forward to reverse in the same motion.  This new Bennington is way to smooth for me.  First time out, thought I was in neutral, but kept going forward, until I pulled back further on stick.   Sure I did not hit anything.  I did touch reverse for a split second, soon after taking off, after realizing ladder was down.  Went to F N then touched R.   Dealer stated that shaft is fractured, and therefor needs LU.    Anyway my fault.


Any helpful hints on shifting this 2017, to prevent over shifting would be appreciated. 
 
cwag911 said:
Are you the first owner? What boat and motor? Digital controls? Where are you?
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Yes, bought new, had it out less than a dozen times.  
150 four stroke Merc   2017.  Manual throttle.  soft touch per dealer
 
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Sorry about your situation.But the damage really sounds like the prop struck something large. What type of damage was left behind on the prop?
 
1Blderbob said:
Sorry about your situation.But the damage really sounds like the prop struck something large. What type of damage was left behind on the prop?
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no damage to prop, no visible damage outside
Also we were boating on Lake Cumberland where I have been on for over 40 years.  Not much drift, and very little shallow areas
 
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Bummer, at least it was you and not your friends.  We'll be down at Conley in August. 
 
Something sounds a little fishy here..... no prop damage, no external damage to the front of the lower unit just a broken shaft?? Even if you touched reverse you should have heard and felt the grinding in the shifter, it would of made one heck of a racket. I run an Evinrude and my control is pretty smooth too but I can't believe a hit of reverse shattered the shaft.  I'd asked to see the parts when that jobs done. Good Luck!
 
My Yamaha has the Clunk, With all the technology out there you would think manufactures could fix that, I feel like its ripping the guts out every time i put it in gear or change from forward to reverse. 
 
These new outboards are also amazingly quiet so sometimes it can be a bit difficult to even know if the engine is running. Thanks for the cautionary tale but sorry that it happened to you.


As adkboater mentioned, something doesn't sound quite right and perhaps what you really have is a defective lower unit and a warranty claim. Good luck!
 
If there is no physical impact damage on the prop or lower unit, it should be a warranty claim on the motor.  Have the dealer show you where the impact occurred on the engine.
 
Sounds fishy, the Mercury controller takes a good bit of effort to put in reverse, in other words, i have never heard of anyone accidentally going from forward to reverse. Also, the gears at the shaft ends would be more likely to break a tooth or two  instead of snapping a stainless steel shaft. I have a 2017 Mercury 150 and I would suggest calling Mercury, have your serial # and get their feedback. They are a great company and eager to help.
 
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