Mirage drive question

So my drive is less than a year old and im getting a bump in the drive at low(trolling) speed. seems ok when i got the gas on but its a pretty noisy pop at slower speeds, seems when i push foreward with the right pedal. i checked everything i can think of the adjustment pins are tight and the chains are tight, it only does it in the water(with resistance?), i cant duplicate the problem out of water. im pretty anal when it comes to cleaning and relubing it after every trip salt or fresh water. being only about 6 months old if i cant get any info from the pros here ill prolly take it to cck for waranty.

James I hope you find an answer to your question because I have the same problem, I took it in to have it looked at but the guys at the shop could not find any thing wrong with it. Its just like you said it happens only in the water its ok out of the water???????. Good luck hope you find an answer.

PatR

I heard those AI's fall apart after you land giant white bass!!!!

If the chains are tight and it only happens while in the water, I'd guess that it has to do with the fin connection somehow.  Are the pin hole worn or is something loose?

James, tighten this bolt just a little. Too tight will make it hard to change pedal position. The bump was not caused by the chains. Hope this solves your problem. My mirage drive from the Revo never had this problem, but the 2012 AI drive had this problem the second Time I used it.

ernest

hm... seems Tapatalk has problem with picture upload, but here it is...

I have the exact same problem with my drive on my PA.  I'll be giving that bolt a look-see.  The clunking is so loud I think it could be scaring off fish.  If I feather the peddles through this point, back and forth, it goes away for a while on full strokes. 

Try pulling or lifting the foot that isn't pushing and see if that makes a difference.
You can't replicate the problem out of water because you don't have nearly the same stress on the pedals.

If the chains are tight and it only happens while in the water, I'd guess that it has to do with the fin connection somehow.  Are the pin hole worn or is something loose?

Ditto.  I would check chains/cables to see if they're loose, sprockets, fins/masts, and pin holes 1-7 to make sure the holes are not elongated or damaged.

I have the exact same problem with my older drive and it drives you nuts! You can feel it in your feet as you peddle. And as noted it sounds loud enough to put off fish. I have rebuilt mine, replacing the main ss pin and the main bodies that everything ties into and it still does it........ The pin was worn and one of the holes were out of round from wear, so that's why I thought it was the problem. When I reassembled it, everything felt great for about half a day and then back the the thump, thump, thump..... If anyone figures this one out please make it known how to cure it. It only does it in the water and usually at the slower trolling speeds.

Took it to cck this morning and they say nothing wrong with it
we put it in a demo boat and cruised around and it wouldnt duplicate

This is starting to be a big pain in the butt im loosing a little faith in my drive so no long range adventures for me till i get this figured out.

im going to take it out on the bay tomorrow and video the noise and thump then show it to whoever needs to see it to get this figured out,

i have checked all above mentioned ideas and nothing unusual so far, chains=good pins good fins and fin rods=good mounting bolt from the picture is already pretty tight. im kinda at a loss here i dont want to have to purchase a new drive being this one is only 6 months old.

Have you checked the clips that hold the drive in place? maybe one of them is popping halfway or something.
Just a random thought!
Hope you find the solution 

Have you checked the clips that hold the drive in place? maybe one of them is popping halfway or something.
Just a random thought!
Hope you find the solution 

good call. I have bumped it a few times with my heel causing the drive to "clunk" and wobble

yeah checked that allens are tight and no movement when fins are cliped in

The problem you described were exactly what I encountered. It drove me nuts too. I put an ice chest full of water underneath my kayak (below the mirage drive) to track down the problem on land. The bump came from the position locking pin. On mine there's a 0.003" play between the pin and the hole that it sits in. The pedaling motion would naturally make the pin push towards the front and back as you pedal. The bump happens around the center of the stroke, not at the end of the stroke. You can test whether the pin is the source of the problem by loosening that bolt. That would make it easier to produce the bumping.

You mentioned that bolt I pointed was already tight, but did you actually tighten it and try? On mine that bolt was factory tight, but you can tell that it could be tighten more without stripping it. A quarter to half turn was enough to resolve the bump on mine. I have to retighten it every other day of use. But remember, the tighter that bolt is, the harder it is to change the pedal position. (By tightening that bolt, you limit or slow the impact of the locking pin inside the hole while pedaling. That's what stops the bump from happening. There are other ways to resolve the problem, but tightening a bolt seems the easiest way to me.)

With all that said, I can't explain why you couldn't repro the problem in another kayak. That kinda implies there's a problem in your yak's drive locking mechanism. But I feel strongly it is caused by the slack in the locking pin.

I'd be happy to look at the problem with you and figure it out.

ernest