Well yesterday I went out to Carters Lake and my out board met a rock that i couold not see.  I was going slow, around 5 mph.  The only problem was the prop gaurd got scratched.  The prop itself got miner chips on the edges.  Will this cause any problems?

The only true way to tell is take it to a dealer and have them but a dail gauge on it. Watch them do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there a lot of dealers

Your spline has a spec.

You need to take the bottom oil drain screw out they have a magnet and any metal on the magnet is suspect. If it's just a few dust pacticles it's good also the color of the oil if it looks milkie thats water.

Garnet

I fish on Toledo Bend and hit a stump or two almost every time out; I don't worry about as long as it's a hit at slow speed. For minor chip or dings in the prop just file them smooth and then slightly sharpen the edge.

If you hit some thing hard enough to bend a shaft you would have to be going over 5 mph; most of the time a slow speed hit will kill the engine.

I highly doubt you did any internal damage to your motor.  The only problem you will have with a bent prop is, you will lose top end speed and a poopy hole shot.  I'd suggest you bring that prop in and get it fixed.  Don't go with the cheapest place either.

Well after the knock we continued to drive around the lake for about 6 more hours with no problems.  The hit cut off the engine, I really dont think it did anything major.  Im not even sure if the chips are from the rock, they may have already of been there.

I smoked a rock wall on the Mississippi river during a tournament.  I was stupid and didn't realize the water came down a full foot overnight.  Well I ended up going through this small fast flowing narrow thing to get to some flats, that would be accessible with normal water levels.  Well, not knowing the level dropped, I smoked a rock wall and thought I knocked the d**n lower unit off.  Scared the ***** out of me.  Didn't shutup the motor or anything, since I didn't hit the prop, I smoked the lower unit at around 15 mph, no lie.  It stopped me cold turkey and jumped the back of the boat up and over the rock wall.  I quickly shut down the motor, raised it, seen no damage, started it up and everything worked normal.  Thank god.  Mercury motor.  Point of story, I did put a little knick in the prop and lost 3 mph on the top end.  Fix it, and actually gained 5 mph.

Stainless Steel Prop, I would not own anything else  

Toledo Bend is known for eating outboards, I've knocked the lower unit off a Merc 150 and seen the transom knocked out of a Trition.

I hit a submerged rock at about 25 mph.  Luckily, it only hit my prop.  The prop was torn to shreds, but I was able to get back to the launch (about a 15 minute ride).  Being a first time boat owner, I simply put a new prop on and went on my merry way.  A few trips later, I noticed a stress crack in the lower unit case near the prop.  I took it in to get checked out and it turns out that I bent the prop shaft.  One new lower unit later, I learned my lesson.  Get the prop shaft checked to make sure it's not bent.  If it is bent and you keep driving the boat, it could eventually tear up your lower unit (gears, case, etc.).  You probably didn't damage it at 5 mph, especially if you have an aluminum prop, but get it checked anyway.  It's worth the $50.