I started to feel vibration in the wheel and a strange sound coming from the back of my boat while under power coming back into the harbor the other night. I had the diver that cleans my hull take a look and he indicated that the bearing was in need of replacement. Is this a common maintenance issue for a 2002 Hunter 320 at this stage of life and/or is there something else going on that I should be thinking about. Also, what has been folks experience in terms of cost to fix this problem? To be honest I am mostly under sail and use my power only in conditions that require it returning to Dana Point Harbor.
Advice on a bearing where shaft and prop meet
- Thread starter Jim meehan
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Cutless Bearing
Sounds like the cutless bearing to me. How many hours on your engine? It could be the engine is out of alignment or your engine mounts are worn.Or both. That would cause the bearing to wearout early.
Is there any chance the prop hit something and knocked it out of balance?
Don
Sounds like the cutless bearing to me. How many hours on your engine? It could be the engine is out of alignment or your engine mounts are worn.Or both. That would cause the bearing to wearout early.
Is there any chance the prop hit something and knocked it out of balance?
Don
Typically it is the cutlass bearing. You are probably looking at a pull/splash (cost per foot), cutlass bearing $100-120 (est) plus an hour labor.
Obviously if you need a bottom job, it is a good time to do it.
Obviously if you need a bottom job, it is a good time to do it.
Cutlass bearings wear very slowly if they are properly lubricated with a constant water flow and the shaft is properly aligned. My boat is nearly 20 years old and has had one bearing replacement in that time. Most common cause of failure is misalignment. Shaft alignment cannot be done with the boat out of water. The hull deforms slightly out of water which affects this alignment. Only after the hull has been in the water for at least two weeks can a proper alignment be done.
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