Cracked Bell Housing - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
I just wanted to give a quick update on how the removal goes in case anyone ever has this happen. This is from after the transmission removal.

Pulling the prop: I needed to pull the shaft to be able to work in the engine compartment. This is nothing more than a 7" gear puller from my local auto parts store for about $35.00. I've pulled many sailboat props with it..


Support The Motor: I used my trusty scissor jack, from an old Honda Civic, to raise the motor enough to block it and support it from under the oil pan. In order to remove the bell housing you must support the engine somehow.


Remove Damper Plate: For this you'll likely need an impact wrench because the bolts have Loc-Tite on them. Impact wrenches are an AMAZING tool and prevent stripped nuts and often sheared bolts when removing. I was able to use my little Ryobi for this.


Remove Flywheel Bolts: For this task you'll need a real impact wrench! A little battery powered one probably won't cut it. Rather than lug my air compressor to the boat I purchased one of the 120v AC impact wrenches rated at almost 300 foot pounds of torque. The bolts came out with no problem at all.


Removing Flywheel: This is going to be the toughest part of the job. Like brake rotors the flywheel tends to rust to the crank shaft. DO NOT just hit the flywheel with a regular hammer as you will damage it. Unfortunately for me I could not find my trusty old lead hammer and needed to make a trip to Grainger for a new Brass hammer. This will almost always require a metal to metal hit. You can use a Brass, Copper or Lead hammer. I tried my plastic 4lb dead blow, nothing, I then tried my large Estwing framing hammer hitting a block of Maple wood and still nothing. Two whacks with the Brass hammer and she broke free. The right tool for the job...:dance:


Pulling The Flywheel From The Shaft: just because it broke free did not mean I could just slide it off the shaft. My gear puller was not wide enough to fit the bolt holes for the damper plate so I improvised and put my gear puller behind the damper plate with longer bolts.


MAC Tools STP-600 Gear Puller Set:
I know someone will ask... It's a MAC STP-600. Picked it up at a pawn shop for $35.00!


Removing The Flywheel: I DO NOT recommend using the damper plate as a gear or flywheel puller unless it is already broken free from the hub and you are just sliding it off. Bell housings are tight and as such you can't always get your fingers behind there to pull it off. Flywheels are also VERY heavy so if you like your fingers I don't advise using them in between the bell housing and the flywheel. Here I have inserted my hub puller behind the damper plate with longer 2" bolts. It slid right off with no harm to the damper plate.


Flywheel Off: Now that the flywheel is off you can see the rear main engine seal and the six bolts that hold the bell housing to the engine block.

I am a believer in the old saying "while you're in there".... A such I will be replacing the rear main seal, rebuilding the starter, replacing the bellows for the PSS seal, truing the shaft and replacing all the engine hoses and AWAB hose clamps. I will also take this opportunity to boil out the heat exchanger and paint all the engine components I have removed before re-installing them. "While you're in there........":doh::doh::doh:Can you tell I grew up restoring antique show cars??


Bell Housing Removed: As you can see there is a good reason why I use a PSS shaft seal. With a V-Drive changing the packing is next to impossible. I also do not want any salt water sling hitting my oil pan. Note the pure lack of rust or corrosion on the oil pan! This motor has over 2800 hours on it.


The Crack: The more I look at this crack and examine it, the more and more convinced that this was a bad casting that finally let go and not the result of floating line. It looks like this tapping could have played a part in the weakening of the casting but I'm no metallurgist..


More Crack: To my eyes this casting looks suspect and not very uniform in density?? Anyone know more about this sort of thing??
 

Mike B

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Apr 15, 2007
1,013
Beneteau 43 Baltimore, MD
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Maine Sail, I'm not sure what year your Westerbeke is but I had a W30B in a 2002 Benny and had one of the front motor mounts crack. Apparently they had not properly tempered the cast and many of them cracked. Mine went with only about 150 hours on it. I know your issue is with the bell housing but thought it worth mentioning. Not sure if they had the issue beyond the mounts. BTW way great photos and details.
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Mainesail, In the last picture upper RH corner looks like an old rust stain that was there before the rest failed. I think that the break propagated from there instead of the bolt hole. On the left hand corner the casting looks like it had rubbed just a little. The shiney spot where all of the rest is grainy like good cast iron should be. The slower the cooling time in the mold the larger the grain size will be. This is an awful lot of work to take a chance on repairing the broken bell housing. Only if money is a major concern would I not install new.
 

Satori

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Sep 25, 2008
13
Yamaha Y-30 MkII Sidney BC
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Hey Maine,
Not an expert but .... looking in the upper right of the last photo, there is a discoloured section. Which to me says weathered or cracked previously. I'd suggest that your support was already half gone before your pot line incident.
Nice photo-chronicling BTW
my 2 cents
Craig
Ooops Ross ya beat me to it! Oh and I forgot to mention about the shiny "rubbed" area on the left. Though that likely happened post break.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Mainesail, In the last picture upper RH corner looks like an old rust stain that was there before the rest failed.
Actually the rusty area is the machined face of the bell housing where the tranny bolts on. That rusty area fills this gap in the machined face.


On the left hand corner the casting looks like it had rubbed just a little.
It had because I put about 30 hours on the motor after hitting that line. Two attempts at alignment could not fix it... Now I know why!

The shiney spot where all of the rest is grainy like good cast iron should be. The slower the cooling time in the mold the larger the grain size will be.
From my days selling foundry castings I understand that large grain size means a weak casting and small tight gran is a stronger one. That section looks like it had an issue..?


This is an awful lot of work to take a chance on repairing the broken bell housing. Only if money is a major concern would I not install new.
I don't take chances! My mother is Scottish and I've learned throughout my life how badly being penny wise and pound foolish can usually cast you more in the long run.. My mother wrote the book on being cheap! I have learned much from her mistakes!
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

For anyone removing a prop, one caution you and others may be wise to consider is leaving one of the prop nuts loose on the end of the shaft. It is quite common for props to fly off the shaft when pulled as you did and leaving a nut will prevent injury as it precludes flying props.
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Major advantage of the v-drive I guess. Most of the rest of us would be pullng the engine to repair a bell housing. And that is only if we knew it was cracked. Even with a side door in the q-berth you have to be a contorionist just to look at the tranny end. But a great post, love the pictures and detail. Just hope I never have to revisit it. :)
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
For anyone removing a prop, one caution you and others may be wise to consider is leaving one of the prop nuts loose on the end of the shaft. It is quite common for props to fly off the shaft when pulled as you did and leaving a nut will prevent injury as it precludes flying props.
In actually did put the nut back on before "popping it". I had removed the nuts the day before and did not want to leave them there loose. When I took the photo the nuts were still in my car and the socket wrench in the boat. I did a lot of climbing about before that prop came off...

Good catch though and a very good point. I've seen people get hit and props get damaged from hitting the ground. They never come off gradually and they always POP !!
 
Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

Looks like your brass hammer took a beating too. :) nice photos.

That wheel puller set is worth every cent you paid for it and then some.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
The rust spot..

Mainesail, I am referring to the area that I circled here.

Ross,

A picture tells a thousand words and I obviously could not explain it. Here's the spot you circled..

 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Ross,

A picture tells a thousand words and I obviously could not explain it. Here's the spot you circled..

That gives the appearance of the bolt having bottomed in the hole or having been much too short and pulled out a chunk.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
That gives the appearance of the bolt having bottomed in the hole or having been much too short and pulled out a chunk.
Ross,

This is the other side of that hole and while I do believe it played a part in the failure the machine screw did not bottom out. The tapping, I feel, was too close to the edge and you can see tapping scars on the bell housing behind the hole... That chunk missing is the only chunk and I feel that the tapping may have caused it??


 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

The starter side of the bell housing isn't as robust as the other side, that combined with a flawed casting could have done you in. Can you have the new casting magnefluxed before it is painted? That would show any small stress cracks.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
The starter side of the bell housing isn't as robust as the other side, that combined with a flawed casting could have done you in. Can you have the new casting magnefluxed before it is painted? That would show any small stress cracks.
Westerbeke is not open until Monday but I do plan on having an in-depth discussion about this with tech support when they re-open. Hopefully they can shed some light on this problem. I have about 20 high def photos ready to send them along with engine bed angle, prop shaft length, prop diameter and pitch etc. etc. on and on.. Hopefully we can determine a cause and prevent it from ever happening again. I'm hoping it was just a flawed casting..
 

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

It would be nice if they agree to a flawed casting and just give you a new one.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,665
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
It would be nice if they agree to a flawed casting and just give you a new one.

Would be nice but I'm not going to ask for one. The engine is long out of warranty and has 2800 hours I can't really expect them to cough up a bell housing after it worked for 2800 hours...?? If they sell it to me at cost that would be nice!
 
Oct 24, 2008
10
Newport 17.5 in my driveway
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

It would be nice if they have a redesigned bellhousing, which you could buy and avoid the problem recurring
 

Ctskip

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Sep 21, 2005
732
other 12 wet water
Re: Gotta Love Boats !! - Part 2 (photo heavy)

You might be pleasantly surprised if they just happen to replace the defected production piece with their head hung low. A few defected pieces make it through to the customers. Most are caught before they go out, some don't. I'd squeak and ask if this is a problem they have had for some time now. Many times they have had this problem of casting flaws, only they don't let them get past the factory floor. They don't advertise them and when brought to their attention they more than happily replace them for no charge. I've had it happen with a bad casting on a Harley Davidson motor casing that was over five years old. It took over a year for the factory to finally own up but they did and they admitted that they did have a bad run of castings. They caught most but not all. Maybe, just maybe, Maine Sail caught one of the ones that got away. I'd replace the housing and hold onto the defected one and stay in touch with the manufacturer. How many other defected ones have been replaced unannounced by owners? I believe in the philosophy of, you never know till you ask. I'd bring it up to the factory and document all conversations with representatives concerning the casting. They know there are inherent problems with certain castings. I also feel sure that they have corrected the problem almost immediately. I'm a betting man and I'd be willing to bet the new housing will have different gussets and a different design to beef up the area that was prone to failure. Just my bet.

Keep it up,
Ctskip