cutlass bearing

[Tom]

The cutlass bearing has failed on our 2000 model 310 and our dive service has toldus that with the correct equipment the bearing can be replaced under water.Has anyone had a succesful experience with an underwater bearing replacement,or will it be neccesary to have the boat hauled?TL.

 

[RonD]

Cutlass replacement thoughts

Tom,Replacing the cutlass bearing involves pulling the prop & and the shaft. A certain amount of water is going to get inside as a result. While I suppose it could be done with the boat in the water in an emergency, I think a better quality, less messy job would be done with the boat hauled. Suggest you review Nigel Calder's book on boat maintenance to review what is involved, regardless of how you have it done.Pulling that bearing under water can be a fairly easy job with the right tools, but inspecting the bearing seat in the strut is difficult, and man-handling the shaft etc. can be a challenge. If there are complications ("Murphy" rules!) they are even more complicated with the boat in the water. Awfully easy to loose parts under water, too.Regardless of how you have it done, make sure the shaft packing gland is adjusted properly afterward, and do a shaft alignment. Shaft mis-alignment was probably the cause of the bearing failure in the first place. If you haul each winter, the shaft alignment should be checked after you step the mast & tune the standing rigging as part of the in-the-water commissioning.--Ron

 

[Larry]

Same Problem

Tom, I happen to own a 2000 Catalina 320 and had our cutlass bearing fail last year with only about 120 hours on it. In our case the rubber bearing material lost bond with its bronze sleave. I suspect it was defective from day one since the bearing material and sleave were ok other than the rubber pulling out of its sleave. My diver allerted me to the problem and told me I would need to have the boat hauled for repair. I happened to talk to my broker and he refered me to another diver who had the tools to do the job under water. He could not guarantee that he would be able to do this as he sometimes runs into problems that are not easily solved under water. He agreed there would be no charge should this happen. I gave him the ok and all went well saving several hundred dollars. I later checked the alignment and found it to be ok. Check with your diver and don't be affraid to ask around. Good luck.