dripless shaft

[shogue1253]

We talked to Hunter and they suggested we replace the bellows. We ordered the repair kit and proceded to take the bellows off. We loosened the clamps on the bellows and the set screws on the collar. It had on set inside and one set inside. We then loosened the bolts and the pin that hold the shaft to the transmission, however, the shaft will not come out. It is stuck in there but good. We have check to make sure we didn't miss any set screws or nut or bolts and have used liquid wrench but it will not budge. Somene suggested we give it a good whack at the end of the prop. We have a folding prop and I am somewhat hesitant to give it a whack.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Sheila

 

[Ed Schenck]

You should be able to find the details for removing the shaft from the flange in "Search". Assuming that you can get the flange loose from the engine that is. Basically you put something like a rightsized nut between the end of the shaft and the engine crankshaft. Then you use longer bolts on the flange to crankshaft and gradually tighten them making it like a press. The flange goes toward the engine but the nut keeps the shaft from advancing, pushing it out of the flange.

P.S. Here is an article that has a caution as well as another possible solution, a gear puller. This would not work on my boat because there is not room between the tranny and the end of the shaft. The prop will hit the rudder not allowing enough space to get the puller into place: http://www.diybob.com/diyShaftRemoval.htm .

 

[gfrazzle]

Be very careful if you use the method outlined above to press the shaft out of the flange. Make sure the spacer diameter is small enough to fit easily into the flange opening and centered. If the flange gets scored, it will have to be replaced. The fit between the shaft/ flange is machined to close tolerance so the shaft would have to be removed to fit to the new flange. This would probably require pulling the prop and dropping the rudder to remove the shaft. Don't ask me how I know but I will say that a 1 1/8 inch socket will just fit inside the flange for a 1 1/4 inch flange- almost.

 

[Alan]

All good points. The shaft to collar fit is supposed to be tight. To ease the removal and reinstall you could wrap dry ice on the shaft for a while and when ready to start removal heat just the collar. The difference in temps will slightly shrink the shaft diameter and the heat will increase the collar diameter making the removal very much easier. Use the same procedure to re-install. Don't forget to wear gloves, this process will many times require no tools.

 

[shogue1253]

Thanks for all the feedback on removing the dripless shaft. We found a puller at sears that simulated the end of the flange. Since we didn't have much room we had to use the smaller center bolt. This pushed it out enough that we could then insert a socket and use that to finish pushing the shaft out. This worked really well.
Thanks
Sheila