Loose prop shaft

[marco]

Dear All,

I'm sailing my Vega 3339 Spray from Holland to Italy, through the British Channel, Atlantic, Gibraltar, Greece. I have now reached Sicily and estimate having motored for more than 200 hours since the departure, mostly at low revs, keeping a speed of 4.5 kn. I still have the original Combi System and a well working MD7A.
I have just realized that the prop shaft has become a bit loose near the prop, about 2 mm side movement,which was not present before. The only thing I notice now, when motoring, is a bit of rattling noise.
Is it something to worry about?
I wander who can overhaul the Combi system in Italy, being it quite complicated.
Apart from this I had an incredibly beautiful sailing adventure. From Portugal onward I sailed singlehand as no friend/family member interested, and it has worked well for legs up to 5 days.

Your advice is most welcome!!

Fair winds to you all,
marco
Vega 3339 Spray

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

 

[maarten_vanemmerik]

Marco,



I had the same problem a few years ago with my Vega. The engine was running
fine but there was a lot of vibration on the rudder, depending on the rpm,
and also 2 mm side movement of the propeller shaft in the stern bearing. The
problem was solved by replacing the stern bearing. This is how it is done:



1. Unbolt the combi housing from the engine.

2. Shift the combi housing down the propeller shaft.

3. Unbolt the combi from the outer shaft. You need two big spanners for
this.

4. Unbolt the inner propeller shaft from the engine.

5. Take out the propeller shaft.

6. Unbolt the housing for the bearing.

7. Replace the bearing.

8. Reassemble in reverse order, replace sealings if necessary.



When tightening the combi to the outer propeller shaft you need to make sure
the position is correct so that when the combi handle is in the middle the
propeller is in neutral. You can see this by the markings on the propeller.
I ordered a combi overhaul package with new gaskets, rubber sealings and
instructions from Steve Birch and a white plastic bearing somewhere in the
Netherlands. I don't recall where but maybe Arend or Steve know. The whole
operation took me about a day and it is still running fine after 500+ hours
engine time.



Maarten van Emmerik

Vega 2904

Netherlands



From: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com [mailto:AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf
Of Marco Baldan
Sent: dinsdag 17 juli 2012 17:52
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Arend Schram
Subject: [AlbinVega] Loose prop shaft





Dear All,

I'm sailing my Vega 3339 Spray from Holland to Italy, through the
British Channel, Atlantic, Gibraltar, Greece. I have now reached Sicily and
estimate having motored for more than 200 hours since the departure, mostly
at low revs, keeping a speed of 4.5 kn. I still have the original Combi
System and a well working MD7A.
I have just realized that the prop shaft has become a bit loose near the
prop, about 2 mm side movement,which was not present before. The only thing
I notice now, when motoring, is a bit of rattling noise.
Is it something to worry about?
I wander who can overhaul the Combi system in Italy, being it quite
complicated.
Apart from this I had an incredibly beautiful sailing adventure. From
Portugal onward I sailed singlehand as no friend/family member interested,
and it has worked well for legs up to 5 days.

Your advice is most welcome!!

Fair winds to you all,
marco
Vega 3339 Spray

 

[johnadenney]

Agreed - I had exactly the same problem and a new nylon bearing in the
stern bearing fixed it. It did take me a bit longer to do the repair
though - it was not an easy job. There are some instructions in the
files section - the infamous "fulsome blows" instructions.