Prop shaft vibration, cutless bearing costs??
- Thread starter wilf
- Start date
Yep.
The quote you have is for a lot of labor costs, not parts and pieces. For those of us who own older boats, marina labor costs are prohibitively expensive. DIY is the only way to make sailing affordable.
The one item that seems excessively expensive is the engine alignment and mount replacement. $2200???
At that price, I could by all the parts and tools, including a hydraulic press to straighten the shaft, and still come in at half price...ish!
This is the motor running under power regarding the mounts being worn is this normal vibration or excessive ?
I know the costs seem way too high another yard was expensive too, they said $800 just to replace the cutless bearing, maybe its california pricing! i know i can do most of this stuff myself but the yards dont let any diy people
Hard to say. The critical factor is the rubber bushing and the metal. If the rubber is dried and cracked or the metal is compromised, then new mounts are needed. The v-belt, however, is too loose.
For 6K you could have the boat hauled and trucked to your driveway and still have lots of money leftover.
From the look of the video, it appears that the shaft is causing the issue, so it's either bearing, bent shaft or unbalanced (damaged?) prop.
Wilf, can you move the engine at all, with it stopped, using your hand on top of the valve cover?
I respectfully disagree. How well a tool works should not be dependent on where it is made, and, I'd stack some of my home made tools up against the junk coming from offshore any day. Particularly the bottle opener types.
I would separate the coupling and see where the shaft side lies versus the transmission side. You have to be sure the two are in alignment before deciding if there is a bent shaft or too much slop in the cutless bearing. Run the engine with the shaft disconnected and see how much vibration there is. From my view, it seems good and is being moved around by a possible misaligned shaft.
Search around an you will find the alignment procedure using a feeler gauge. Its pretty easy and can be done inside the boat. Follow this link and you will find my post with the dimensions of a DIY cutless removal tool. In addition to mine and Tally Ho's, there are a couple of other simple but effective ones that can be built.
Good luck finding a DIY yard. These repairs aren't that hard to do yourself and at least for me, I will always try and avoid those high prices.
Captn scotty, i grabbed both sides of the engine and i can rock it side to side i have pics of the mounts too but i cant post them
I havent bought the boat yet, we were supposed to do the transaction today but i had it inspected at the weekend and found these problems so i cant really start taking it apart, the seller is a non proffit foundation and they paid for it to be hauled out to inspect the hull, it did have a bit of play in the cutless bearing but i didnt think it would cause so much vibration, anyone know how to get pics from my phone onto here ?
It doesn't sound like the mounts are in the best of shape, is it possible to put a straight edge on the shaft between the cutless and the shaft log? If there's a bend in the shaft it's most likely to be in that area, but not always?
Captn scotty i Cant check the shaft now as its back in the water, im going to see if i can negotiate the price of the boat down to pay for the work ( or most of it) and going to see if i can use a diy yard i just contacted, they are ok with you painting bottoms not so keen on drive work but may be possible but only me allowed to work on it, not sure i can get the rudder off on my own but i heard you can drill a hole in the rudder to got the shaft through then epoxy it back up afterwards? Is it ok to do the mounts while at the dock ?
STOP!!!!!! The previous owner likely donated the boat because he understood the value. I completely rebuilt my drive train. The boat has no value. Offer to take it off there hands for $100.
You did the right thing by posting this don't let your hart win over your brain.
You did the right thing by posting this don't let your hart win over your brain.
My 2 cents:
1) more motor mounts look bad. I would replace. You can do it yourself and save a bunch of $$
2) if possible, remove the coupling off the end of the shaft, remove the cutlass bearing, and then slide shaft out of the boat. It will clear the rudder (barely), and you need to remove the cutlass bearing to get enough play in the shaft. You need a tool (can be home made) to press the cutlass bearing out.
3) If you can't get the coupling off, then you can cut the shaft off, and remove it in pieces and then remove the cutlass bearing (using just a hacksaw blade and chisel).
Assuming the original bronze shaft, inspect for cracks, wear at the stuffing box, and straightness. I think a new shaft will be in order, and with new motor mounts and alignment, will probably smooth things out.
Greg
1) more motor mounts look bad. I would replace. You can do it yourself and save a bunch of $$
2) if possible, remove the coupling off the end of the shaft, remove the cutlass bearing, and then slide shaft out of the boat. It will clear the rudder (barely), and you need to remove the cutlass bearing to get enough play in the shaft. You need a tool (can be home made) to press the cutlass bearing out.
3) If you can't get the coupling off, then you can cut the shaft off, and remove it in pieces and then remove the cutlass bearing (using just a hacksaw blade and chisel).
Assuming the original bronze shaft, inspect for cracks, wear at the stuffing box, and straightness. I think a new shaft will be in order, and with new motor mounts and alignment, will probably smooth things out.
Greg
Just did that on an Ericson 28+ so not too different. New shaft , new cutlass bearing and 4 motor mounts for under $1000Cdn. Haul out on top of that as the bottom needed doing anyway. Of course I did the work myself.
Wilf, you're best to do all that stuff in the yard as you wont be able to line anything up until you have a straight shaft, and then final lineup should be in the water. What Tally Ho and Michael said are pretty much spot on! You should be able to get that shaft out past the rudder
Here is a shot of my 2GM20F running at fast idle. Sorry, no shots of the shaft spinning.
Seems a bit smoother than yours. I still suggest the mounts are bad and the shaft, coupling and cutlass bearing need to be inspected/replaced and the engine aligned.
Greg
Seems a bit smoother than yours. I still suggest the mounts are bad and the shaft, coupling and cutlass bearing need to be inspected/replaced and the engine aligned.
Greg