Shaft Bearing Damage

[Steve Thorogood]

OK, so it happened...I reversed over the anchor line. How it occured is a source of personal embarrasment and not for discussion ( I could have written under an alias!!)Now, whenever we go in reverse the engine noise is now supplemented with a high pitch screech. The stuffing box has the tell-tale brass particles glistening ominously beneath it.Do you guys have any suggestions as to the correct course of action? Before I dive too deeply into the problem I would welcome any advice.As usual, the Hunter owners manual is woefully short of information.Thanks.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

My Sincerest Condolances Steve ...........

..... I can only imagine how I would feel in the same situation. Nonetheless, I am still intrigued as to how it happened.The one thing you say that does worry me is the brass filings beneath the stuffing box. This would indicate a gross misalignment of the shaft, possibly the result of a bent cutless bearing strut.I am afraid it's up on the hard to determine exactly the condition of the shaft and strut. Further running may produce even more damage.Best of luck,s/v Island Hunter

 

[Jerry]

Agree with Ralph but try this ...

Steve,My condolances as well.However just to verify (do you know howto use SCUBA or know someone who does ?)Disconnedt the shaft from the transmission so that the shaft will turn freely (hopefully). Using the prop as a lever of sorts, turn it by hand (yes this COULD be done by turning the shaft by hand inside the boat but the prop gives much better 'feel'). If the prop is difficult to turn in any position as it rotates then it is PROBABLY bent (or the cutlass is out of alignment). The brass fillings worry me too. The stuffing box is probably getting hot, very hot, and this will only get worst until somthing worse happens.Good luck with the repair.

 

[Russel Garecht]

We were lucly

I was on the bow with the anchor when someone decided to “help” me by putting the boat into gear. I had to go on scuba (fortunately I am an instructor and had gear on the boat) and cut five turns of rope off the shaft.We had long ago replaced our stuffing with a PSS shaft seal and it showed no signs of damage. We had the boat pulled shortly after that to do some blister repair and we found no cutless bearing strut damage. We were lucky!Jerry and Ralph both have good suggestions. This may sound crazy but do you know the brass filings were not there prior to the accident? I ask this because as I said above we had nothing but trouble with our stuffing box. Including once finding brass filings from an attempt to tighten it with a set of channel locks. Some times it is not as bad as it seems.Have you checked the shaft/transmission coupler alignment as a possible sigh of trouble. If you had a ‘sudden stop’ of the shaft you could have misalignment at the trani and not the cutless.Good LuckRusss/v Her Diamond Ring