Strut Alignment

[Witzend]

FYI, I posted this on the "Ask All sailors"

After successfully replacing my cutlass bearing (slid in with relative ease after thoroughly giving the strut a brush job with the drill and putting the bearing in the snow and warming up the strut with a torch), it is now quite apparent that the strut is way out of alignment and this was the real reason for the wear on the original bearing. The settling of the motor due to worn mounts contributed, but most of the problem lies in the incorrect alignment of the strut. How much of a PITA is it to align the strut? Looks like it is glassed in to me. When I inseart the shaft using soapy water it is crushing the top aft of the bearing and the bottom forward and is so tight I can barely turn the shaft by hand. This all while keeping the shaft at the top of the shaft tube in an effort to relieve the pressure.

BTW the Moris "BlackFish" is advertized with a 1/32" wall thickness, and it actually is 3/64" So it seem both manufactures have their specs incorrect. I can live with the 3/64" (.046) but not the .07 that the Duramax "Back" was. The Duramax literally had no rubber in it.

So far I'm very disappointed with the quality of this C310. I can't believe that the factory shipped this boat with the strut so far out. Also the mess I have had with the use of the R&D damper plate which failed after 500 hours and the damaged it caused to input spline of the transmission shaft. I'm F!@#$%ing pissed and will never buy another Catalina or production boat again!!! No quality controll!! Are you listening Catalina!!!

I will try to take a pic next time I'm at the boat.

RE:
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowner...d.php?t=114418

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowner...614#post680614

http://forums.catalina.sailboatowner...d.php?t=113844

 

[Stu Jackson]

witz,

It's perhaps gonna be confusing to have two open threads on this same subject. Maybe before this grows we can simply insert a link on one and use one, not both, to track the replies.

I agree, this is a very important subject.

But it's not only your C310s, it could apply to all boats with struts and we may all have an opportunity to learn something new.

Consider this from a skipper who says: "My cutlass bearing is just fine and I like it since it's been on for the last 12 years."

Also, congratulations on your new bearing and all the work it took you to make it happen, and, most importantly, thanks again for sharing your experience. I'm sure many of us learned something from your process and your great descriptions of your efforts.

 

[Witzend]

Hey Stu, thanks for the kind words, and your right I should keep to the dual posts to a minimum, just thought the C310 people should know.
Any further comment should be referred to:
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=114669

 

[paulj]

I put my comments on the other site.............


paulj

 

[Brahmany]

Your not alone Witzend. If your cutlass bearing has lasted this long you might be lucky. However, not lucky with the transmission issue of course. Do you think that the transmission problem was caused by originally pulling up hard on the shaft to stop the hull tube knock? The mechanical arrangement of the Catalina drive is hardly innovative. A bit of radiator hose glued one end with a packing gland at the other and not much clearance in the hull tube. We bought a new C320 last year and within 2 hours of the start of our delivery trip home the prop shaft was banging on the hull tube. We found a RPM where the rattle was minimal. Our dealer told us that we had to keep lifting the engine until the rattle stops. This used upwards force to do this and of course put pressure downwards on the gearbox output and forces on the cutlass bearing. Raising this again I was told that there is no problem ("its what they do") Accepting the advice we got, we made a mechanical compromise between the shaft knock and pressure on the gearbox to try to reduce the shaft knock. We hauled out just before the end of the so called warranty period at around 90 hours and found the cutlass bearing flogged out, particularly at the bottom at the prop end and the top at the drive end. This unfortunately is what we expected. We replaced the cutlass bearing and realigned the engine and have a claim for warranty that is currently going nowhere after 5 or 6 months. Now the shaft only rattles when engine revs are at idle at start up, and the boat is currently a joy compared with what it was. Touch wood!!! Just hoping that there is no damage coming in the near future from the transmission because of the original forcing up of the shaft. We believe that there is clearly an alignment issue at manufacture, either the strut or the hull tube or very poor engine alignment. To date I have had no satisfaction with warranty for the cost of the bearing and realignment so I reckon you will be lucky if you go down that track and get a result after so much time. If you can find someone at Catalina who will answer your e mails please let me know. I have tried to get a response from them for over a year and sent about 7 mails detailing all the issues we have had. Not one reply yet. The cutlass issue is only one of many, but that's another story that wont help your situation. We are planning a overseas holiday 2010 and are hoping to visit Catalina and get to actually talk to someone at the factory as we are considering upgrading in size and a lot of convincing to stay with this brand.

 

[Witzend]

Please refer to comments to your posting here:
http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=114669
Thanks.

 

[paulj]

Witzend

This picture from Main Sail is what I wanted to see on a photo of your setup......

With your new transmission flywheel assembly are you going to have a flex joint like Ray installed?


paulj :troll:

 

[Witzend]

I live ~1.5hrs from my boat, so I haven't had a cold chance to get back up since I discovered the problem on the 22nd. I will get you some pics. next time I'm up. I purchased a flex coupling and want to install it, but this will cause the drive shaft to slide toward the aft by ~1.25". The area on the drive shaft that will now have contact with the packing gland it all bitched up. It almost looks like someone took a pair of vice grips on it, so it will get torn up and leak. Not sure I want to deal with this right now. Convince me to pull the shaft and have it re milled, or shortened please.

 

[paulj]

Witzend

I think the sleeve, whatever it's made of, runs the full length of the log.

You could machine a tapered clearence groove on the shaft.....

You could bore out the sleeve part way down and glass in a new sleeve with larger diameter or change the exit angle of the sleeve keeping the same diameter.....

I'm not sure what Ray did when he installed the flex coupling.

I keep looking at this area of the shaft log in solving the problem because in my mind I could do all the work myself.





Just some thoughts


paulj :troll:

 

[Witzend]

Thanks Paul for taking the time to draw out another innovative solution.

Whether or not I can get the engine any higher by shortening what I believe to be excessive length of shaft tube inside the boat and maybe beveling the top inside (iif I think I can get away with it without affecting the integrity of the tube), I don't know. Also not sure how much of this alignment issue is as a result of being on the hard. I'm going to raise the adjustments on the rear jack stands a little and see if it changes.

 

[rpwillia]

Flex Coupling Install

All, I really did nothing special when I installed my flex coupling. I pretty much disconnected the 4 bolts and inserted the coupling in between. This made my prop sit about an inch further back and changed slightly the operating characteristics (I recall there was a little more lag when going from forward to reverse and back and a little more cavitation), but after a couple of times I forgot all about it and it is now "normal" to me. I still have a bit of the slap against the log, but I my engine is also an RCH out of alignment that I will fix in the spring.

I have been following Witz's travails with interest and wondering if his transmission troubles are something common to us all who have the same transmission.

In fact if Witz is doing some heavy work one day, I am close enough that time and schedule permitting I would be happy to drop over and help just to learn. Not saying I am mechanically gifted, just a reasonably strong back and an interest in what he is doing.

 

[Witzend]

Yes Ray that is a great idea, would love to meet you. I will send you a form message with personal contact info. It's still pretty cold, so not sure I will be doing much until the weather breaks. I have the new damper mounted, but the bell housing is still off until I understand how I will deal with the strut alignment issue. This is so I can still have the shaft out of the strut by moving it forward to where the transmission isn't.