Shaft Alignment questions, 1st time

When I was woirking on mine, I determined the shaft to be bowed beyond hope & just sawz-alled it in half, right in front of the packing.

If you cut it in half, then you can then pry it sideways.

Extreme method, but if it's junk anyway . . .

BTW, I never did get the coupling off of the old shaft.

after unbolted and apart you can loosen the set screws and check and make sure the coupling is tight on the shaft, with mis-alignment over time the couplings have been known to wear and loosen on the shaft. if you can pull the coupling off by hand then you better dig deeper, these couplings are a press fit on the shaft and need to be that way along with the alignment this should be checked also

So Hey, First of all , thanks for all your help.. to everyone.
Last night I unbolted the couplings and they are stuck together like glue.
I tried the putty knife thiing someone suggested but to no avail...
NOt sure how hard to try and pull these things apart.

So when I remove the four bolts from the coupling, will I need to loosen the two set screws in the rear coupling, or shhould I leave that connected to the shaft?

Mike - If your strut bushing is wearing on one side (shaft is not centered in strut) - then I bet you have a bent strut.

You will want to disconnect the coupler from the transmission & also loosen the stuffing box hose from the 'log'. Then you can see where the shaft naturally wants to be in relation to the engine. If it is off to one side & you have to force it over to line up, then the strut is bent. Another clue is if the shaft is not reasonably centered in the 'log' (This is why you want to remove the hose).

I had symptoms similar to yours, turned out my strut was bent about 1/4 inch off center.

Yes they do inboards. His assesment was that the shaft does not line up with the cutlass bearing. install new cutlass bearing and align. 225 for parts and 450 for labor.
I wanted to check the shaft alignment and go from there.
Remember, This is not my boat. I am trying to determine if I can get a great deal on the boat if it's worth trying to do some of this work myself. or if it really needs to be done.

Mike,
If the cutlass is wearing unevenly, then the strut may be bent. Alignment really starts at the strut and goes forward from there. The shop you have it at should be checking the strut. Do they do inboards?

mghosn wrote: And as they are bolted together how would they ever be out of allignment. Confused, please help Thanks, Mike

Mike,
Hopefully Eric's alignment thread as well as the other posts have given you a idea of the importance of engine/shaft/strut alignment. With the coupling being a rigid connection from the shaft to the engine, the shaft needs to be on the same centerline as the trans. If not then you can damage the trans from the overhung load the misalignment produces. Think about misalignment this way. Grab a broom stick in your hand and stick it straight out horizontally. You should be able to hold it there straight pretty easy but see what happens when you hang a 10 pound weight on it 4 feet from your hand. This is overhung load and the force created at your wrist is a analogy of what misalignment does to the trans.

BTW, did the seller tell you why he thought the alignment was out? Just wondering why he didn't have it corrected.

The shaft is not going to deflect 3". You may not see much standing over it, so you will need to measure the gaps with a feeler gauge.

So, once I remove the four bolts, if the two sides stay in alignment it's good, and if they fall out it need's adj?

I don't think the owner should have a problem with you checking that while showing you the boat. Assuming he told you that it may be out of alignment. Take a couple wrenches with you. It won't take long at all.

Mike,
Think of the coupling as your elbow. If you bend your elbow, your arm isn't straight. Try to bend it backwards and it hurts!!

Take a look at Eric's alignment threat and it may give you a better idea of what's may going on. Eric's our resident trans expert. If the alignment is bad and the boats is driven, you may be sending the trans to him for a rebuild!!

Welcome to CCfan.