Alignment Questions

I finally was able to check my alignment, I had tried to do it last year and was not able to get the coupling apart. Since there was no noticeable vibration, I figured it was fine. After having the prop redone I noticed some vibration when I have taken it out the first couple times this year. I shrugged it off as weeds on the prop. After dinging the prop last week I figured I would try to check the alignment again.
I was able to break the coupling free tonight. It was rusted together on the inside pretty good. After cleaning up the surfaces, I was able to put the two surfaces of the coupling together and turn them. I am pretty sure that the shaft is not bent since the gap stays in the same place when you turn the two pieces.

The largest gap is at the top and is .023 the gap at the bottom is almost non-existent I can just get the thinnest of my feeler gauges in there (.0015) The sides seem about even.

When I got the boat the nuts on the front engine mounts were really loose. So loose that you could turn them with your fingers. I figured that this is where the problem is. My problem now is that I am not sure what I should adjust and how to go about doing it. The two front mounts look like they are at different heights.


The arrow points to where the largest gap is.



If you look at the difference between where the nut is at on each side you can see tha the starboard side is showing about 7 threads and the port side only shows 3 threads.





Should I turn this at the red arrow or turn the nut at the green arrow to lower it??



Big thanks to Eric for coaching me on how to get the coupler apart and for the great alignment thread.

Randall, loosen the 2 set screws on your prop coupling and make sure that the coupling is not loose on the shaft becuase of the MA. with MA not only does the ass end of the trans take abuse but the coupling will frett on the shaft because its trying to act like a u-joint

MA=miss alignment

Randy_in_Ohio wrote: If I loosen the set screws on the coupling then I have to replace the safety wire, right? Should I be able to get this wire at my local marina is it stainless steel or will any wire be ok? Thanks

Stainless wire is fine but, I've seen more set screws without wire than I have with!!! I never seen a problem ether unless the coupling has been fretted so bad from MA that the set screws are beat up and loose. You should also have a safety collar on the shaft so you won't loose the shaft just in case!!

Pete,
I have a safety collar on the shaft about 1/2 inch above the packing, you just can't see it in the pic.

I guess I'm on my way to the auto parts store to buy an EZ-out and a new bolt. I have no idea where I will find a bolt like that, I will probably have to find one and drill the hole for the safety wire.


I was able to get the other one out, I really dont think the coupler is loose on the shaft. that thing is rusted to the shaft hard.

its drill time, center punch it right in the center, i can see by your pictures that the alignment is out and the end of the shaft is probably fretted...you should put in the budget a new shaft and coupling and just cut the old shaft out....its up to you, once you remove the coupling and clean is when it will loosen up on you. you can buy just a new coupling if you find the shaft to be good and re-drill the set screws

call me monday AM, looks like I'll have a boat for the 4th   lol

You won't get a new shaft anytime soon.

Ive got a spare shaft/coupler if you want to borrow it for a couple of weeks.

Don't cut the shaft off!!!

Tim

Tim, Thanks for the offer.

Why do you say I wont be able to get a shaft for some time?

I haven't had a chance to call Eric yet, I'm getting slammed here at work...

I don't know how else I will be able to get the shaft out without cutting it. I don't think that set screw is going to come out.

Gang, shouldn't we focus on the MA for now? Let's get him aligned and worry about the coupling being messed up later. Doesn't that make sense? If the coupling was really rounded out on the shaft wouldn't he be able to wiggle it around a bit regardless of the set screws?

Still, we haven't determined that it's been fretted. Why not align and water test? If it's not fretted then it doesn't matter whether the coupling comes off or not- it'll probably be good for the life of the shaft in that case. I just don't want to see this turn into some huge ordeal that keeps RIO off the water for weeks.

behindpropeller wrote: The shaft is not JUNK. Even if it did fret you can turn it down and put a tapered coupler on it. Tim

Tim, You may want to consider the cost of reworking the shaft. If you have the time and equipment to do it yourself fine but to have a machine shop do it, the cost would exceed a new shaft. BTW, it's going to be hard to find the equipment to "turn" the taper and hold the tolerance. The taper should be ground.

Joel, I'm with you! Make sure the shaft isn't bent, align the shaft/engine and go for it!!

8122pbrainard wrote: behindpropeller wrote: The shaft is not JUNK. Even if it did fret you can turn it down and put a tapered coupler on it. Tim Tim, You may want to consider the cost of reworking the shaft. If you have the time and equipment to do it yourself fine but to have a machine shop do it, the cost would exceed a new shaft. BTW, it's going to be hard to find the equipment to "turn" the taper and hold the tolerance. The taper should be ground. Joel, I'm with you! Make sure the shaft isn't bent, align the shaft/engine and go for it!!

Pete..

You just like to argue. I spent 20 mins measuring and making the solid model, 5 mins making the drawing and the machine shop is going to do it for $50.00. Now I have a perfect shaft ready to go for a spare at a $250.00 discount.

None of the shafts my friend has made were ground, guess your CNC machine is a few years old.

I offer to give the guy a complete shaft assembly so he can make it through the 4th weekend here you are telling me how it can't be done.


Tim

Thanks for all the input guys.
I dropped it off at Eric's shop this morning.

I just don't have the time to work on it this week. Too much going on between work and everything else this week, and next week doesn't look much better.

I would be afraid to run it with the shaft set screw broken and I have no way of getting it out now that it is broken and has the ez-out broken off in it.

I just want to get it fixed and get back on the water. Summer is too short here to spend it working in the garage two weekends in a row.

Eric has a lot more experience with this type of work than I do. I don't trust my judgment on this type of thing.
I can see myself out in the middle of the lake with my shaft and new prop on the bottom of the lake and water shooting through the hole where shaft used to be.