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Topic ClosedAlignment

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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-24-2007 at 8:41am
once a year is plenty, unless you hit something
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 1:03pm
Thanks to this post I realligned my boat this past weekend. I thought the prop was hard to turn so I wanted to investigate. Sure enough, as soon as I detached the propshaft it was obvious that it spun easier when it was about 1/4" higher and 1/8" to the right. I moved the motor up and over and use paper as a feeler guage. I used a dial caliper and the paper was between .003 - .004. I played with it for about an hour and got it to where I pretty much couldnt get the paper in between the propshaft and transmission flanges anywhere around the whole circumference. Id say its within .003 is that close enough. Also, my shaft is now not perfectly centered in the log. It doesnt look like it will rub or anything. I have about an 1/8" clearance, but the prop spins much easier now. Is that O.K. ?????
Thanks for this post Eric, very helpful.
P.S. all my motor mounts were kinda loose, you guys should all at least check that. If they are loose you could be out of alignment.
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todicus View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 2:10pm
How easy should it be to turn your prop and shaft ?
Living outside the wake
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 3:23pm
like its been well foreplayed... of coarse the cutlass bearing needs to be lubed, sometimes the rubber causes tightness but it turns pretty easy.

alignment really is a crucial part of maintanance, it is as important as changing oil and include as a routine as if you were changing oil. Its funny how the transmission always is overlooked ill ask a guy about changing oil and he'll tell me yeah 2 times a season.....on the motor, what about the trans? he'll say he didnt think he had too
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 3:47pm
Originally posted by eric lavine eric lavine wrote:

like its been well foreplayed... of coarse the cutlass bearing needs to be lubed, sometimes the rubber causes tightness but it turns pretty easy.


That doesn't really help. I have to 2 hand the prop (dry) to get it to turn. It certainly will not move with the flick of a finger.
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Justin131313 View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 5:28pm
I had to use two hands to turn mine before, now I can turn it with one strong finger. In fact, if I flick it it almost spins another quater turn upon release. I could have made it spin even easier but the propshaft started getting close to the log. I am thinking its O.K. that its a tad off center. I might need to adjust my strut.
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Darrel View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 5:30pm
Are you going to shim the strut w/ washers? What else would you do to adjust the strut?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-27-2007 at 5:41pm
Should be using shim tabs to shim the strut, I would think washers would be way to big.
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 8:48am
Hollywood, check it, if its out you'll be surprised how much better your boat will perform, when you spin it it should spin at the consistancy as if your prop shaft was not hooked up. if your .010 out imagine the load your creating to the ass end of the trans
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 9:15am
Ok I will put it on the "to do" list. This damn thing keeps getting longer but it's almost time to SKI.
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 10:15am
it should be number one on the list
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 11:45am
Steve, you can tell if the resistance is the propshaft packing by taking off the hose clamps and sliding the whole packing assembly up the shaft a couple of inches. Then this wont be part of the equation. Then if you take a couple ore minutes and remove the four bolts hlolding the shaft to the trans you cann determine really quick how well you are aligned. It takes longer to remove all of the interior than it does to check all of this. Actually alinging it as Eric said could take a while. Took me about an hour of nudging this way and that. Thats not counting removing the interior and dissasembling everything and doing the reverse. I didnt have a helper so I was in and out of the boat a hundred times. Get a helper.
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bsucics View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 12:44pm
What's the best way to determine if I have a problem with the prop shaft (bent)? I'll be pulling my boat out of storage this weekend and I know I have some issues. At the very least, I'll take my prop off and have that fixed locally. I'm also pretty sure I'll have some alignment issues as it takes both hands to rotate the prop. How can I then tell if I have a third issue with the shaft? The boat's been this way since I purchased it last year, but I also hit a rock hard enough to see the back end of the boat lift up. Thanks!
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 1:14pm
if you hit something that hard a bent shaft is inevitable, i would pull the shaft also and have it checked
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 1:37pm
Worth the trouble to adjust the alignment now, or pull the shaft as the first order of business? Thanks Eric!
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 3:22pm
you can check the shaft your self by following the gap on alignment, if the gap turns with the shaft then you know its bent, if the gap stays in the same spot then its mis-alignment. if you hit hard most definitly the shaft is bent. BUT....... you cant tell if you have a bend after the taper, truly the best way to check shafts is with a dial indicater mounted to a stabil place and check in 3 or 4 spots. or pull the shaft and put on v-blocks as i do (go to foam removal post and you can see)
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David F View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 3:36pm
Originally posted by Justin131313 Justin131313 wrote:

Steve, you can tell if the resistance is the propshaft packing by taking off the hose clamps and sliding the whole packing assembly up the shaft a couple of inches. Then this wont be part of the equation. Then if you take a couple ore minutes and remove the four bolts hlolding the shaft to the trans you cann determine really quick how well you are aligned. It takes longer to remove all of the interior than it does to check all of this. Actually alinging it as Eric said could take a while. Took me about an hour of nudging this way and that. Thats not counting removing the interior and dissasembling everything and doing the reverse. I didnt have a helper so I was in and out of the boat a hundred times. Get a helper.


I do not see how this can be a good method. If you remove the rubber hose from the shaft log, AND disconnect from the tranny, then you are essentially supporting the drive shaft only via the cutlass bearing. This will put a terrible out of alignment condition on the cutlass bearing for sure.

I always try to center the shaft in the cutlass bearing longitudinally and then support the shaft with the packing assembly (i.e. shaft log, hose, packing. Or, I support the shaft with a wood block). Then I move the engine to match up to the coupling.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 3:50pm
I just want to make sure I'm understanding this correctly. If it takes two hands to move the prop around... something is out of alignment? It should spin easily with a strong finger or two?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-28-2007 at 6:42pm
David
The reason to remove the propshaft packing assembly is because if the shaft has been sitting off for a while the rubber "trains" to that position. The cutlass bearing and strut will tell you by feel where the propshaft wants to be. If the rubber is pushing the shaft to its trained position its harder to feel where the cutlass wants the shaft to be. Once recentered the rubber will flex and retrain, and you will be reclamping it into the correct position. Sure you should support it while its unattached, I just slid the propshaft back up against the tranny when I wanted to let go. I am sure the cutlass and strut designed to hold up to so many pressures could handle the weight of the shaft, but supporting it is probably a good idea.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-29-2007 at 10:30pm
Great topic, I just re-installed my engine in
my fish-nautique last week. I followed Erics instructions and I was disapointed. The shaft got hard to turn as soon as I tightened up the
four bolts. It looked at first like I had a bent prop shaft, but it was actually a small ding in the propshaft coupling face from when I drove a screwdriver between them to seperate the 2 halfs of the coupler. This wouldnt allow the coupling to mate flat to the tranny half.. A few minutes with a file and bingo. This is not the first time I have shot myself in the foot. heheh Just thought I would pass it on.
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-30-2007 at 8:43am
i would only use a screwdriver to seperate the halves when your not watching..
my first sentence shouldve been, common sense required lol   eric
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-30-2007 at 12:19pm
Good thread for me guys, it will help tomorrow when I pull the interior and get to all these parts you refer to (shaft logs, cutlass bearings, struts, couplings). Should be an interesting morning.
Eric or anyone else, if I find that the packing is too tight, is there something I can do to adjust it while the boat is out of the water or should I wait until I can run it in the lake for a test? The previous owner said he just replaced the packing.
I'm also going to drain and flush the tranny and change the oil. I thought I had read that 15W40 is the oil of choice for the 454's. Sounds odd to me? Any thoughts "87?
Thanks, Steve
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: March-30-2007 at 5:46pm
Tullfooter, the Midwest CC guy Jeff told me that I should run straight 40 weight in it all year round. He said when it's cold it will trun over a little slower, but give it an extra minute of warm up time when it's cold and no problems.

I followed his advice no probs here.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-01-2007 at 8:23pm
Today was the first time I've had a chance to check out my boat since reading this thread. I'm struggling a bit as I have no point of reference (what it should be like).

I can rotate the prop with one hand, but it certainly will not spin freely, regardless of force. It seems to bind in the strut. There is a steady vibration as I rotate it by hand, accompanied by a fairly unpleasant noice. Not sure how much of that is due to the fact that it's out of water. I'm almost certain I need to check alignment, but I'm just curious if this is normal otherwise (assuming it needs to be adjusted).
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eric lavine View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-02-2007 at 7:44am
the dry rubber may be causing this in the strut, spray a touch of silicone to lube and then spin, check your alignment...dont put it off
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-14-2007 at 3:10pm
Eric,

After reinstalling my motor I have to adjust the front to the port side slightly but I can not get them to move. I had to remove the rears and heat them to free them up but I don't think I can remove the front mounts without lifting the motor again. Any suggestions on freeing these things up.    I am sooooo close on the alignment a 1/16" up front will get me there.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-14-2007 at 8:41pm
what the heck is a "feeler" that your using to get these measurements????
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-14-2007 at 11:11pm
Feeler Gauge:

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-15-2007 at 11:10am
whoa your awesome thank you!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: April-16-2007 at 5:45pm
got any reference material for an older boat than the one your showing here? say for an 83 ski nautique?
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