Prop turns but not freely-gctid379941

[Guest]

While the boat (34 BL with twin mercruisers and velvet trannys) is out for bottom painting, I tried turning the props by hand while tranny in neutral. Port side was stiff but turned relatively easily, starboard side turned but took more muscle power.

The mechanic unbolted the starboard coupler and checked alignment and found it out and moved the engine to correct alignment. With everything back together the prop still turned very hard but when we squirted the shaft near the cutless bearing with water it started turning more easily.

My question to other captains. Does the cutless brg dry out when on the hard and cause the prop to turn hard until sprayed with water or is this abnormal.

Also, for others who have tried, With the tranny in neutral how much force does it take to turn your props while on the hard?

If all it takes is to spray water on the shaft near the cutlass brg then I assume when its in the water it will turn ok. On the other hand maybe I have a cutlass brg problem.

The mechanic said he did check the shaft for runout and it was ok.

Any comments?

Thanks, Russ

[RDOIII]

Simple answer to your question is yes. Cutlass bearing is water lubricated

[boatworkfl]

You must check the alignment again once you are back into the water after 24 hours, the hull can shift from water to dry dock or back in.

[Guest]

My experience is that I maintain my vee drive alignment spot-on. So far I have not found ANY on-line alignment procedure that is appropriate for vee drive or for down angle transmissions.

My experience is that the interior of the cutlass bearing accumulates marine growth that affects rotational resistance, so I remove the shafts to clean the gear each time I haul the boat.

On my boat, with the spot-on alignment, I get very little cutlass bearing wear, so they last for many haul cycles. A boat with incorrect alignment will chew through the cutlass bearing and cleaning will be useless.

Both props turn freely w/ clean cutlass bearings and polished shafts.

Don't forget to use dripless seal protectors prior to removing the shaft.

[boatworkfl]

The only thing different about a V drive is: It is hard to get to, and the adjustments are different because the engine is back wards, otherwise you measure with a feeler gauge just like a straight shaft. It usually takes a lot of mis-alignment to chew up a cutlass bearing, most mis-alignments wear very slowly and create an angle inside the cutlass.

If you do not have any abnormal wear inside the cutlass bearing you are good to go.

[Guest]

wingless wrote:
My experience is that I maintain my vee drive alignment spot-on. So far I have not found ANY on-line alignment procedure that is appropriate for vee drive or for down angle transmissions.

boatworkfl wrote:
The only thing different about a V drive is: It is hard to get to, and the adjustments are different because the engine is back wards, otherwise you measure with a feeler gauge just like a straight shaft.

That is the common method for aligning a vee drive, but it does not account for the geometry of the transmission. (My vee drive has acceptable access.)

A feeler gauge adjustment based on the coupler gap is appropriate for a straight drive, but not for a down angle or for a vee drive, unless a coarse / incorrect / guess alignment is acceptable.

[boatworkfl]

wingless wrote:
That is the common method for aligning a vee drive, but it does not account for the geometry of the transmission. (My vee drive has acceptable access.)

A feeler gauge adjustment based on the coupler gap is appropriate for a straight drive, but not for a down angle or for a vee drive, unless a coarse / incorrect / guess alignment is acceptable.

Is your transmission attached to the engine or is there a short driveshaft? I have aligned both, not an easy job. The shaft must be aligned to the transmission flange just as in a straight shaft, just more complicated, otherwise not just the cutlass will wear, the trany bearings will be under stress.