Dripless Shaft Seals, Removing Shaft

[Boatingnut]

OK, I am sick of maintaining my stuffing boxes, and I am going to bite the bullet and replace them with the PSS system. The installation does not look difficult in itself, but I have never had to disconnect the shafts from the v-drive before, but I do want to tackle this. The v-drive on my boat is a separate unit from the transmission, and because of that, I can clearly see the coupler and set screw.

From what I can gather, I need to remove the prop, unbolt the coupler, loosen the set screw, remove the coupler, slide the shaft back far enough to remove and replace the shaft seals. Reverse process to assemble.

Seems pretty straight forward. But, am I missing something? The couplers are clean and still look factory new. Any issues I need to worry about? Unbolting the coupler seems straight forward, but getting the coupler off the shaft seems like a possible trouble spot.

Once I am done, I don't think I need to realign anything, as I did not adjust anything. I think. I will have to get the torque specs for the coupler bolts.

Any advice and comments are needed and welcome. Thanks in advance for the advice and knowledge.

 

[fwebster]

You pretty well have it figured out.

One thing I did not see in your description was the haul out. This job cannot be done in the water..............If this seems obvious to you, I apologize, but I recall that this is the place where we had a week long discussion with some Bayliner guys about fixing 1/8" holes in the bottom of a boat with carriage bolts, so I don't assume any more.

You will also need a helper and the props will have to come off so the shafts will clear the rudders.........you may need to borrow a prop puller and a slide hammer for pulling the shafts back.

One tip I will offer you is that the seal assembly and the stainless steel collar with the o-ring inside it must be inserted over the transmission end of the shaft. This can be nearly a foot of "stuff" so the shafts may have to be almost pulled back to the shaft log in order to get room to work. Be sure you polish the end of the shaft and the keyway so no sharp edges or burrs cut the seal/o-rings.

Realignment shouldn't be necessary, but you should mark the coupler halves and the shaft to be sure you maintain their orientation to each other.

Good luck with it.........its a good project that will save a lot of headaches since you can keep your bilge much drier with dripless seals,

 

[Boatingnut]

Thanks for the reply, Frank. Yes sir, on the hard in Michigan, nice heated storage. I understand taking nothing for granted!

Will probably have the marina pull the props and have them checked (Prop Scan) in Holland. Might as well take advantage of the situation.

I was curious about sliding the shaft back. I have seen the slide hammers before. Once the packing is removed, the only thing holding the shaft should be the shaft log in the strut. I was hopeful that it would be somewhat easy to slide the shaft through the log. I am lucky that I don't have to pull it through the transmission, like some v-drives. I am still nervous about getting the hub off the shaft, but there are always a couple of tricks to try.

I believe I will get water from

 

[Boatingnut]

To finish my thoughts, I believe I will get water from one of the two zinc plugs in the tranny cooler. Curious if the other 3208 folks know where they get their water supply for them.

 

[cmount1]

I left the coupler attached to the trans and used the slide hammer to remove shaft once I removed the set screws, four to five hits and she came right out. Not sure if that's the proper procedure.

 

[Boatingnut]

The slide hammer scares me. My vdrive is a stand alone unit, and not sure it is meant to take that that kind of beating, in that direction. I have excellent access to the coupler, so I have some options to push the shaft out. Probably will try putting a solid rod/socket up against the shaft end and v/drive coupler, get 4 longer bolts and slowly tighten them to pop the shaft. It looks like the previous owner has had them out before, and there is no visible rust, so I am hopeful......

 

[fwebster]

Does your coupler have set screws in it behind the mating surface on top of the keys? If it does not, the coupler has a locking ring or nut inside the bore of the back half and you will have to move the coupler back a foot or more to access it, so your plan may not work.

 

[Boatingnut]

Two set screws in the coupler, set at a 90 degree angle to each other. I can easily get 8-10 inches of space between the couplers. I should be able to see if there is a locking nut on the end of the shaft. Not sure if the shaft is tapered or straight.

 

[fwebster]

With 2 set screws, it sounds like a conventional coupler. One thing you might do is to remove the set screws a weeks or so before you begin then soak the set screw holes with PB BLaster. If you have something binding, its going to be the key in the keyway or the shaft in the hub of the coupler and that is about the only way to get a lubricant in there.

 

[PlayDate]

If you have the access, the best way to sort this out is to unbolt the coupler and see how the shaft is held in place. My bet is your approach of pressing the shaft out using longer bolts will work fine. I have used that method when I have access. I have used a slide hammer as well if access is limited. It screws on to the shaft and a few whacks will pull most shafts. That said, I have also had to cut the old shaft and replace it (and the hub) when neither method worked.

Frank's recommendation of deburring the keyway is critical. If the keyway slices the nitril o rings......you won't know it until you splash the boat. I use dishwasher soap as the lubricant on the nitril o rings.

PSS makes a great product that you will be happy with. Take your time when it comes to assembly.

-John

 

[Boatingnut]

Preparation is always the key, isn't it? Seems to be the same with every project. Plan, think about it, plan, think about it, repeat....

I will keep the thread updated on progress, if just for the info for others.

 

[MasterFab]

It has not been mentioned in this thread, but since you are pulling the props and shafts out, I would recommend that you carefully inspect your cutlass bearings, and replace them if they show signs of wear. You'll never have a better opportunity. And since the shafts will be all the way out if you do this, it will be much easier to de-burr and dress any sharp edges in the keyways, and check the shafts for straightness.

Dale

 

[Boatingnut]

Alright, reporting back in, and assembly is complete. The starboard side went without incident, but the port was another story. Although I cleaned the shaft and coupler up, I could not get the shaft to slide further than one inch back into the coupler during reassembly. Thought I had jammed the key, so I took it apart and tried again. No luck. The marina said they would take a crack at it, but nothing. So, had it sent out to the machine shop to take a look and they cleaned up the keyway, coupler and shaft. Found some burrs down in the key way. What was interesting is that the set screws were only finger tight on that side when I originally took it apart. The safety wire was doing its job, but that was startling when I found it. I suspect there was enough stress on the keyway to cause the problem. Reassembly after that was a piece of cake. I soaped up the shaft and used a bit of grease in the coupler. I had to have someone hold the shaft all the way in as it wanted to slide back out on it's own.

In the process of all this, I had to remove the PSS stainless collar. Good news: the O-rings looked good, so I must have cleaned the external part of the shaft sufficiently. But, I did not risk it, and put in new O-rings, just to make sure. My shafts were slightly scored from the old packing, but was able to move the PSS up the shaft tube enough to miss the scoring, and I have a little room to move the collars down the shaft before I hit the scored area. Both shafts were identical in the way they were scored.

So, looking forward to seeing how they work. One last question: do I keep the pressure rings on the shaft or not? They were intended to splash water up into the packing at speed. Not sure if keeping them is right or wrong.