drive shaft help

[ucontrol]

I have a direct drive indomar drive train. I noticed at the lake yesterday that there is a little noice when I put it in gear. It seems to run fine with no problems. I also noticed that there was more water in the bilge than normal. Nothing dangerous, in fact the automatic pump did not actually come on, but water did come out for about 5 seconds when I manually turned on the pump. When I had the boat on the trailer, I tried to turn the prop in neutral and there was a lot of resistance. It turned, but not freely. I started the motor, and it turned, in gear in both forward and reverse, but by hand it was very tight. It has not been that tight in the past. Any ideas? It seems to run fine, but my concern is that it might get hot and break and do damage to the boat and possibly go thru the bottom. Do my concerns have any merit? Or am I just being to sensitive? Thanx in advance Steve

[nuttyskier2002]

I have a direct drive indomar drive train. I noticed at the lake yesterday that there is a little noice when I put it in gear. It seems to run fine with no problems. I also noticed that there was more water in the bilge than normal. Nothing dangerous, in fact the automatic pump did not actually come on, but water did come out for about 5 seconds when I manually turned on the pump. When I had the boat on the trailer, I tried to turn the prop in neutral and there was a lot of resistance. It turned, but not freely. I started the motor, and it turned, in gear in both forward and reverse, but by hand it was very tight. It has not been that tight in the past. Any ideas? It seems to run fine, but my concern is that it might get hot and break and do damage to the boat and possibly go thru the bottom. Do my concerns have any merit? Or am I just being to sensitive? Thanx in advance Steve

You have reason for concern. The prop should turn freely by hand,... not to the point of spinning freely if you try to give it a whirl,... but freely as turning force is applied by hand. Take a good look at your strut to see if it is bent. Did you recently hit anything in the water? If nothing looks bent try loosening the packing nut a little. Easier to turn now? If not, unbolt the 4 bolts that secure the driveshaft hub to the transmission hub. Again,... see if the prop turns freely by hand. If it still does not,... your strut is bent and you probably have a bent shaft as well. If it turns freely at this point,... pull the two hubs back together (no bolts). Get a set of feeler gauges,... select the one that is .003". While holding the flanges of the hubs together see if the feeler gauge is gripped tightly between the flanges. Do this at the top, bottom and both sides (90* apart). If all is well,... rotate the shaft (shaft only not the tranny hub) 180* and repeat the feeler gauge test, top, bottom and both sides. You might have to adjust the engine height/angle to correct but chances are you're going to find something else before getting that far. If the problem was a tight packing gland nut,.. it's time to replace the packing material. This would be a good time to do it anyway even if it's not to blame. Write back if you need more help.

[skier92]

Look closely at shaft/strut. I snagged some string once, it got wrapped around the shaft and pushed down into strut bearings causing a hard to turn condition. As for the packing being to tight, and even ir you tightened it (and severel overtightened it) I doubt it'd be your problem.

[footnlongline]

Loosen the SS screws in your strut and lube the cutlass bearing with soapy water to see if the bind is reduced. Remember, too much play is worse than too little. Do not mess with your suffing box unless it is dripping more than it should.

[ucontrol]

Thanks guys for the info. I have not touched the packing nut since it was new. I only have 140 hours total on the boat. Being as it is getting more water than usual, I will check the water drippage next time out. In close conversation with the war dept., wifey, she said she did in fact run it too close to shore and hit. But the prop looks good and the steering and fins all look good too. I can turn the prop by hand, but with more effort than before. Should I be concerned of it overheating and doing severe damage?

[skier92]

here's a long shot guess. Maybe she hit the strut on something and drove some debris in between the shaft and bushing. If your'e sure it is turning harder, something has changed and you should try to find out what.

[TimAZ]

Does anyone know the size of those (4) bolts that hold the drive shaft hub to the transmission hub. Mine were extremely loose when I went to adjust the packing nut on my V-drive and I did not have any open ended wrenches on me so I used a pair of vice grips and crescent wrench but could not get them truly tightened as I simply did not have the clearance.

You need two of the same size wrench and I think open end wrenches would work better.

Thanks for any help.

[nuttyskier2002]

Does anyone know the size of those (4) bolts that hold the drive shaft hub to the transmission hub. Mine were extremely loose when I went to adjust the packing nut on my V-drive and I did not have any open ended wrenches on me so I used a pair of vice grips and crescent wrench but could not get them truly tightened as I simply did not have the clearance.

You need two of the same size wrench and I think open end wrenches would work better.

Thanks for any help.

The bolts are 3/8" with a 9/16" head on them. So the wrench you need is 9/16".

[TimAZ]

Thanks a TON. That helps so I can just get 2 of the same wrenches and not have to go back and forth to the lake.

Much appreciated.