[C38] engine shaft alignment?

[Don Strong]

Marci: Could be that the stuffing wear is owing to lack  of alignment of 
the engine and shaft. Lack of alignment is indicated by shaking when in 
gear that stops when tranmission taken out of gear. We align by losening 
the engine, shifting the engine a hair with a long steel rod, then 
testing tolerance in the coupling. Don

On 5/18/11 2:22 PM, Marci Brown wrote:
>
> ·I definitely waited until the engine was off to pump out the engine 
> area. Yes, I need to check on the drain hole. I've heard it is quite 
> small (or blocked completely) to prevent fuel or oil from entering the 
> bilge.
>
> ·We always sail now (when engine's off) with the transmission in 
> reverse to prevent the inflow of water.
>
> ·Does anyone dread checking the transmission fluid as much as I do? 
> (Keith is tall and I'm short, so I get stuck doing it.) Enlarged 
> access to engine/stuffing box is needed for sure! I guess it will 
> happen in the quarter berth area. Time to explore this C38 website to 
> see what others have done. (P.S. we do have that enlarged opening in 
> the cockpit lazarette, but it's still challenging with the water 
> heater in the way.)
>
> *Marci *
>
> *From:*William Knowles [mailto:whk1965 at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:28 PM
> *To:* Catalina 38 Listserve
> *Subject:* Re: [C38] Mysterious stuffing box behavior
>
> Marci, Not sure about the stuffing box we had ours done last week will 
> ask the yard for ideas. I am more concerned about water under engine. 
> It should flow into bilge unless the hole is blocked, may want to 
> check. It could be very dangerous to pump from the front if you have 
> to run the engine at the same time.
>
> Bill Flying Goose
>
> On Wed, May 18, 2011 at 11:18 AM, Marci Brown <mb at seafor.us 
> <mailto:mb at seafor.us>> wrote:
>
> A troubling stuffing box situation began last week (and continues): We 
> ran the engine reasonably hard for about 4 hours when doing the NYC 
> East River trek to Long Island Sound. I was in the galley when Keith 
> raised the sails and cut the engine (leaving transmission in neutral). 
> Immediately I heard water pouring into the boat from the stuffing box 
> area. I shouted for Keith to throw the transmission into reverse. No 
> more water! Whew! Water quickly exited the boat via bilge pump - with 
> the exception of 10 gallons sitting under the engine that I had to 
> pump out by hand. Diagnostic guesstimate #1: New zincs on the prop 
> shaft causing wobble that is stressing the 2-year old flax packing 
> gland... right? The cutlass bearing is fine. Other thoughts: Folding 
> prop has inherent balance issues, engine/transmission/prop shaft 
> alignment fine tuning necessary, packing glands wear out quickly under 
> stress?? Would anyone like to tackle this one?
>
> *Marci J. Brown*
>
> PO Box 520549, Winthrop, MA 02152 USA
>
> *Ph:*757-515-3151 <tel:757-515-3151> | *Email:*mb at seafor.us 
> <mailto:mb at seafor.us>
>
>
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>
>
> -- 
> W H Knowles
>
>
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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616

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