cutlass bearing

stevocom · Post by **stevocom** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:28 pm

OK here my series of question's:

#1 can you safely run the props on the cradle out of the water without damaging anything? On a hose to cool the engine of course.

#2 What are the signs a cutlass bearing will have when it goes bad?

#3 Will it have the same sign out of the water as in the water?

i have had a vibration on the Starboard side under power in the water and thought it may be a prop, so this fall season i ran the props on a hose in the cradle and heard a horrible wining noise and saw the prop shaft about come out of the boat. Im going out on a limb here and saying i found my vibration problem within the cutlass bearing. Just not sure if that thing needs water for lube or not.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:09 pm

Water lubes the cutlass bearing wont last long with out it . if the shafts jumping a round it may be bent . the cutlass bear may have have a slight amount of play . if it has excessive amount in needs to be replaced . I have seen some real bad ones with no vibration or noise . If something else is out of whack , a bad cutlass will make it seem worse .

stevocom · Post by **stevocom** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:36 pm

The shafts and props were brand new when i bought the boat this past july. doent mean they are both straight. I am trying to eliminate the vibration. Should I have the shaft and prop be pulled out and re- checked/balanced? The cutlass seams nice and tight. Will the cutlass have that high pitch screeching noise when ran without water? Once again i had only ran it for maybe 3-5 seconds.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:43 pm

Brand new yesterday means nothing if you bump bottom today .

you may want to check alignment

reelfishin · Post by **reelfishin** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:25 pm

We have found that most vibrations are caused by a prob being bent or damaged, nicked, etc. Ofcourse a bent shaft would vibrate too. We corrected our vibrations when we bought the boat by having the props redone.

rossjo · Post by **rossjo** » Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:36 pm

You can run the props out of the water - just keep the hose on the cutlas brg.

(and be careful)

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:04 am

engine could be out of alignment - worn or mis-adjusted mounts.

RWS

rbcool · Post by **rbcool** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:11 am

1. the bearing absolutely has to be lubed. If I need to run on the hard I squirt Dawn dish liquid on it, gives me several minutes.
2. You can tell if they're bad if you grab them and try to shake them sideways. Should be no play in them.

If the prop checks out ok, it's more than likely mis-aligned engine mounts or worse: coupling messed up. Both easy to diagnose.
You can check the trueness of the shaft very simply with a small stick with a brad nail in the end. Clamp the stick to the rudder with the point of the nail just about a MM off the shaft. Then have someone turn the shaft several rotations while you very closely watch the nail. If the shaft is out of true you'll easily see the difference. Hope I explained that ok. I've done it maybe a dozen times.

Ron

gettaway · Post by **gettaway** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:25 pm

not sure if this is appropriate for the actual quesiton, but is pretty informative on the cutlass bearing issue

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/replacing_a_cutlass

rbcool · Post by **rbcool** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:43 pm

Thanks Gettaway, Very useful. I'll probably use the install technique next time.

Ron

reelfishin · Post by **reelfishin** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:46 pm

I am glad to see a way to do that. I did wonder how they did it. Now I know and I like this method. Thanks.

Stripermann2 · Post by **Stripermann2** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:49 pm

A bent shaft or prop wil cause the vibration. Check to be sure the strut isn't bent as well.

You can take a framing square, clamp to the rudder with it's axis up to the prop, spin the prop by hand, you'll see a variation between the square and blade if bent.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:05 pm

I agree with all the above But ,"No Play" a slight amout of play is ok key word is "slight"

reelfishin · Post by **reelfishin** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:13 pm

I had forgotten about alignment. Definately could be it. I remember when we had a carver and I had to align the coupling. It wa a job but it did pay off.

stevocom · Post by **stevocom** » Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:08 pm

Im a go fast boater, well i use to be. I can tell u how to align a pair of 800SC's and #5's but I cant guess how to align my 440's. Lets say the prop and shaft turn out true. then what? Oh and by the way, wow thanks for the awesome insight. every one has been very informative. This is my first go slow around and so far im loving it. 78 F36 that is.