Prop shaft question.

[gogger]

Monday night was on the water wake surfing. Stopped to throw the rope out and when we went to take off, no thrust. After a few seconds of trouble shooting we noticed the prop shaft had came out of the coupler. So we took the coupler apart and put it back together the best we could on the water. Basically just finger tight. It worked the rest of the night, just didn't use reverse. So last night we took it apart and tightened it tight. We could not get the nut far enought down the shaft to get a pin through the hole in the shaft. The nut is just a reqular nut. Should it be something like on a wheel, where it has slots for a pin to co through? I think this boat had been robbed of parts through the year and they just stuck it back together so they could sell it.

We tightened it tight and used loctite. So hopefully it will hold. Just would like to know how it should be.

[wotan2525]

Should be a nylock nut on there if this isn't the set-screw style coupler. Loctite should probably work.

[docdrs]

Monday night was on the water wake surfing. Stopped to throw the rope out and when we went to take off, no thrust. After a few seconds of trouble shooting we noticed the prop shaft had came out of the coupler. So we took the coupler apart and put it back together the best we could on the water. Basically just finger tight. It worked the rest of the night, just didn't use reverse. So last night we took it apart and tightened it tight. We could not get the nut far enought down the shaft to get a pin through the hole in the shaft. The nut is just a reqular nut. Should it be something like on a wheel, where it has slots for a pin to co through? I think this boat had been robbed of parts through the year and they just stuck it back together so they could sell it.

We tightened it tight and used loctite. So hopefully it will hold. Just would like to know how it should be.


Please put boat model and year in your signature. thank you

[Jetlink]

Look for Mr. Michael Hunter or TitanTN to chime in on this...sounds like you had the same thing happen that happened to Titan earlier in July at the Supra meet...

[TitanTn]

Yeah. That sounds like me!

My coupler is the set screw type, and it sounds like yours is a little different. I do not have a nut on the shaft coupler, or a place for a pin. Mike Hunter expected mine to have a nut as his Sunsport does. So maybe yours is like his.

[gogger]

1989 Pirata 454 1 to 1 Velvet Drive. The shaft has a Key Weigh in it. And the end is threaded. We torqued it down as tight as we could. I believe the shaft was also tapered. We ran it all day today. I use reverse as a brake quite often docking. My buddy started doing it when he comes around when I have went down. I told him to ease off doing it so much, and hard. Just in case it caused it to loosen up.

[TitanTn]

That sounds like what Mike was describing. The end of my prop shaft is not threaded. It sounds like you have it back together right, and the loctite will help. You certainly don't want to hit reverse hard, but gently going into reverse and then giving it a little throttle is fine. It likely hasn't been tightened for many years, so with your tightening and loctite, it should be good for many more years.

[wotan2525]

Sounds like it has also been replaced at some point. I don't believe that they had the threaded drive shafts available until the mid-90s. (At least this is what the OEM for the shafts and couplers told me when I replaced mine with the "new style" threaded shaft and coupler.)

[SquamInboards]

My '89 has a threaded end, but I can't say whether it's original. I know my strut was bent when I got my boat so I'm guessing the shaft was replaced at some point. In any case I have had it out to check for straightness and definitely had to fight with it to get the cotter pin out, and the new one back through.

In your situation I would definitely get a castle nut (or modify the nut you have) and cotter pin in there rather than trusting loctite. You don't want to have an accident where someone's counting on reverse to stop and have it back out at the wrong moment. The prop could also slide back and smash into the rudder, right? Not to mention what you might then run over or into. That's my 2 cents.

[gogger]

Any suggestion where to find a castle nut that size?

[TitanTn]

Sounds like it has also been replaced at some point. I don't believe that they had the threaded drive shafts available until the mid-90s. (At least this is what the OEM for the shafts and couplers told me when I replaced mine with the "new style" threaded shaft and coupler.)

I know Michael Hunter's 1989 Sunsport has the threaded prop shaft and it's original. Mine is just held in with set screws and now that it's tight, I'm not too worried about it. Funny thing though, the two set screws are different sizes.

[SquamInboards]

Any suggestion where to find a castle nut that size?
Skidim - http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NUTSLBR3410 - or try a local marina if there's one nearby. You could cut yours down too... spin it on tight, mark the location and direction of the hole and just cut out what you need to clear the pin.

[gogger]

I will try ordering the castle nut first. Thanks everyone for the help.