Prop shaft wiggled - pulled out of coupler - key slot corrupted

[donradcliffe]

I ended up a machine shop in Salinas, who made an aquamet replacement shaft in 3 days for $600. I consider myself lucky. I found the shop through a local fisherman who warned me that the owner would try to talk me into 'double or nothing' through a roll of his dice.

I am going down to the harbor today to check out 'shaft noise/vibration in gear' on another boat that I'm delivering back from Hawaii this summer.

[Jim Cate]

IMO if the shaft is straight and not pitted... only a buggered keyway... then a new keyway can be cut on the opposite side of the shaft. And I too would shift to a split coupling. You will be so glad you did the next time you need to pull the shaft!

Jim

[JeffBurright]

Just FYI, you can replace your cutless bearing in the water if you're desperate enough:
The hard way: changing a cutless bearing underwater - Take to the sea
(scroll to the bottom for the parts list for the portable press)

Also I second all the advice to check engine alignment once you're refitted. We had the coupler fall off the back of our transmission with the prop still attached when in Mexico, and I'm pretty sure vibration/alignment was the cause.

[Oceanride007]

Must be severe misalignment to cause wear on keyway. I'd check that out first. Also I have a split coupling without a keyway 50HP , 1.25" shaft just a dimpled shaft with a matching bolt tightened down on it.

I'd be tempted to take it out in water, if conventional stuffing box use a tapered plug or a short dummy shaft inside the hull (need 2 crews). If you got misalignment think aft Gearbox GB lip seal would also need doing & check the aft GB bearing also.