Smoke coming from V-drive

[dpickett]

Thanks for all the help. I finally got the nut off the coupler by using an impact wrench and having a buddy hold the prop in place. Then I couldn't get the coupler off. Finally realized I could pull the shaft out over the gas tank without removing the coupler. Wasted a lot of time. Oh well.

I ordered a new shaft and coupler from Marine Hardware. Arriving tomorrow so going to install everything this weekend. Got new Glide cutlass bearings already installed. And I've got a new Glide shaft seal ready to go in. Plus I cleaned all the oil and gunk from the bottom of the engine area. It was a mess.

One question... Glide says the water line for the seal should come from the output water line from the water pump. Anyone know how to identify that?

[dpickett]

I've got my new Glide bearing in place and I'm trying to install the new shaft, but it's really hard to move. I can't get it through the bearings. Any suggestions?

[boatwakes]

Just responded to your strut thread but this will be for the water feed line inquiry. We use a water port from the engine exhaust manifold or somewhere else in the raw water system and do not directly connect to the engine's raw water pump, it just puts out too much water pressure. Using an exhaust manifold water port allows the water pressure to dial down over the system vs possible blockage downstream which could cause too much pressure at the seal. What engine do you have and post a photo of the engine of the exhaust manifold closest to the transmission and v-drive, it will not matter which side of the engine you choose to photograph.

[dpickett]

Engins is a 350 Mag MPI Ski. Pic attached. Not sure if this is what you are looking for. Tim mentioned to do it after the water pump, so as to not take away water from the engine for cooling. He mentioned a few customers have had overheating issues due to taking the water before it got to the engine. Assuming this would not be a problem with using the exhaust manifold water port?

[dpickett]

I've got my new strut, bearings, shaft seal, shaft, and v-drive installed (wow, lots of parts). I've got a question about the coupler alignment. The gross alignment was good...they looked really close together. I pushed the couplers together tight and tried putting in the feeler gauges. I wasn't able to get in a .002" in at any spot. I was only able to get a .0015" in between the two couplers at the bottom (6 o'clock). According to the directions that came with the v-drive from Walter, that means I'm in alignment. Does that sound like I did the procedure correctly?

I noticed on the thread about checking alignment it is recommended to put the bolts in and hand tighten before checking with the feeler guages. However, the Walter directions said not to put in the bolts. Same thing on a video I watched on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEqzJgCz_6w). I'm not sure if that makes a difference in the results.

[boatwakes]

Sorry just now seeing this. On my thread about alignment, I should have clearly stated use the bolts to bring the coupler faces together but once together, slack them off so they're loose. Per your description your alignment is perfect. Bolt them together and send it!

[dpickett]

Sounds good, thanks. I re-read the post about alignment to see if I misread, and it just says to put the bolts hand tight, but doesn't mention unscewing them. Maybe it needs a quick edit.

Got everything done except waiting on a tee for the water line for the Glide shaft seal. Turns out the hose I'm tapping into is .81" (13/16) ID. I ordered a 3/4" tee and hoping tightening the hose clamp down will prevent leaking. We'll see. Have no idea why Mercruiser used such an odd size. After that, I'm ready to test it out.