Drive Shaft Boot Missing

[mejim707]

Oh never mind, I see what you're saying. It wouldn't take much for the seal between the carbon ring and the hat to pop on the stock seal. But this new HD version would take much more. Thats good to know.

And yeah, I'll reference the part number online. If it wasn't for you guys here I'd be completely lost. This is by far the best forum I've ever subscribed to.

 

[mejim707]

Oh my lord, look at this crap. I posted these pictures earlier. I've been comparing different drive shafts. I think I have the stock shaft, but the mechanic welded the second grove so the carrier bearing could be used.....

Look at that gnarly groove in the shaft, I've been racking my brain on why it's there. It's in the exact location as where the top lip of the second groove would have been. But it's filled in. I can totally see the line around the shaft. They filled the dang thing in and machined it down to install a carrier bearing.

Guys, I have a new mission in life now. I must find this mechanic lol

My brain hurts form the stupidity and negligence.

Mine, filled in.


What it should look like

 

[racerxxx]

Lol, welcome to boat hackers, you sir are getting an education.

 

[mejim707]

Indeed man, this is nuts. I’m going away for 10 days. I’m going to order a new shaft and install it when I get back.

I'm hoping this is the last time I'll need to pull the pump this year smh

 

[mejim707]

Back from 11 days in Yosemite, mariposa grove, sequoia national park, sequoia national forest, kings canyon and Cali beaches. Chased by Washington and Olympic national parks. Epic trip!

New drive shaft going in tomorrow!

 

[racerxxx]

Really? All we get is the shaft? No pics? How lame, lol.

C'mon post some pics of the trip!

 

[mejim707]

These are a few. My phone camera isn’t the greatest but I was with a few others and we’ll be setting up a shared folder to dump all the photos. Saw the Grizzly giant and General Sherman trees. Both are the largest in girth and tallest recorded in the world. That’s amazing. I drove about 1200 miles in that Durango and 200 in Washington. Got to see the sun set off the horizon of the pacific. Nice way to end the Cali part. Relaxed mostly in Washington but got to visit glass beach in Olympic. Good 6.5 mile hike on a rough rocky beach to get to the right point. I guess they used to dump trash off the edge into the water back in the day. So there’s a bunch of old junk out there and tons of 100 year old glass. Including this small glowing piece.


Tunnel view
Friendly squirrels.


T-Rex head

 

[mejim707]

 

[mejim707]

 

[mejim707]

 

[mejim707]

 

[racerxxx]

Wow, that's stellar! Thanks for sharing. There is so much beauty in North America to see, I'd be fine never traveling outside it.

 

[mejim707]

 

[mejim707]

indeed. It was a trip for the books. Pictures don’t do justice.

 

[mejim707]

I wasn’t able to pull the pump yesterday but I got to it tonight. Piece of cake.

Question, is it ok to reuse the neoprene seal?

Also, as for greasing the PTO end of the shaft, is it possible to over grease and blow out a back seal? I’m not sure if there is one but I just want to be certain. I did grease it when I reassembled a few weeks ago, but after pulling the shaft again tonight it’s showing very little grease on that end. Could I put a bunch of grease in the opening then insert the shaft and the excess just pushes out before in seal it up?

Thanks!

Seal:


Old vs. new shaft:

 

[racerxxx]

Yes, I'd reuse your neo seal.

Put it back together, there is a zerk fitting on the pto. That's where you should be greasing the pto end of the shaft. Pump grease into pto until the shaft just stops moving backwards.

 

[mejim707]

ok awesome I'll reuse it then.

I'm a little confused on the' drive shaft moving backwards'. When I install the pump the drive shaft doesn't move at all. It's held in pretty snug especially with those rubber ends.

I'll grease the end of the shaft real well then insert it into the PTO. I'll pump some grease in using the zerk again. I don't think any seals can blow out form over greasing from what I can see. Can I leave the hose clamp off the front of the rubber boot that wraps around the shaft and keep pumping grease until some comes out?

The last time I reassembled everything I used the zerk to pump a number of shots of grease into the PTO. But, from what I can see this did very little to add grease so I can't really trust the number of pumps to be valid. I want to make sure I'm getting as much as I need.

 

[LikeabossTM]

ok awesome I'll reuse it then.

I'm a little confused on the' drive shaft moving backwards'. When I install the pump the drive shaft doesn't move at all. It's held in pretty snug especially with those rubber ends.

I'll grease the end of the shaft real well then insert it into the PTO. I'll pump some grease in using the zerk again. I don't think any seals can blow out form over greasing from what I can see. Can I leave the hose clamp off the front of the rubber boot that wraps around the shaft and keep pumping grease until some comes out?

The last time I reassembled everything I used the zerk to pump a number of shots of grease into the PTO. But, from what I can see this did very little to add grease so I can't really trust the number of pumps to be valid. I want to make sure I'm getting as much as I need.

Leave the boot hose clamps on when pumping the PTO with grease. You'll see the boot expand slightly and that's when the driveshaft will also move back slightly from the pressure. That's when you stop pumping.

 

[mejim707]

Ok cool. I take it there’s no risk of blowing a seal in the PTO then if there’s enough pressure to move the shaft.

I’ll have at it then. I’ll just keep pumping until I see the boot expand slightly and maybe I’ll stop after one more pump. At the moment it has almost no grease in there. The previous owner and mechanic obviously never greased it.

 

[mejim707]

That looks a little better! Perfect amount of compression on the bellow!

Thanks everyone of the help. This has been a process but this ole boat deserves all the effort. It’s a beast.

Disregard the filth on the hull. It drives me nuts but will be bright white as soon as all this heavy lifting is done.

 

[mejim707]

@racerxxx This is your shaft for the 98 SPX. That explains why yours is so far forward but mine is far back. The groves are machined in different places on the shaft due to boat / watercraft length and bellow compression.

 

[mejim707]

This is the carbon seal and bellow on my '96 Challenger. Your bellow definitely looks more compressed and the position of the SS hat looks to be further back on the drive shaftView attachment 43205

I replaced the drive shaft today. Take a look. This should look like your's now. What do you think?

 

[mejim707]

I have one question, my throttle moves freely forward and reverse. If I push it forward and let go it snaps back to idle. This makes steering, operating throttle and Operating trim very difficult.

Should the throttle click into place allowing for more freedom steering and operating trim? Or is there some special trick to doing all at once? Like using your pinky to grab the TPS lever while pushing the throttle forward? That doesn’t seem right but it’s what I’ve had to do.

 

[racerxxx]

If you remove the control handle there is a tension adjustment. This might get you close. The correct procedure is in the service manual if you happen to have that as it might vary from this style.

floppy/loose throttle lever friction

 

[mejim707]

Ok thanks, I found in the manual where it's showing adjustment screws. Is #2 in this diagram correct to adjust the friction? It's calls it a "set screw".

Now, when I adjust this, should I feel a ratcheting action like I do with the VTS, or does it just cause a steady friction where the throttle holds it's position?