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coupler issues HELP!

markymarc350

Contributing Member
Wile I was cleaning the bilge I herd water dripping,to my surprise it turned out to be the stuffing box,seems that the large nut was never connected to the shaft.sprayed it with some w d 40 and got it to finally move but it must be alittle off cuz the threds wont start!Looks to me that the motor mounts are so dam rusty the engin must have saged,mounts are so bad i wouldent be able to adjust them ,how the hell could silverton use this type of mounting system,I also cleaned the threds as best I could with a wire brush,still no luck.I just bought the boat last year and probably put atleast 100hrs on it the way it is.keep in minde,the boat had new shafts put in about 3 years ago so there in pretty good shape,and they arrent the old plastic nuts,there all metal.Boat is a 79 silverton w/vee drives.Can I loose the shaft all together and possibly sink!!

Thanks guys for reading such a long post,think I screwed I gunman just live with it ,make sure we have enough life jackets!!!l. Lol
 
Well got a better look at what I'm dealing with,I believe this big nut is the stuffing box and not the actual coupler,that seemes to be intact,with 5 or so bolts holding the shaft in.So I can't loose the shaft but it dose have a steady stream of water comming in,and gets even worse wen I put it in gear.Ggggzzzz only thing I could think of is if I could get in there with a pri bar and try to help it catch the threds.
 
Are you turning the the packing nut in the right direction? You must have a heavy stream of water coming in if the packing nut isn't even on the shaft log. You may have to uncouple it from the trans or at least loosen the coupler up at the trans to get it started. And don't forget to then run your locking nut up to the packing nut. I know its a tight fit with v drives but it can be done.
 
Try rotating the nut the other way. Depending on the application, some are reverse thread. Hope it's that simple for you!
 
Well tryed turning Bolth ways and no luck,tommoro ill loosen up the coupler,that should give me some wiggel room,should there be any stuffing in there,I know my dads older one had plastic nuts that had to be packed but these are all metal and it doesn't look like you could fit anything in there?
Thanks alot, p.s. what oil would you recomend,I red on here desel was the way to go,15/40? Something about zzp aditives? Dad always told me to run strait 30?
 
Are you turning the the packing nut in the right direction? You must have a heavy stream of water coming in if the packing nut isn't even on the shaft log. You may have to uncouple it from the trans or at least loosen the coupler up at the trans to get it started. And don't forget to then run your locking nut up to the packing nut. I know its a tight fit with v drives but it can be done.

Thanks alot ,why didn't I think of that,guess I just saw this and panicked, That should give me the wiggel room I need to get it started,good thing I'm a small guy,ggggzzzz is this a tight fit down there.Also,do these get packed with anything,I no the older ones with the plastic nuts took somekind of stuffing?Thanks aging,I'm loving this web site:)

Marc
 
Yes there is packing in the gland nut. There are different sizes (diameter) of the packing. If those shafts were recently replaced I would almost bet that they forgot to tighten up the lock nut and the gland nut where the packing goes spun loose. The packing is probably ok. Just get the nut started but remember not to over tighten the gland nut as it needs to drip a little or you will burn the shaft itself up. And don't forget to tighten up the lock nut..Good luck!
 
If you have to uncouple, chances are your alignment is off. Once you get the packing nut back on, check your alignment before bolting the coupler back on. More than .003 off requires adjustment.
 
Probably rite about the alighnment but the mounts are in such bad shape I'm afraid its next to impossible,how could silverton make mounts like this,didn't they no they wer building a boat!!.and all the old silvertons seem to be like this,rusted to hell,most people say don't worrie about it.So back to my problem,I undid the coupler and still no luck,the hole thing seems to move with eachother,can't emagin its bent cuz it runs so smooth,anyway I must have used it like this all season last year and thinking I'm gunman have to this year as well,any suggestions besides sink her?
 
its unlikely, but is it possible that there is too much packing in there and its stopping you from being able to get it started? Is it possible for you to post a photo? Did I understand you correctly when you said you used it like that all last year? If the situation is the way you say it is I can't believe that you don't have water pouring in through the shaft!
 
Well it dose set the bilge pu on every 30 min or so,definitely a steady stream comming in. And yes I must have used it all season last year and diddnt realize it. I unbolted the coupler but the hole thing moves together . If it was bent wouldent I be gettin a major vibration? The nut is just cocked down a touch I think its because the mounts are so rusted the engin must have sagged,wen I try to pry it up it all moves together like one piece? Ill try to put up a pic tommoro but not sure how it will come out?thanks aging
Marc
 
Well it dose set the bilge pu on every 30 min or so,definitely a steady stream comming in. And yes I must have used it all season last year and diddnt realize it. I unbolted the coupler but the hole thing moves together . If it was bent wouldent I be gettin a major vibration? The nut is just cocked down a touch I think its because the mounts are so rusted the engin must have sagged,wen I try to pry it up it all moves together like one piece? Ill try to put up a pic tommoro but not sure how it will come out?thanks aging
Marc
 
Try this; get some new packing, remove all the old packing and note how many rings there are. Try to get the nut on with no packing, this should give you the ability to swivel the nut quite a bit. If it goes on, remove and insert one less ring of packing than you pulled out and try the nut again. Something doesn't sound right to me, would be nice to see some pics.
 
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What's the best way to get the stuffing out,can't even see the stuff. I'm thinking a small pick of some sort,once agin these are a 1979,an have two metal nuts,someone told me there wasent ant stuffing in these ones.are you sure its not some type of rubber seal?thanks
Marc
 
Ok...thanks to all ur input on what I'm dealing with it seems that I'll have to Yank out all the old stuffing(it must be all bound up)and start from scratch,seems impossible wile in the water, but I'll have to give it a shot.must make a trip to hardware store for some picks.
 
The nuts stay stationary. I would say that vintage of boat will not be seals. I'd say you have the wax impregnated rope flax packing. You should use the same, nothing fancy or exotic needed here. It's in the nut tucked away inside. It's a blind operation, but you'll eventually get it all out. There should be at least three rings of the stuff. I made up a long pick with a very small curved bend on the end; works like a charm.
 
Yep...I got a small piece of the flax stuff out but I'm gunna have to play with some more picks once the damm rain stops. As far as getting it back in,I was told one ring at a time,tightening the nut to send each ring inside the nut. Also to cut the stuff at a 45 degree angel to make it seal better,and to stagger the seams. I know it calls for 3 rings but would 2 be sufficient if it dosent leek to bad? Man is this tight challenging job,thanks for all the input,its been very usefull.

Marc
 
Well, 3 is the standard. Would hate to put only 2, put it all back together, tighten it up only to find you have to tighten the s^&t out of it to stop leaking...not good. Remember to try getting the nut in first with no packing to see if it will in fact go on since you're having an issue with that. If you set one ring into the nut at a time, mark the a spot on the nut corresponding to the seam or you'll loose the spot when going to stagger the next seam.
 
Sounds good, was going to try removing one strip, and putting the nut back on, if it goes on, ill try getting that third strip back in. Probably won't work and will end up having to take it all out and starting from scrscratch.I also noticed that the other side isint leaking at all, hope it's not too tight, should it only leak wile in gear or should it always have a few drops comming from it? Now it just has to stop raining so i could get back in there, not looking forward to it but hopefully won't be so bad. Thanks angin, and keep ur fingers crossed
Marc
 
Good advice from Woodie and Jeff. I would just like to add that if you are having trouble removing the old packing that they make a tool that looks looks a corkscrew on a flexible spring.It works well and can be bought a most good marine stores.
 
Yep, i bought that tool and removed the stuffing quite easily but still can't get the correct angel on the threds? Seems like the hose that comes into the boat with the threads on it needs to be pryed up a bit to get the right angle.I did try prying but with such limited space its next to impossible, I'm guessing it's gunna have to come out of the water to accheve this? It's really getting the best of me. Thanks for all the input but think I hit a dead end, time to call a real mechanic.
 
It's probably best to haul the boat out. Sounds like you may have a strut to stern tube alignment issue. At the very least, if it turns out that the running gear is aligned, you can iliminate that as a possibility.

Marc, I just read your first post again where you say the packing nut "may have been connected to the shaft". Are you saying that it wasn't threaded on to the stern tube and was spinning with the shaft? If so, your problem is most likely that the first few threads on the nut and/or stern tube are shot from the nut spinning with the shaft up against the tube (if I'm reading it right). Check the end of the stern tube and the first couple of threads in the nut (if you can see it) for wear. Also seems like you removed the coupler/shaft from the tranny. Did it spring in any direction (up, down, left, right) when uncoupled? Shouldn't have done so. Should slide right out and perhaps a slight drop due to shaft weight. If it sprang off, alignment is way off. If you get to this point, you may as well remove the shaft from the coupler, then you can pull the nut off the shaft and inspect.
 
Well I'm abel to remove the locking nut off the threads connected to the tube so those threds are good, the larger nut is just cocked alittel and can't get it started, seems that the threads connected to the tube need to come up allitle and wen I unbolted the cupler nothing moved so alighnment must be ok, and yes it must have been like this last year, because the bilge pump was going on every 30 min and continues to go on the same time period now as it sits, without the larger nut on the threds. Yes the threads on the large nut may be screwed up from spinning all season but even if it was a new nut there's no way it would get on because of the angel of the threds??? Thanks for the replys and I'm really stumped, can't wait to see what
 
Going to have to see what the mecanic who installed them suggests, i have a fealing he ran into this problem on the install and just let it go the way it was cuz I don't see an easy fix in site??
 
Does the stern tube/hose look like it's clamped squarely on the stern tube, and that the hose is not on an angle? If so, it could be unclamped and tweaked.
 
It's doable. Once you loosen the clamp, you may find it hard to move the hose, a heat gun (carefull) will help here. You want to turn it not pull it. Once it turns, you may be able to tweak the end up, down etc. You'll get some water coming in. Just be carefull not to take the tube off....you'll get a whole lot more water than you're getting now!!
 
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