Slight vibration question

[jtmarten]

Got her out today, finally! Port side nice and smooth, no vibration, leaks, etc. Strbrd side has a slight vibration from about 1500-1800rpm. Would this be indicative of a misalignment? The alignment looked OK on the tool, and the drive slipped right into place when reinstalling it. I noticed no vibration running on the muffs.
I don't *think* it would be the prop, they were both new last season, and never whacked anything with them.
I'll run both again this week on the muffs and see if I detect any vibration. If not, I'll swap props and see if the vibration moves to port.

Just curious though about the source potentially being a misalignment. I really don't want to pull the drive again, but its a much better scenario than replacing a coupler.

 

[Viking...]

Re: Slight vibration question

A bit short on details there mate.
Boat/engine/drive particulars are good to include, with as much pertinent details as possible to help with the diagnosis.

Just a quick question though, making some assumptions from your signature:
Do your drives counter-rotate?
If so, swapping props won't be an option.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Slight vibration question

If the prop swap doesnt do the trick.
I read somewhere that there is a factory fix for the ujoint caps in the drive input shaft. they have been know to spin and there are special clips that have bent ends to stop the vibration. Mine has them already installed so i cant really tell you what it feels like.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Slight vibration question

1986 Wellcraft Nova II, twin MCM260, Alpha 1 Gen 1
Port engine SN B401215
Starboard engine SN B410195

Standard rotation on both. A counter-rotating drive is on the 'futures' list. LOL

I had absolutely no vibration last year, smooth as silk. Wondering about the alignment since I replaced both lower shift cables this year; ahhh .... nice to have reverse without having to restart!!
U-joints were lubed and have no play, not sure about the caps spinning. I'll have to check for vibration from trimmed down to the trim limit.

Port side has the long snout coupler/driveshaft with 3rd o-ring; strbrd side has short coupler/driveshaft w/o 3rd o-ring, so one of them has been replaced.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Slight vibration question

Pulled the prop today and ran it - smooth as silk. With prop in gear - slight vibration.
Guess I'll order a new hub kit and run the SS cleavers next weekend if the kit doesn't arrive by Fri.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Slight vibration question

Swapped the props today, vibration moved with the prop. Whewwwww.
Threw the cleavers on and I'll be sending the bad prop/hub in to get checked out.