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Hard Pull to Port Under Power - New Repower

SeaDog

Member II
:esad: HELP: HARD PULL TO PORT UNDER POWER>>>

After a year of unreliable service and constant problems from my old Yanmar seawater cooled 2QM20, I finally bit the bullet and instructed my mechanic to swap it out for a brand new Yanmar 3YM20. Rather than a return to reliable operation, I have experienced a string of problems. The mechanic cut down and rebuilt the rails but needed to move the engine forward about three inches to properly lag the new aluminum rail beds onto the rails. Rather than replace the shaft, the mechanic recommended a cylindrical shaft extension (approximately 4” in length). After completion the installation, the forward mounts were fully extended and only about half of the nut threads were engaged. Bottom line, the engine had a terrible (and very noisy) vibration. The mechanic said the problem was that the rear mounts (75 stiffness) were not stiff enough. I believe that the engine/shaft alignment was way out of wack but the mechanic said no. Anyway, the mechanic rebuild the rails (threads now fully engaged) and replaced the rear mounts with new (stiffness 100) stiffer mounts. The vibration and noise was reduced but still significant. The boat also had a hard pull to port when under power.

The prop was over pitched (I was only able to achieve 3150 rpm) so off comes the prop to be re-pitched. Opps, the prop has small cracks and is out of balance… so… its time for a new prop. Putting the new prop on, we discovered that the cutlass bearing was extremely loose and sloppy (I had checked it two months before and there was no slop at all). The new cutlass dramatically reduced the noise but I still have a rather hard pull to Port under power and performance in reverse sucks (fixed blade 14X12) prop.

One more part of the puzzle… while the engine was out, my diver pulled the shaft out about four inches… enough for the key way to present an easy path and steady stream of water into the boat. Fortunately, I discovered the problem before the boat sank. Is it possible that the mechanic did not return the shaft to it’s prior position before continuing on with the installation? Is it possible/likely that the poor performance in reverse and pull to port when in forward is caused by the prop being too close to the rudder? Does anyone have a good feel for the proper distance between the prop and the cutlass bearing and between the prop and the rudder? Perhaps someone with an E32 (mine is a 1978) could check the distance on theirs and let me know.

Kirby
Uff Da, 1978 Ericson 32
Alamitos Bay, Long Beach, CA
 

HGSail

Member III
My E29 has the same pull that you are talking about. I told that it is the way that the prop is mounted in front of the rudder. The prop has a natural (for lack of better words) Power side and when the prop is centered on the rudder it will push one side of the rudder (the right side) which turns it left. You might want to do what I've been doing (get use to it) or use the Autohelm.

Pat
E29
'73
#224
Holy Guacamole
 
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