
Take plenty of time
in
making this alignment and
do
not be satisfied wtth anything less than perfect results.
The
alignment is correct when the shaft can be easily
slipped backward and forward into the counterbore,
and when a feeler gauge indicates that the flanges
come together at
all points. The alignment between
the propeller shaft coupling and the engine's coupling
can contain an error no greater than one thousandth
of
an
inch per Inch of the coupling diameter. For ex-
ample, if your
propeller shaft coupling is three inches
in
diameter, the maximum error that can be allowed
in
the alignment
is
three thousandths of
an
inch (.003).
In making the final check for alignment, the
engine's
half coupling should be held
in
one
position and the alignment with the propeller
coupling
tested wtth the propeller coupling
in
each
offour
positions (A), while rotated
90'
be-
tween each position. This test will
also check
whether the propeller's half-coupling
is
in
exact
alignment on its shaft. Then, keeping the
propeller coupling
in
one position, the align-
ment should be checked by rotating the
engine's
half-coupling in
90'
increments,
checking dimension A while
in
each
90'
posi-
tion until the
half-coupling has been rotated full
circle. .
The engine's alignment should
be
rechecked
after the boat has been
in
service for one
to
three weeks and, if necessary, perform the
alignment again. Usually
tt
will be found that
the engine is no longer
in
alignment. This does
not mean that the work has been done im-
properly at first; rather,
tt
means that the boat
has taken some time
to
take its final shape and
that the engine's bed and stringers have
probably absorbed some moisture.
It may
even be necessary
to
realign the coupling hal-
ves again at a later time.
Westerbeke
Diesel
Engines
14
.093
FEELER
GAGE
PROPELLER
SHAFT
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