SO 362 cutless bearing

[iseath]

I'm about to replace the cutless bearing of my 362. The jeanneau - supplied all rubber bearing fits the shaft well but is slightly (only slightly) loose in the p-bracket housing. The securing nylon screws will hold it, but I'm wondering whether I should seal it in with something like ptfe or sikaflex. Any ideas or experience appreciate?

[flightdeck]

Hi iseath,
looks like in true quiet Jeanneau owner style we are all sitting here looking at the forum, wonder if somebody is going to reply?

Hope somebody will, as I could have same issue later in the year, all about me
In the mean time I'm sure you have changed it, what did you end up doing?
So much for helping, more questions than answers.
Cheers

[MalcolmP]

FWIW

Don't like the sound of using sealant, whilst it will not damage anything, the torque of the shaft would immediately split it if the bearing is not fixed. Wrapping with the external bearing with ptfe until it is almost too tight to fit may be a "slightly" more viable option

There are some other threads on this subject, but my experience is that with the rubber "French" style cutless bearings if you can twist them home when dry (with pressure) then the nylon bolts will be fine

If there is any doubt I would get a competent marine engineer to inspect, their fee is likely to be lot less then rehauling etc, if your fix doesn't work

Malcolm

[sailbleu]

I would definitly never use any glue of some sort on the cutless bearing. Remember you will have to replace the bearing again sooner or later. It's part of the game. Very hard to have an idea about the situation just by reading it of course , but I think I would surely go for an extra set of setscrews to make sure the bearing stays in place. And to be on the safe site, always bring a spare cutless bearing along.

[tean]

At risk of being accused of "Thread drift" may I seek your advice?

How can I remove and renew the cutless bearing in the P bracket on our Sun Light 30? Is it perhaps possible on a Jeanneau to extract and renew the bearing with the shaft still in position?

Even with the prop. removed, I can see that the shaft would not pass the rudder whilst the rudder is still in situ. Dropping the rudder would not seem to be easy as the rudder stock is housed in a lower bearing (which doesn't look easy to remove) on a short skeg, as well as passing up through the hull.

I could lift out the engine to create enough space to draw the shaft forward to clear the P bracket, but that seems a lot of work.

What is the best method?

[MartyB]

Tean,

Being as your SL30 is a later model of my arcadia, or something similar any how, you will probably need to pull the rudder. At least that is what I had to do when I replaced the CB 2.5 yrs ago.

Marty

[tean]

Marty,

Many thanks for your reply about tackling the cutless bearing.

Do you have any tips on dismantling the lower rudder stock bearing which appears to be mounted in a stainless steel housing fastened through the small skeg? I presume this stainless steel housing has to come off for the lower bearing to be dropped with the rudder?


i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af308/JohnBaldock/th_reducedskeg.jpg

John

[iseath]

ok, here's what I did.

The extra play was very probably due to temperature/expansion i.e. a warm day, and much less evident on a cold day when the bronze was cooler. Eventually I compromised with a smear of sikaflex and used existing nylon screws. In addition, a ropecutter on the shaft just behind it ensures that it cant fall off! Situation will be reviewed next winter!

[tean]

Further to my earlier posts, I have replaced the cutless bearing on our Sun Light 30. The 2 bladed folding prop came off quite easily, with the blades and the central nut removed, once I had made up a simple puller. The Stripper rope cutter also came off easily with the help of a drop of penetrating oil.

With the two nylon screws removed from the sides of the P bracket, I was easily able to knock out the flanged nylon bush which is the cutless bearing, using a short length of split copper tube as a drift and an old shaft anode as a slide hammer.

The new cutless from Westaways was a rubber one and went in easily with a drop of washing up liquid. It is secured by new nylon screws on each side, though i did have to drill a couple of holes into the rubber for the screws to use. The Stripper and the prop went back together easily and all seems to be perfect now.

I have yet to find out how to dismantle the lower rudder bearing but this will now be a job for next year.

John