Cracks in driveshaft.

[AllenAutoWorks]

Hey everybody. Can anyone tell me what causes cracks, and pitting in the driveshafy near the carbon seal and floating ring? Is it heat? I recently bought 2 2002 seadoo gtx 4 tec one had rocks sucked up in it, and that's the one with the cracks. Is it acceptable to use if the shaft is within specifications.

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

Picture of driveshaft crack.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I have removed this post as I miss-read the OP.

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

Ok motor being good, alignmen t unknown at this time, I got new bellow and carbon seal and the bellow I removed was original and wore to were they were almost 1 inch length off. Could a badly sealing carbon seal cause the carbon ring to wallow the outside and no other areas?

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

On second thought with the wear on the carbon seal it's probably out of alignment. Can you recomend a site to get one from at a good price?

 

[Coastiejoe]

On second thought with the wear on the carbon seal it's probably out of alignment. Can you recomend a site to get one from at a good price?

http://www.pwcmuscle.com/ This is the parts supplier for our site...

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

Ok Thank you.

 

[Nike12000]

pitting I would be ok with but cracks I would replace not worth getting stuck out there.

 

[Chester]

I don't see any cracks in the picture.

Chester

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

Hey Chester, it's a very small crack vertically in front of where the carbon ring was rubbing the shaft and made the carbon ring wallow

 

[Coastiejoe]

By the way,,, The Carbon Ring should NOT touch the shaft. And, the Carbon Ring rides on the drive shaft, not the crank shaft.

Am I misunderstanding what you are trying to say? Or are we talking about two different things?

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

I'm not sure but the shaft I'm talking about is not the crank shaft. My picture and crack was driveshaft where I found the bellow was worn out, when I removed carbon seal it had a spot where driveshaft was rubbing, the very small crack is in front of but behind the floating ring orings. My main question is would a worn out bellow, it's at least 1 inch longer than new one cause the carbon ring to flex, creating heat on driveshaft under load and cause a crack?

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

*in front of carbon ring sorry

 

[Coastiejoe]

OK,,, My bad I believe,,, I read your post as CRANK SHAFT,,, No drive shaft. Sorry if I confused or steered your wrong.

In a nut shell, the Carbon Seal (CS) touches nothing. It "floats" around the shaft and is supported by the bellows. The collar is pressed up against the CS as there is a snap-ring under the collar that prevents the collar from sliding away.

So, if you shaft has damage, which it clearly does, there is something wrong. It could be motor mounts which allowed the motor to move. Could be damage where the shaft comes through the hull (bearing). You for sure need to figure out where the issue is. If the motor mounts are the issue, you MUST replace them and then do an engine alignment. If not, you will destroy the impeller, CS, boot and put an uneven strain on the engine when it is running..

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

I've tried pulling up on the motor there seems to be no broken,mounts, there is no bearing through the hull, just hole and cs the driveshaft touches nothing in the hull, I know previous owner sucked up rocks destroyed impeller and wear ring.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I've tried pulling up on the motor there seems to be no broken,mounts, there is no bearing through the hull, just hole and cs the driveshaft touches nothing in the hull, I know previous owner sucked up rocks destroyed impeller and wear ring.

The bearing in your case is at the impeller. So you want to look at that area. See if the wear ring is good or bad. If it is bad, it is a clue as to the issue being in that area. If it all looks good,,, then we have to look deeper. Like is the drive shaft bent for example?

 

[AllenAutoWorks]

I've got new pump with impeller, new driveshaft and pto bearing, new carbon seal, I'm going to put it back and go for a run, when I get back in I will disassemble and make sure it's ok, also I will ride with seat off on initial run. Thanks I'll let you know what I find.