Drive shaft wear question

[qsilver23t]

Since my ski is no longer under warranty I'm forced to do my own repairs. Nothing wrong with that, kinda fun really, but it's still new to me. I pulled the drive shaft today, going to be replacing for other reasons, but I noticed some wear around the shaft where the carbon ring would be, and also uneven wear in the carbon seal. Is this normally seen from initial wear in or something to be concerned with? This is a 2010 RXT 215 stock with the updated drive shaft. No unusual water present in hull (I sometimes ride rough so some gets in anyway). Bottom of hull is gray from carbon dust after 55 hours on this carbon seal, but his is a wear item right?

 

[Steven Mace]

Man im no seadoo expert but little bit of scuff marks on your drive shaft on an NON sealing area not going to hurt it.. why you replacing it?

over the last few days i have been looking at my carbon seal aswell and my one looks like the shaft has been rubbing on one side of the carbon seal same as yours.. im going to hit the local seadoo dealer up when im ready to put my engine back in to check and make sure the engine is aligned to the jet unit. (Some one recommended it to me and it wouldnt hurt to make sure its running true)

 

[qsilver23t]

I tend to agree with you since I have no issue with water in hull and the seal was firmly against the ring. It seems by design there would have to be some rubbing going on due to the free floating(ish) nature of the ring.

Replacing the shaft and impeller because the cheap rubber boot on the front of the impeller backed off and allowed salt water in trashing the splines on the shaft and impeller. Want to be sure everything is aligned anyway with everything torn apart.

 

[Tytan]

Since you have it all apart this is what I would do:

- Check the pump to engine alignment, get the tool or have the dealer do it.
- Replace the carbon ring and bellows. The bellows gets hard and looses it tension over time.
- Re surface the stainless collar that rides on the carbon ring.
- Replace the two O rings inside the collar and the two inside the PTO bearing.
- Replace the bumper on the PTO end of the driveshaft.
- Use a good quality waterproof marine grease on the impeller splines when reinstalling.

The driveshaft should not rub as it passes through the carbon ring if it does it's usually because the alignment is out.

 

[Steven Mace]

i like ya thinking tytan!

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Doesn't seem possible to me for the rubber bellows to hold the carbon seal centered around the drive shaft, I'm kinda a slow learner though.

 

[qsilver23t]

Going to have the dealer check the alignment because I don't want to buy a tool or mess with the engine mounts right now. I have a hunch though, after doing some reading on other forums, that it seems more likely the bellows may have been clamped to the thru-hull at an angle, which seems like a relatively easy mistake to make. This ski has had two engine alignments, once when new and taking on water and checked when the drive shaft was upgraded. I see no evidence that any engine mount has broken or shifted.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

Always a good idea to have the engine properly aligned, the ski will perform better and the splines will last longer. If you're willing to make the effort it's well worth confirming IMO.

I do this for many sterndrive boats too, during preventative maintenance.

The bellows is like a spring, thus I don't think it will ride center unless maybe the carbon ring and stainless ring are a ball and cup shape.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I have an alignment tool that I rent to fellow members. I live in Pembroke Pines FL. I ship it normally, but you are welcome to make the drive to save on the shipping costs.