ZF-V drive transmission-2002 Albin 28 with deck engine box

[Dave39]

My engine is the Yanmar 315. Yesterday on a run back from Block Island, about 1 hour out the boat started vibrating. It got more severe so I shut down and looked in the engine compartment where I found 2 of the 4 bolts holding the shaft to the tranny coupling had been sheared off. I tightened the other 2 and ran with reduced rpm's back to my dock. We hadn't hit anything and the rpm's never dropped though the vibrating was bad. I'm thinking the bolt/bolts loosened enough so they hit the tranny as there isn't much clearence, and finally the bolt snapped. I remembered my survey mentioned loose bolts, so I am going to make this check part of my PM program. Has anyone else with my setup had this problem? Maybe you should check your's just in case. Lock washers were used but the bolts loosened so I'm wondering if lock nuts might be better.

[JackK]

That's a little scary, especially since I just spent an afternoon tightening all the screws around my deck. They had all loosened to some extent. I guess I'm going to have to do the same below deck. I check the hose clamps but that's all.

Thanks,
Jack

BTW - Glad you made it home safe. Make sure you check the shaft alignment before buttoning things up again.