Ranger 28 - Help Needed - Engine Alignment and Packing Gland replacement

[FlyingCloud73]

Good morning!

I acquired a 1975 Ranger 28 back in November. It had sat for 3 years. So, the first thing I did was have it hauled, bottom painted, and replaced all of the through-hull fittings.

Once back in the water, it took me about a month to get the Universal Diesel M-18 going. But, I am happy to report that it is now purring like a kitten. The Hurth HBW 50 transmission was seized, so I took it apart and rebuilt it.

Now, that it is back in the water, I need to replace the packing gland, as the old material had seized to the drive shaft. Please don't reply asking "how do you know it needs replacing?" Trust me. It needs replacing desperately!

However, I was also told by a marine mechanic that my engine is out of alignment. So, essentially, I need to replace the packing gland and realign the engine.

Does anyone out there know what diameter the prop shaft is for the Ranger 28? Additionally, has anyone out there every done an engine alignment on a Universal Diesel M-18 or similar?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[gjordan]

You have 2 different issues. I would first worry about the packing gland. It can be changed in the water, but you will get wet doing it. There are many threads about doing it in the water that you can find using the CF search feature. If you can find someone young and dumb to dive in and pack lanolin around your shaft where it goes into the stern tube, you probably wont even get very wet. The engine alignment is covered in the forums and is not brain surgery, but just following directions. If you dont do it yourself, I doubt that it would take a yard more than 2 hours for the alignment, hopefully less. Good luck_____Grant. PS go to harbor freight and buy a caliper to measure the shaft. That is a good tool to have on a boat anyway.

[CaptainRoss76]

Hey Flying Cloud, Sounds like you enjoy work!

Does anyone out there know what diameter the prop shaft is for the Ranger 28? Additionally, has anyone out there every done an engine alignment on a Universal Diesel M-18 or similar?

Diameter of Shaft - not for sure i'm afraid experience guess; 1"

Alignment - Its very simple;
- once all your new equipment is all installed
- bring the shaft with flange fitted up to the g'box output flange so they just touch
- now take any size feeler gauge or shim or even steel ruler and slide in at 12-3-6-9 o'clock
- every gap must be equal
- Move the engine up/down/side to side on the engine feet adjustment until the gap matched up.
Dont forget the feet slide side to side at the base once the coach screws (into the engine bed) have been loosened

[Seaworthy Lass]

I have merged two threads here (same initial post in both).

FlyingCloud, glad you engine is now "purring like a kitten". Hope you sort your other issues equally well.

SWL

[kta]

Grab a tape measure and give your shaft a check. It's probably 1" or 7/8" - but it's diameter doesn't matter for the jobs you are doing. Fix your stuffing box, then worry about the alignment.

I recently replaced my stuffing box packing in the water. It was a simple job. Even with everything disassembled there wasn't much water coming through, so there was no stress while getting it done. It took around an hour to do from start to finish, and I was taking my time. Have a couple sizes of packing handy, you're probably 1/4" at the largest.