Dan, I was inspecting my V-Drive a few weeks ago. I found a chunk of metal in the water jacket. It was part of one of the fins in the jacket that create turbulence in the raw water chamber. I grasped the remainder of the fin with a thumb and forefinger and it broke off. I tested another and it did the same. This leads me to think the upper portion of the drive housing is now suspect.
It does weep some oil, very little and is noisy. I just finished a rebuild and am replacing the V-Drive with the newer RV20 unit that no longer uses raw water to cool it. Cast iron exposed to salt water for 30 years…. go figure.
As for the W58, if its running well. Don't mess with it. 2500 hours is few on a slow turning overbuilt industrial engine. You might consider having the injectors serviced, but I wouldn't bother if its running clean (no soot on the stern) and smooth.
Chuck
On 8/10/08, kalinowski < ([email][/email])> wrote:
How do you know when the V-drive is getting long in the tooth and needs some TLC?
Dan Kalinowski
(New to Pearson 424 Ketch and v-drive contraption)
S/V Swift
Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum