Saildrive Drain Plug

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Ian_Rob

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My Laser 3456 Impact Driver is a bit small for the drain plug in the Saildrive leg. Might work with a drag link socket but they seem disproportionately expensive. Anybody seen a cheap UK source? A set ideally. I want to drain from the bottom rather than pump out.
 
Would you not just use a big screwdriver? Ones of that sort of size generally have a hex at the top of the shank to put a spanner on if you need extra leverage. Should be pretty cheap.

Pete
 
prv said:
Would you not just use a big screwdriver? Ones of that sort of size generally have a hex at the top of the shank to put a spanner on if you need extra leverage. Should be pretty cheap.

Pete
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Indeed! Most saildrives seem to be manufactured from fairly lightweight alloy - I would be quite concerned about needing to apply any significant amount of force.
 
I bought a selection of large screwdriver socket-set bits in eBay going up about 15mm. These fit onto the long screwdriver (with the 3/8 drive on the handle-end as mentioned by Pete) or the ratchet handle if you really want to give it some thrutch. ;)

Richard
 
I may be teaching you how to suck eggs so excuse the comment but others in the same situation may not think of this point

One of the workers at the yard where i had a boat pulled up on the screwdriver & it slipped off & went into his eye.
So when you do remove the screw be aware & do not put your head alongside the saildrive as you pull rather than push up on the screwdriver.
I make the point as that is exactly what i tended to do when I had a sticking screw once
 
Tam Lin said:
I know this won't help but I never managed to unscrew mine. Gave up through fear of breaking it.
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Funnily enough, I've never even tried to unscrew mine as I only change the sail drive oil when it shows signs of water ingress and at that time I just remove the shaft to change the seals and all the oil runs out when you remove the shaft ..... more oil, in fact, than you can get out through the drain plug due to the internal design.

Richard
 
I tried the winter before last but couldn't remove it with a screwdriver and gave up. It is still filled with ATF oil rather than the now recommended engine oil and whilst I can pump most of it out as I have done before, I would have liked to to have drained it from the bottom to get as much out as I can (and any swarf from the magnet). Does it matter if a bit of ATF oil is left if I change to engine oil?

The idea of using an impact driver was based on the recommendation of a Volvo engineer I had on board last weekend. The boat only came out of the water on Wednesday so I was planning to go down this weekend to look at the saildrive.
 
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Had the same problem with mine a couple of years ago, and found it difficult to source a large enough screwdriver (about 14 or 15 mm head required) locally. A Yanmar engineer told me to use a small cold chisel on one size of the plug slot and give it a tap - it worked perfectly! I thought I might damage the slot and have to replace the plug (which is no big deal anyway) , but it was fine.
 
I had problems getting mine off. To shift it I ended up soaking it in paint stripper to get all the paint off and warming the housing gently with an electric blow torch, and tapping the slot with a hammer/ big screwdriver before shifting it with a driver with spanner on the shaft.
The new one has an allen hex slot - I machined an O ring groove into it.
Remember to use a new o ring each time
 
Ian_Rob said:
Does it matter if a bit of ATF oil is left if I change to engine oil?
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The residual ATF will mix with the oil and not cause a problem. Apart from the possibility of sea water ingress, it's a very benign low stress environment .... which is why the oil spec can be changed with gay abandon. :)

Try changing the ATF in an auto gearbox designed for ATF and watch what happens. :ambivalence:

Richard
 
Personally I would go with Richard first posting , and remove the shaft housing , for one you can then check the seals and shaft and it a good way to get all the oil out .
 
I have an impact screw driver, but the heads will fit in a socket set which may solve your problem. When tightening it again, be sure to use the correct torque setting, Volvo quote this in the manual and it is very low.
 
I always got round this one by using a hex-shafted screwdriver as mentioned already, but hold it up against the screw using a car jack, with just enough upward force to ensure the driver stays in the screw slot. Then turn the driver with a spanner just to loosen the screw. Be mindful of dangers as also described previously, though!
Always wondered why V-P didn't use a hex screw in the thing, surely much easier to cope with.
 
With my last saildrive (110S) I did similar to Halo and replaced the screw with a hex head bolt with the shoulder of the bolt turned flat on a lathe. Much easier to change the oil. After I had a problem with the seals behind the propeller I used 75/80W hypoy oil in the leg with no ill effects.
 
Cantata said:
I always got round this one by using a hex-shafted screwdriver as mentioned already, but hold it up against the screw using a car jack, with just enough upward force to ensure the driver stays in the screw slot. Then turn the driver with a spanner just to loosen the screw. Be mindful of dangers as also described previously, though!
Always wondered why V-P didn't use a hex screw in the thing, surely much easier to cope with.
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+1 That's how I've done it for the last 25yrs.
 
There is no evidence of seawater contamination but as I have never checked/replaced the seals, removing the shaft may well be the way to go.

Thanks for the advice/guidance and for the safety reminder.
 
I have been looking at removing the shaft and it seems simple enough. The only components that appear to be tightened to a specific torque are two nuts securing the prop. Of those, one needs to tightened to 70nm which is outside the range of my 60nm torque wrench. Is '60nm and some' going to suffice?
 
Ian_Rob said:
I have been looking at removing the shaft and it seems simple enough. The only components that appear to be tightened to a specific torque are two nuts securing the prop. Of those, one needs to tightened to 70nm which is outside the range of my 60nm torque wrench. Is '60nm and some' going to suffice?
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If you intend to use a torque wrench I would do it to 60nm as that will be fine but if you want something a bit closer then set your wrench to 55 and tighten the nut. Then set it to 60 and see how much you turn the spanner between 55 and 60, and then turn it, or another spanner if you can't lock it, the same amount again. That will leave it very close to 70.

Personally I've never taken my torque wrench down to the boat. Depending upon the length of the spanner and because of my background, 70nm for me would be "about as tight as a brake caliper". :)

Others will probably disagree, natch,

Richard
 
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