shaft removal

[toyota40runner]

i have done some searching on here from a detailed description of how to remove a drive shaft on a 2001 san. does anyone on here know of a thread or want to give me a quick run down of how its done? I am pretty mechanically inclined, it just sucks that there isnt a work manual for boats.

[SquamInboards]

RE: shaft removal

I did it last year and boy was it fun! Could be worse but be ready to give it a half a day to get out and put back in. If you can reach the rudder and get it to drop then that would be faster but it doesn't look fun back there and this is how we chose to go about it.

1. Remove rear seat (back rest, cushions, floor brace)
2. Remove floor board below seat, should be 4 screws I think.
3. Now you should see the bilge, v-drive and trans, gas tank. Get the gas tank out of there. I was lucky and had only about a gallon in mine so we just left the gas in there but you'll probably need to siphon it out. There should be a vent hose, fill hose, and FP feed and return hose to disconnect as well as your sending unit. Mark everything with a piece of tape and sharpie with correlating numbers if you aren't sure you'll remember how it went together.
4. Unbolt the 6 coupler bolts which connect the the shaft to the v-drive (this is a huge pain)
5. Unbolt the trans mounts from the stringers, probably 4 bolts per side, 2 on top, and two on side. Get that out of the bilge or just put it where tank was.
6. Take off prop (duh)
7. Slide the prop shaft out from inside the boat and depending on what your plans are you can take the coupler off with a bearing puller, there might be a set screw, I can't remember.

[toyota40runner]

thanks for the quick response, my rudder broke of on a rock so do you think i would be better off just taking off the coupler flange and pull it out the bottom?

[SquamInboards]

Definitely. If you snapped your rudder then just undo the coupler and pull the whole thing out. Don't forget to put the shaft back in before you replace the rudder though. Good luck with the rudder replacement as well, it's pretty tough to get back there but maybe your arms are skinnier than mine!

[richard]

I did my 01SAN with out remove the gas tank and move the screws of trans.

[SquamInboards]

Did you just pry the shaft enough so it would miss the rudder? I would buy that, though it seems like it would be tough to get the coupler off inside the boat if it was on anywhere near as good as on my NSS. I'm also referring to a 98 which I thought was the same but maybe I'm wrong.

[toyota40runner]

any tips to getting the coupler off? as soon as she is off the shaft is out the boat? also as far as getting the rudder off(atleast what left of it) just taking all the linkage off the top and tap it out the bottom? or do i need to take the screws on the plate on the bottom?