Drive Shaft Spline Wear

[lnick1975]

Does anyone have any idea of why this happened to the splines on my drive shaft?
I have searched and read about saltwater erosion and the splines not being properly greased and was wondering if this is what could have caused this issue or could it be caused by a bigger issue? The splines appear look chewed up only on the right side of the teeth, the side that would contact the teeth on the crankshaft.



I took my drive shaft to a local boat repair shop with the hopes of just buying a used drive shaft but when the mechanic looked it over he felt like it wasn't anything for me to worry about, but should I worry and what causes this?

 

[schematic]

Re: Drive Shaft Spline Wear

some applications used a splined seal which kept grease in the spline area. Check your model number and see if it uses one. Otherwise its likely the absents of proper grease which allowed corrosion. Crank side is probably unhappy too....

 

[lnick1975]

Re: Drive Shaft Spline Wear

I did not have a spline seal on it but now that u mention it, it does state that in the service manual.