Rebuilt engine starts perfectly, then comes to screaching halt

[ndutton]

Reattached the shaft and decided to see if the problem would happen again before loosening the stuffing box. To my surprise the engine ran fine with zero protest.

So . . . . what has changed to produce a different result?

[Surcouf]

So . . . . what has changed to produce a different result?

I would bet that when the shaft was disconnected, it was pushed a few mm back. That "broke" the stuffing box "joint" that had created during the localized overheating event. That thing can be pretty tight, and moving it axially just a little could have loosened it.

Regarding the "wobble", I would just turn the shaft manually with the engine stopped and see if it still shows a bend (maybe with a machining comparator?). Engine mounts and cutlass would "wobble" the shaft when spinning with engine running, not with engine shut down.