Leaking Drive Shaft/Shaft Seal

[koppercreative]

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Hello all,

I've looked around on the forum and found some posts that seem to describe our issue of a leaky shaft seal. The fixes however have confused me a bit. When looking at the area I am not seeing a nut to tighten the stuffing box. Currently the leak is pretty strong, far more then a drip every 10 or so seconds. This is a 1994 28 TE so I'm assuming it has a stuffing box instead of any sort of water cooled system, although as shown in the photos there is a small hose running into the shaft.

As you can see in the pictures the leak is coming from above any of the rubber hosings, does any one have any ideas on what the fix is for this? Is this a leaky stuffing, or cutlass issue?


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[Tree]

You have what is known as a dripless seal. They are water cooled by the hose you see going into it from the side. The water then exits via the cutlass bearing.

The seal on these should really be changed every 600 hours if I recall and I suspect that your seal has finally worn enough to start leaking.

Pretty confident you have a Tides Marine Seal, google it as I'm on my iphone and can't give you the link! You'll see how they work and what replacement part.

I would however take a close look at the underside of your oil pan to ensure that the sea water isn't corroding it.

[koppercreative]

Thank you very much! That is an excellent lead... It appears if it is in fact a Tides Marine Seal, it seems the fix can be done while the boat is in the water, I will check back in when I have more info.

[N4QC]

Check out the Tides Marine web page and follow the video and counter display links. The video indicates that the seal can be swapped out if the boat is in the water. By looking at the dealer counter display there is an optional spare seal kit already installed on the shaft for when it comes time to replace the seal. The housing for the replacement seal is seen on the video and I suspect that it was installed at the time the original set up was installed – boat out of water. May want to double check to see if the seal can be replaced while the boat is in the water without the spare kit already in place…

Happy researching,

[gerber30]

That does not look like A Tides Marine Seal to me. I have a 1997 with the same set-up. It takes Flax packing like a standard stuffing box. I replaced mine with the GFO (GORE® GFO® Packing) which is far superior to standard flax packing. Its a little hard to get too, but possible. I don't think I would try it while in the water. Also you may want to replace those four hose clamps, they are very important and they look a little worn in the pictures. Be careful when working working down there not to break off the hose connected to the stuffing box, the flange can become brittle over time (I broke mine off! Had to tap in a new one). That raw water line does cool the shaft like a Tides Seal. I will try and find some of the pictures of mine to compare.

Jim

[gerber30]

This is a shot of mine when I first got the boat. You can see how important it is not to have the seal leaking too much. Since it is right under the engine it will spray whatever water you are boating in on the underside of the engine. Since I have a Yanmar the pan and Oil dipstick tube are steel! After I replaced the dipstick tube and cleaned up the oil pan, I zip tied a clear plastic shield over the area which will prevent ANY salt-spray from hitting the underside of the engine, but still allows a visual inspection. Hope this helps

Jim

[Tree]

Now I've had a look on a screen bigger than an iPhone i would be inclined to agree that that isn't a tides seal

if it is a packing gland then go with the GFO Gortex, i'm using it on the rudder shaft and don't get any leaks whatsoever it really is brillliant stuff.

[DougSea]

I'm with Gerber (Jim). Looks like the stuffing box we had on our 1997 28. When I look at the OP's 3rd shot I can see the nut to the left.

The cooling water feed makes it look like a dripless, but it's a traditional stuffing box with cooling for the cutlass bearing.

http://catalog.buckalgonquin.com/viewit ... -spud-type?

I'd have to say, looking at the pictures, that it hasn't seen much in the way of maintenance. Might want to have a yard, or at least a sharp mechanic, take a look.

[koppercreative]

Thanks all for the responses, helpful info... Going to have a mechanic look at it in the next few days, we'll post results!