shaft seals.

Mknupp

Member
Sep 25, 2019
73
finger lakes
Boat Info
1995 330 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 454 v drives
i have a 1995 330 sundancer 7.4s with v-drives. no idea if shaft seals have ever been replaced . any body know how to tell if they are original seals, I don't see any hoses going to them for cooling, do they have a packing that can be tightened? also what would be the best replacement seals. thanks in advance
 
i have a 1995 330 sundancer 7.4s with v-drives. no idea if shaft seals have ever been replaced . any body know how to tell if they are original seals, I don't see any hoses going to them for cooling, do they have a packing that can be tightened? also what would be the best replacement seals. thanks in advance

Guessing you gave stuffing boxes on your shafts and they typically have a flax packing material held in place by a packing nut or other retainer. They can drip slightly under normal conditions, so unless there is water running into the boat past the packing, you should be fine. If they do start leaking excessively, you can tighten the packing nut. If the nut is al the way in, then you will have to repack the stuffing box. Most of the time, this isnt an emergency, but you need to keep your bilge pumps in good working order. Google repack stuffing box and you'll find lots of articles on how to do it, its a DIY job if you have the tools.

Here's the West marine version --> https://www.westmarine.com/WestAdvisor/Stuffing-Boxes-Shaft-Seals-and-Shaft-Bearings

You can replace with dripless. I think Tides and PSS are the two I read about most on this forum.
 
Not too sure how you go about replacing them in a 330... It looks like the engines would need to be removed to get access. Or at a minimum maybe removing the exhaust manifolds in an effort to gain access. My Dripless are 25 years old... I have often wondered on how to replace or even service.
 
Not too sure how you go about replacing them in a 330... It looks like the engines would need to be removed to get access. Or at a minimum maybe removing the exhaust manifolds in an effort to gain access. My Dripless are 25 years old... I have often wondered on how to replace or even service.
Small body, long arms.
 
I had the same boat with same engines. The shaft seals can be replace without removing engines. I had to remove the outboard exhaust elbows and manifolds for access (I'm a big guy). It's not easy, but can be done. (with the boat out of the water) And while you have the shafts out, be sure the alignment is correct when re-installed.
 

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