Dripless is dripping

Caterpillar 3126, closed cooling. There's a connection for that small rubber hose into the raw water cooling side of the engine. From memory it's directly above where the hose connects to the shaft seal, I can't recall at what point in the flow though. It's pretty far down the line though, after the transmission cooler I think.
 
Caterpillar 3126, closed cooling. There's a connection for that small rubber hose into the raw water cooling side of the engine. From memory it's directly above where the hose connects to the shaft seal, I can't recall at what point in the flow though. It's pretty far down the line though, after the transmission cooler I think.
Take the hose off that raw water connection and see if water streams out with seacock open/closed. If there is no water at the intersection of the cooling system and seal cooling hose, your problem is somewhere else.
 
I have no idea what engines he has, or if he's raw water cooled or closed cooled. Bottom line, that hose doesn't come of the sea cock and there no reason that the sea cock should start/stop the leak while the system isn't pressurized.

Your killing me, he has 3126 cat's as listed to the left. That hose DOES come from the seacock, and is raw water. That seal cooling line comes from the raw water system. It is tee'd off somewhere and runs to the seal housing. That has been my point from the beginning.
 
Your killing me, he has 3126 cat's as listed to the left. That hose DOES come from the seacock, and is raw water. That seal cooling line comes from the raw water system. It is tee'd off somewhere and runs to the seal housing. That has been my point from the beginning.
Ok whatever, you're stuck in semantics. I made the same point. It has to be pressurized, period. So its after the raw water pump. Good enough? Turning the seacock open/closed without the engine running should make zero difference (as opposed to it leaking with the engine running). He's leaking from somewhere else, is my guess.
 
The small black hose connects into the raw water system after the raw water pump, yes. The engine was not running. I got back to the dock, shut down the engines and genny. Opened the engine hatch, noticed water was still there. Jumped in to dry it thinking it was leftover the bilge pump could not get rid of. That is when I noticed water movement and traced it to the back clamps area of the seal.

Engine not running -->Seacock closed, no leak, seacock open, leak.
 
Caterpillar 3126, closed cooling. There's a connection for that small rubber hose into the raw water cooling side of the engine. From memory it's directly above where the hose connects to the shaft seal, I can't recall at what point in the flow though. It's pretty far down the line though, after the transmission cooler I think.

if leak stops when seacock is closed, it has to be before or in impeller pump housing. Main hose goes to fuel cooler, stubby hose after fuel cooler and then you are into the impeller pump. I had the seacock open chasing this yesterday. The water will play chutes and ladders and end up under the exhaust tube unseen. It can then run inboard in front of the shaft tube and look like a leak.
 
It's after the raw water pump, yes. The engine was not running. I got back to the dock, shut down the engines and genny. Opened the engine hatch, noticed water was still there. Jumped in to dry it thinking it was leftover the bilge pump could not get rid of. That is when I noticed water movement and traced it to the back clamps area of the seal.

Engine not running -->Seacock closed, no leak, seacock open, leak.
Good news is it doesn't sound like you're leaking from the seal. Bad news is, we have no idea where you're leaking. Maybe want to pick yourself up an inspection camera to see what you can see.
 
Yup, I have a camera/scope, sounds like it's time to pull that guy out and play pretzel in the bilge again. This is an odd one. It did not start until sometime after I left the dock and about 20 minutes into an idle cruise out of the creek.
 
Yup, I have a camera/scope, sounds like it's time to pull that guy out and play pretzel in the bilge again. This is an odd one. It did not start until sometime after I left the dock and about 20 minutes into an idle cruise out of the creek.
Leaks are weird. I remember chasing an oil leak for several years. Couldn't find it. Until one day a bent down in the bilge and put my hand on the valve cover to brace myself and came up with a handful of oil. It was the lower, outboard side of the valve cover -- impossible to see.
 
Yup, I have a camera/scope, sounds like it's time to pull that guy out and play pretzel in the bilge again. This is an odd one. It did not start until sometime after I left the dock and about 20 minutes into an idle cruise out of the creek.
Reading this I was thinking, gee I wish Greg had a scope to stick in there and see what's going on. Break that out and get some pics!

As someone else suggested, I would remove the small diameter black hose and see if that produces water when the seacock is opened. That will contribute to the process of elimination. If no water comes out when the seacock is open I think you can rule that out. If it does produce water, it's a possible source of the leak and check it further.
 
On my 3126 it goes from the raw water pump directly into the heat exchanger and after cooler, and then to the transmission cooler. Working from memory you are correct about the dripless seal cooling hose.
 
I might as well replace that small diameter hose while I'm in there. Zooming in on the pictures I see MPI FUEl 360-0380. A Google search turns up lots of options but nothing consistent. Does anyone know what type and size hose this is? I think it's 3/8.

Edit: I think this is it

http://marinehose.com/product/series-360/
 
Mrsrobinson – This is my first post, as this is the first time, I have seen a current post that I feel has not been replied to correctly and that I can offer advice, so here it goes.

I ran into a leaking Strong Seal last year. In my cast, new to me boat sat for three years and I discovered when boat was high and dry, while test running before launch. After two days of messing with it, using video camera to hooked up to a computer, trying to figure out where leak was coming from. I was convinced it was leaking between blue part of the seal and the shaft log (the fiberglass tube that shaft run through). Basically the same place you think it was leaking from in your first couple posts. I tried adjusting clamp as well a moving seal to see if I could get it to seal with no luck.

I recommend you disconnect the cooling water supply hose from where it hooks into the heat exchanger, or where ever it is connected. Mine comes from the heat exchanger 5.7 liter Mercruiser engines. Keep the hose end above the waterline so you don’t get outside water coming in. Then plug the heat exchanger outlet and open the sea strainer. If it does not leak go a head and start her up and see now. If you have no leak then it is most likely the seal.

The seal may only leak when cooling water is forced by raw water pump into the seal. In my case it was leaking and leaking a lot. A steady stream for sure. I would have thought with boat out of water, the cooling water should have taken the easiest path, which would have been down the shaft on the out side of the boat. Not back into the boat, but that was not the case.

Something else to consider. When I pulled the seal, the seal edge that rides around the shaft was full of mineral deposits. In your case, those deposit probably grew over the winter, but did not start leaking until you started turning the shaft, and that’s why it did not leak over winter.

In my case I had to pull the engine, to repair. There was no room in a 300 with twin 5.7s, and outboard fuel tanks to get in there. The most I could reach was putting finger tips from one hand on the seal. I may have been able to drain the jacket water from both engines and remove both inboard risers and exhaust manifolds but, there was no guarantee. It still would have been a one handed job. Good news is once one engine is removed, I was able to do both sides. I also had marina load engine into my utility trailer and took it home for a week so I could clean it up, and touch up paint. I also spent a day in the engine space cleaning the 25 years of grunge. If I think back on it I wish I had done more in the engine space, but it was July and wanted to go boating on my new boat.

I have pics but not sure if I can attach with my membership level, but can text or email if you PM me. Hope this helps!
 
Mrsrobinson – This is my first post, as this is the first time, I have seen a current post that I feel has not been replied to correctly and that I can offer advice, so here it goes.

I ran into a leaking Strong Seal last year. In my cast, new to me boat sat for three years and I discovered when boat was high and dry, while test running before launch. After two days of messing with it, using video camera to hooked up to a computer, trying to figure out where leak was coming from. I was convinced it was leaking between blue part of the seal and the shaft log (the fiberglass tube that shaft run through). Basically the same place you think it was leaking from in your first couple posts. I tried adjusting clamp as well a moving seal to see if I could get it to seal with no luck.

I recommend you disconnect the cooling water supply hose from where it hooks into the heat exchanger, or where ever it is connected. Mine comes from the heat exchanger 5.7 liter Mercruiser engines. Keep the hose end above the waterline so you don’t get outside water coming in. Then plug the heat exchanger outlet and open the sea strainer. If it does not leak go a head and start her up and see now. If you have no leak then it is most likely the seal.

The seal may only leak when cooling water is forced by raw water pump into the seal. In my case it was leaking and leaking a lot. A steady stream for sure. I would have thought with boat out of water, the cooling water should have taken the easiest path, which would have been down the shaft on the out side of the boat. Not back into the boat, but that was not the case.

Something else to consider. When I pulled the seal, the seal edge that rides around the shaft was full of mineral deposits. In your case, those deposit probably grew over the winter, but did not start leaking until you started turning the shaft, and that’s why it did not leak over winter.

In my case I had to pull the engine, to repair. There was no room in a 300 with twin 5.7s, and outboard fuel tanks to get in there. The most I could reach was putting finger tips from one hand on the seal. I may have been able to drain the jacket water from both engines and remove both inboard risers and exhaust manifolds but, there was no guarantee. It still would have been a one handed job. Good news is once one engine is removed, I was able to do both sides. I also had marina load engine into my utility trailer and took it home for a week so I could clean it up, and touch up paint. I also spent a day in the engine space cleaning the 25 years of grunge. If I think back on it I wish I had done more in the engine space, but it was July and wanted to go boating on my new boat.

I have pics but not sure if I can attach with my membership level, but can text or email if you PM me. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the thoughtful, detailed reply.
 
Mrsrobinson – This is my first post, as this is the first time, I have seen a current post that I feel has not been replied to correctly and that I can offer advice, so here it goes.

I ran into a leaking Strong Seal last year. In my cast, new to me boat sat for three years and I discovered when boat was high and dry, while test running before launch. After two days of messing with it, using video camera to hooked up to a computer, trying to figure out where leak was coming from. I was convinced it was leaking between blue part of the seal and the shaft log (the fiberglass tube that shaft run through). Basically the same place you think it was leaking from in your first couple posts. I tried adjusting clamp as well a moving seal to see if I could get it to seal with no luck.

I recommend you disconnect the cooling water supply hose from where it hooks into the heat exchanger, or where ever it is connected. Mine comes from the heat exchanger 5.7 liter Mercruiser engines. Keep the hose end above the waterline so you don’t get outside water coming in. Then plug the heat exchanger outlet and open the sea strainer. If it does not leak go a head and start her up and see now. If you have no leak then it is most likely the seal.

The seal may only leak when cooling water is forced by raw water pump into the seal. In my case it was leaking and leaking a lot. A steady stream for sure. I would have thought with boat out of water, the cooling water should have taken the easiest path, which would have been down the shaft on the out side of the boat. Not back into the boat, but that was not the case.

Something else to consider. When I pulled the seal, the seal edge that rides around the shaft was full of mineral deposits. In your case, those deposit probably grew over the winter, but did not start leaking until you started turning the shaft, and that’s why it did not leak over winter.

In my case I had to pull the engine, to repair. There was no room in a 300 with twin 5.7s, and outboard fuel tanks to get in there. The most I could reach was putting finger tips from one hand on the seal. I may have been able to drain the jacket water from both engines and remove both inboard risers and exhaust manifolds but, there was no guarantee. It still would have been a one handed job. Good news is once one engine is removed, I was able to do both sides. I also had marina load engine into my utility trailer and took it home for a week so I could clean it up, and touch up paint. I also spent a day in the engine space cleaning the 25 years of grunge. If I think back on it I wish I had done more in the engine space, but it was July and wanted to go boating on my new boat.

I have pics but not sure if I can attach with my membership level, but can text or email if you PM me. Hope this helps!
Long time lurker, first time poster. Good first post!
 
Some other consideration - Tides recommends to replace the seals every five years and the entire system every ten years. But none of us really ever do that. We run the initial setup until we see a leak, which by then is well beyond the ten year life. Then we go ahead and slide that spare seal in, which appears to work, oh for a few days maybe a week. But after 15-20 years in a carrier it’s pretty much useless. It’s an old dried up seal. I’ve helped many people sort through their leaking Tides system units. In every case the systems were over 15 years old and in every case the end result was to replace the entire thing at next haul. Your Tides are long past end of life, if it were me I’d save investigative time and money and buy new. But that’s just me.
 
I just talked to the marina. Like others have said here the fact that when I shut down the seacock the leak stops is a good thing. He's not a fan of these dripless shaft seals with the spare seal in our cruiser style engines packed in boats. He said you can't get to them in these v-drive boats anyway so he doesn't use them anymore when replacing. I don't disagree it's probably time to replace them anyway. The boat's going to be hauled out within the next four to six weeks for bottom paying anyway so that would be the time to do it. We've got two trips planned between now and then though so I'm just seeing if I can limp this along.

He's going to take a look at it for me since I can't get back up there until this weekend.
 

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