Dripless shaft seal failure

T

tbrookster

New Member
Jul 22, 2015
9
Ofallon MO / Lake of the Ozarks
Boat Info
1997 330 Sundancer Twin 700 Hours and 1989 260 CC
Engines
454 Mercruiser 310 Hp w/Hurth V-drives
Hello,
I recently acquired my first v-drive boat with dripless shaft couplings and believe I have a problem. I disconnected the cooling lines from the oil coolers and one side pours water out but the other side is completely dry. I am not sure which one is good or what could cause this problem, any ideas ?
 
If I'm understanding you correctly you removed the hose from the oil cooler to the shaft seal on each of your motors. One of the oil coolers has water coming from the outlet and the other does not? Which one does not have water coming out? Port or starboard?

I would first remove the oil cooler that does not have water coming from the outlet to the shaft seal and make sure it's not clogged up with shells or debris. This is the only reason I can think of that would restrict water passing through the oil cooler.
 
Sorry, I should have been more specific, with the hose disconnected from the starboard oil cooler and held below the waterline, some water drains from the oil cooler and consistently from the hose. On the port oil cooler, when I disconnected the hose, some water drained from the oil cooler but with the hose held below the waterline, no water at all comes from the hose.
 
Is your boat currently winterized? I know we have had some warm weeks. But you mentioned water - but curious if it was winterized and anti-freeze.
 
Did you remove the "dry" hose from the nipple on the dripless? If you remove it there and water enters via the nipple, you likely have an occluded hose. Blow into the hose to see if it's patent. If no water is coming from the dripless nipple there can be an occlusion in the nipple.
 
rondds said:
Did you remove the "dry" hose from the nipple on the dripless? If you remove it there and water enters via the nipple, you likely have an occluded hose. Blow into the hose to see if it's patent. If no water is coming from the dripless nipple there can be an occlusion in the nipple.
Click to expand...
OK doc:lol:
 
Didn't want to say "blockage" and have people think cardiologist!
 
Arent those hoses on the pressure side of the raw water pump. seems if it was on the suction side the pump would be pulling air And the flow should be going out the shaft log not in.
 
Flow does go OUT the shaft log, but there's no check valve. If you pull the hose at the shaft and the boat is in the water you'l start sinking.
 
Yes, my boat is still winterized and in the water. The oil coolers had antifreeze in them but the starboard shaft log line had water backing up through it, the starboard line did not. should I be removing these lines and capping off the oil coolers and water logs when I winterize ?
 
You should not have a problem... Put the boat the water and run it... If the engine overheats, or you don't see flow on the RW discharge, then look for a problem...
 
If you are taking the same hose off of the same part on two different engines, and one has water and one does not, then I would think that something has to be wrong with one of them since you would expect to find the same results from each.
 
Just FYI, I contacted Tides Marine, the manufacture of these seals. They stated that if I had melted plastic in the fitting of this seal, that it had been overheated and was just a matter of time until the seal seized to the shaft and tore the entire assembly loose causing a huge leak.
They explained that I had the "STRONG" seals that have not been made since 2000 and that I needed to upgrade both seals to the new and improved "SECURE" seals. These seals were much more robust, had a accordion style boot that allowed more flexibility and dual inputs for cooling water from both engines. Also, in speaking with the tech rep, he informed me of an unadvertised special, if you send both of your old style seals back to them, they will reimburse you for one of the new seals, a $525 savings.
 
tbrookster said:
Just FYI, I contacted Tides Marine, the manufacture of these seals. They stated that if I had melted plastic in the fitting of this seal, that it had been overheated and was just a matter of time until the seal seized to the shaft and tore the entire assembly loose causing a huge leak.
They explained that I had the "STRONG" seals that have not been made since 2000 and that I needed to upgrade both seals to the new and improved "SECURE" seals. These seals were much more robust, had a accordion style boot that allowed more flexibility and dual inputs for cooling water from both engines. Also, in speaking with the tech rep, he informed me of an unadvertised special, if you send both of your old style seals back to them, they will reimburse you for one of the new seals, a $525 savings.
Click to expand...

I am very confused with what you have posted.
The boat is winterized there should't be any water on the raw water side of the cooling system.
You can't confirm if the seals are getting cooling water without the engines running.
The water feed lines should be off one of the risers or tee in a raw water hose.
Tides recommends taking the water feed lines off thru the season with motor running to confirm water flow.
For them to say those seals are discontinued since 2000 would make me replace them regardless if they're not leaking.
I would buy the seal assemblies with 2 water feeds for a crossover line so if one seal stops getting water or one engine is disabled both seals will still get fed water.
The props and shafts have to come out to replace the seal assemblies.
Might as well do the cutlass bearings too and buy the spare seals and carriers for the shaft seals.
When i start my engines at the slip i can see bubbles coming up on sides of boat where the shafts come out so I know they're getting flow.
 
I have found some plumbing from the HX drain plug to the dripless seal nipple but there nothing like good old Flax for a inboard
 
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