Dripless Shaft seals - anyone done this?

So it looks like the decision as too which seal to use has been made for me. I have to go with the PSS seals, my shaft is quite grooved from years of the crappy stuffing box and packing. It's way too expensive to replace the shafts just for this.

Well I am glad I have had these before and have had a good experience with them. I just ordered them and will replace them this coming weekend. I was able to remove the port side in about an hour or so, so I am hopping the starboard side will be the same.

One thing I found interesting with my shafts, they have a key way( expected), but they were also pinned and holes drilled for the set screws/bolts. I never thought about pinning them, great idea if things loosen up, you don't loose the shaft.
 
Man, this was as easy as it gets for this type of work. Everything went by the book, if you will. Because of the ware I went with the PSS shaft seals. MY 340 had them for over 10yrs and never had an issue. So I am expecting the same here. Now I just need to clean up the bilge before she goes in!
 

Attachments

  • 20150328_114300.jpg
    20150328_114300.jpg
    97.2 KB · Views: 391
Last edited:
So I thought I'd update how everything worked out. Plain and simple, I could not be happier with these. My yacht club gave me a new slip to accommodate my boat. As a result I had to "Blow Out" the slip for access at low tide. Lots of forward and reversing to remove the silt and sand. These seals held up wonderfully. Not leaks or drips as a result doing this. I had the same results in my other boat with these seals, I highly recommend these to anyone looking for to replace there shaft seals.
 
I have the older style Tides StrongSeal installed when the boat was new in 2001. They like to drip a bit when underway (stays dry when boat is at dock). Everything I have read from many places says they are pretty much end of life and I should replace them with the newer SureSeal. But, I do have a spare seal on the shaft so what the heck, I'll give that a try and see if I get anymore life out of the seal. One thing I read is to move the seal up or down the shaft a bit to get to a new spot on the shaft. Apparently the original seal can wear a slight groove in its spot. Has anyone done this sliding of the carrier and how would that be done? I am guessing I would just unclamp the tube at the shaft log and slide everything forward about a 1/2 inch or so - but not sure.
 
I decided to get an engine alignment check and in the process the shaft was moved away to get the feeler gauges in and then put back. During this process the mechanic moved the StrongSeal tube and unit about 3/16" up the shaft to so the existing seal is now on a new spot on the shaft. Hasn't leaked a drop since. Took the boat on a 4 hour trip each way over the holiday and no drip. I'll see how long that lasts. When that leaks I'll put in the spare lip seal and when that leaks I'll get new units. Maybe I'll get years out of that, or maybe just months.
 
I'm thinking I need to tackle this during layup. Mine seem to be leaking but I suspect something may not have been assembled correctly from the yard that did the cutlass bearings this last season. I'm my little 330 with vdrives it is cramped down there. Not sure if it's what I want to tackle myself.
 
Almightys...that is a VERY VERY difficult job in a 330DA. There's just no room to work. Good luck with that and if you do manage to get it done yourself, pls let us know how the heck you did it!
 
Yeah if you could lay over the trans you might be able to but good golly it wouldn't be fun. When I look at it, it appears easier to just pull the motors lol
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,861
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top