Leaking Dripless Shaft Seal --- Price to Replace?

CJM

CJM

Member
Aug 26, 2010
84
CT
Boat Info
1986 250 Sundancer /
2000 340 Sundancer
Engines
5.7 Merc /
Twin 7.4 Horizons
Okay, the boat is a 2000 Searay Sundancer 340, 7.4 horizons with V Drives (the coupler is on the front)... The leak is coming from the starboard dripless seal (at the stainless rotor).... the bellows appears to be okay. The bilge pump comes on about every 4 minutes & I'm hooked up to shore power the batteries charged..... Question -- how much do you think it would cost for the replacement of the entire seal (If needed) & labor ? Thanks
 
Do you have a spare seal in the carrier? If so, easy to do yourself. If not, you'll need the boat hauled and the shaft pulled back. If you do that be sure to install a spare seal at the same time.
 
Cost me $3K for both..... I also changed my cutlass bearings at that time... You usually do both when one goes... I also added cross-over cooling, not in our original dripless seals...
 
The brochure states that it came with (Dripless w/extra Seal Carrier Kit), but I am not certain. Does anyone have any info on how this procedure is done?
 
I had mine done 2 years ago on a 01 340 with same power set up as you. Starboard side was replaced with a new tides dripless seal...$1500 for seal and labor
 
Stainless steel rotor? Are you sure what you have is Tides? PSS uses stainless steel rotors. A picture would help. If they are PSS, they may need to be adjusted.
 
They came with Tides... I replaced mine with a new version of Tides, that came with an extra seal on the shaft... The OEMs had no extra seal...
 
It definitely has the stainless steel rotor.(that's where the leak is).. The brochure states (Dripless w/Extra Seal Carrier Kit - Standard), maybe it was replaced over the years, who knows.... Anyway, I cannot access it. I've contacted a mechanic and he says he is small enough to get in there. At best, the rotor had moved forward (set screws loosened) -- just re-adjust).. at worst, pull the boat and replace the whole seal... With the generator & the 2 engines, I don't know how he is going to fit... I have to see this done...
 
That sounds like a PSS seal. The way it works it that the stainless steel rotor makes contact with graphite attached to the bellows. It maintains pressure on the graphite by way of the sliding the rotor down the shaft and compressing the bellows about an inch or so. The rotor is locked in place with set screws. Keep in mind that two set screws are stacked in each hole.
 
this is what should be on the OEM 340
$(KGrHqJHJFcFHn7rjtj3BR7!6KKBH!~~60_35.JPG
 
Nansea, I cannot see your attachment.... Anyway, the mechanic was able to take a look at it.. I was wrong, it is a Tides (Strong) Seal. He also did not see any (spare carrier kits)..... It looks like the boat has to come out and the seal will have to be replaced...
 
Here are a few pics.. (I could not upload, it states that the file size has to be under 48k...) I'll see if I can shrink them later.
 
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CJM said:
Nansea, I cannot see your attachment.... Anyway, the mechanic was able to take a look at it.. I was wrong, it is a Tides (Strong) Seal. He also did not see any (spare carrier kits)..... It looks like the boat has to come out and the seal will have to be replaced...
Click to expand...

The spare seal carrier could be all the way up the shaft.
I didn't think i had them(couldn't see them) until i pulled the shafts to replace entire assemblies.
They were in the bilge after i pulled the shafts.
If they are original i would replace both of them and the cutlass bearings.
Both housings on mine were cracked. They were the original ones.
 
seal.jpg
CJM said:
Here are a few pics.. (I could not upload, it states that the file size has to be under 48k...) I'll see if I can shrink them later.
Click to expand...
Here is a pic...(You can see the "S" for Tides "Strong"..) Serial # 018520... I don't see a carrier kit......
 
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Okay, I've got a mechanic who is going to do the job. I'm going to do both (I don't want to go through this again for a while), leaking boats are not fun.... Now, should I get the Tides or the PSS? I'm leaning towards the PSS (with the carbon & the stainless steel rotor)... Opinions?
 
You are going to get the Chocolate vs. Vanilla; Ford vs. Chevrolet arguments here since a lot of folks have the PSS seal and seem to like them and Sea Ray uses the tides seals.

This is going to boil down to your boating location, the water depth, the bottom consistency and how you run your boat. For example, I live in Florida where we have a lot of skinny water and a sandy bottom, particularly in lagoons and bays where marinas and docks are located. At low tide I have about 3 ft. of water under my props. There is no way I can get into the slip, reverse thrust to stop the boat and not stir up some sand. The PSS.......stainless steel rotor/carbon block design......doesn't tolerate ingesting sand. If the carbon block gets scored, it will leak until the carbon wears itself flat again or you remove it and have it faced in a lathe. The only boats in this area who successfully run PSS seals are commercial boats that run in deep water and have deep water berths.

Another consideration for you is replacing Tides seals with Tides seals is just remove the old seal, polish the shaft and replace the seal. A PSS replacement will take more time since a new seal design must be fit or located.
 
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