Small Atomic 4 leak: raw water from drive shaft into engine compartment?

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JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
Hi all,

Newbie question while waiting for reference books to come in...
After shutting off my Atomic 4 gas engine ('75 Oday 27') I noticed a 1-2 second drip of raw water coming from the drive shaft where it extends out of the engine and down towards the propeller. It is leaking down into the floor of the engine compartment. Is this expected or does it indicate some maintenance is required to stop the drip? (I expect such drips are not normal, even if it is just the residual water from the raw water cooling system).

Thanks for sharing some insight here.

JQ
 
jibes138

jibes138

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Jan 27, 2008
3,092
ODay 35 Beaufort, NC
Can you provide more detail or a photo? If it is the stuffing bock where the shaft goes through where it exits the boat it should drip about a drip every thirty seconds. If more than that you need to tighten it a little. There should be a large nut shaped part with a lock nut behind it. You need two wrenches, one to hold the large stuffing box and the other to loosen the lock nut.
The other source of water could be your wet exhaust system has a leak that is dripping on the engine, but when the engine is off it should stop once the supply is gone.
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
The leak is coming from "uphill" along the shaft, not at the stuffing box. It appears to be coming directly from where the shaft enters the engine, but I should double check that to make sure. Didn't get a photo of it, but will likely be there this weekend. I also need to check and see if it is leaking while the engine is running or only after I have turned it off.
 
Scott T-Bird

Scott T-Bird

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Oct 26, 2008
6,432
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
It sounds like your packing gland is leaking more than it should. Try tightening first but be careful not to over-tighten. At some point, you need to replace the packing. At that point is when I replaced with a PSS shaft seal that I bought from this store.

The PSS has made me very happy, no more water in the bilge ... at least from the shaft (there's always other sources like rain through the mast or ice melt draining from the ice box)
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
PS- I did have the stuffing box repacked and the drive shaft replaced (old one had a warp in it) a couple of months ago when I had the bottom job done.
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
Good ideas for me to check on, thanks. I'll look at those two spaces and see if the leak is there or somewhere else. Photos if I can't figure it out from there.
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,360
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
JonnyQuest said:
PS- I did have the stuffing box repacked ... a couple of months ago when I had the bottom job done.
Click to expand
Even after having it done or better yet learning and doing it yourself, the stuffing box should be checked after the initial setup. It could well be dripping a tad more than minimum, and the water whipping off it goes in all directions, including up. Then it could be simply dripping back. Learn how to do it yourself from the link provided. Also a good idea to let us know what is above it which could also be a source of a leak.
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
Stu Jackson said:
Even after having it done or better yet learning and doing it yourself, the stuffing box should be checked after the initial setup. It could well be dripping a tad more than minimum, and the water whipping off it goes in all directions, including up. Then it could be simply dripping back. Learn how to do it yourself from the link provided. Also a good idea to let us know what is above it which could also be a source of a leak.
Click to expand
The link looks good. I'll check on these things and follow up next week after getting back to the boat.
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
Leak stopped! (enough, at least)

I adjusted the stuffing box nuts (which was recently repacked during haul-out servicing) and that took care of the drip. Actually, after sailing from Mandeville to Slidell through the midday doldrums the engine got a fair bit of use and the drip went from once per second to a fast drip/slow stream--Yikes! Tightening the stuffing box nuts has reduced the drop to about once every 15-20 seconds or so now-- which others at the harbor say is pretty customary witih a standard stuffing box.

And now I know how to repack my own stuffing box to boot!

(only 14,999 more lessons to go ((give or take a million or so)) before I graduate from "Beginner With a Boat School." :D

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
CalebD

CalebD

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Jun 27, 2006
1,479
Tartan 27' 1967 Nyack, NY
So many of these systems on a boat can seem daunting or overwhelming when you first get a boat. I was afraid to tackle our stuffing box our second year even though well meaning people would say: "Oh, you'll fix that easily." Essentially they were right and now the stuffing box is not a mystery to me or you.
Congrats.
Check out some of the other projects at the link I sent you: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects
 
JonnyQuest

JonnyQuest

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May 18, 2010
543
Oday 27 Gulfport, MS
Here's a neat photo of how things looked before tightening cutless bearing

Water beginning to pool up below in engine compartment; half inch or so.
Time to double check the bilge.
Tightened bearing and bilge working.
Ahhh!

Pretty neat catching the drip ripples below--action shot, eh?:)
 

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