Dear friends, i have a hunter 30/1981, during a regular check up , i found water under the engine at a rate of one drip every second even wbhen the engine is turn off, somewhre midway between the transmission and where the drive shaft exit the hull, i heard that watter should come to lubricate but at a slower rate and only when you are underway. Please help and what should i do and any parts should replace. Thank you
sea water under the engine
- Thread starter chokrisandy
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I have the same issue with my 83 H30. When I get launched each year. You probably need to adjust the packing gland. If it's old style flax and parading packing it takes a while to swell when you first get launched so war a day or so.
Your stuffing box probably needs adjusting. Look at the pictures attached. Simple task made complicated sometimes by the difficulty in getting the tools positioned properly. Pix 01 shows the complete assembly including the packing. You need to unscrew the locknut (closest to rubber hose). Counter clockwise. PB blaster will help. You will need to put a wrench on the adjusting nut to be able to exert some strength (Pix 03). You might need to tap it lightly to free it. You do not want to bang it hard as it may cause damage to the tranny. Once free, unscrew the locknut to give yourself some room, i.e. thread space to adjust. Now tighten the adjusting nut (clockwise) until the drip ceases. Once you're satisfied that no more water comes in, tighten lightly the locking nut back on the adjusting nut (clockwise) and start your engine and put it in forward gear (of course secure the boat properly in its slip first). Let it run and go check for water entry. With the help of a flashlight--and a mirror if you need one--count the drops per minute. If it is more than two, tighten the adjusting nut slightly. If you cannot make this adjustment without putting body parts or clothing in dangerous proximity to the spinning shaft, stop the engine, make the adjustment, then restart it to check the drips. When the drip rate is one or two drops per minute, stop the engine. Hold the adjusting nut securely so that you do not alter the setting, then tighten the locknut against it. Before you extract yourself from your access position, carefully check the strap clamps that attach the hose to the stuffing box and to the stern tube. You should be fine unless the packing needs replacement. good luck
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The "pan" under the engine has a water channel under it to allow water from the stuffing box and other water from the stern of the boat to pass under the engine pan into the bilge. In addition to checking the stuffing box for adjustment, this under the pan water channel should be cleaned out. A long metal rod or flat bar can be used to break up whatever is blocking the water channel.
Thank you every one specialy Claude for the elaborate explanation and the help you provided, pic are very good help. One more question, i got the boat couple of months ago and i dont know if the original owner did any part replacement in the stuffing box, so shall i consider replacing any parts , if so what should i order and from where ?, and also should i excpect watter to rush in during the adjustment\replacement . Thank you for your help and time
You're welcome. Glad to be able to help. Assuming you've never done replacement of the packing, I would not attempt it in the water on your first try. Chances are it probably only needs adjustment, and if the boat has just been launched, it should admit less water as the packing gets impregnated fully within a couple of days. You will get more water gushing in when you unscrew the adjusting nut, and less when you screw it in. Do not unscrew it all unless changing the packing. Your boat either has a 7/8" or 1" shaft and the packing is either 3/16 or 1/4. Packing could be either one with each size. You need to ascertain which size for your boat. You can look at teflon packing that now allow you to reduce water intake to almost nothing. Good luck.
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if its coming from the packing...you know what you gotta do. I had some water and it wasn't the packing...further investigation found the mixing elbow had cracked on the aft side - not visible when you look straight on the engine from the cabin.
Thank you Claude and Paul for this info, very useful. However, in my 1984 H31, once the water has run down the engine pan, and through a tube into a sort of sump at the base of the ladder, where does it go from there? Do I need to drill a hole somewhere ( hate doing that!) to get it into the main bilge? Picture attached.
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If you have water sitting in the area with the keel bolt it means the area in between your hull and liner is full of water. About 2or3 gallons. It will be scary but drilling is next.
If this isn't enough info. Look up threads from tr6. Excellent pics of what you could be in store for. My drilled hole in the pic is not low enough. I still need to go lower.
If this isn't enough info. Look up threads from tr6. Excellent pics of what you could be in store for. My drilled hole in the pic is not low enough. I still need to go lower.
A note about PB Blaster. It's great stuff. I have been told, however, to be careful not to spray it around all over. It can disolve rubber, like the seals at the end of your transmission.
Mr C. I have lookied up TR6's notes, and I already have a small hole drilled just like the one in your picture, and probably got the idea from you in the first place. The only hole I have from the engine pan is filled with a rubber tube leading to the pan with the keel bolt. There is no exit from that pan. Can I run a tbe from the keel bolt pan to the main bilge pan? Or should I just take the existing tube out and let the water go strainght from the engine pan to the bilge? I am preferring the thought of the former.
Mine has the same 2 holes as yours, but doesn't connect with a tube. I had a leak under the liner and that leak filled water up too that hole where the keel bolt is. I then drilled hole in bilge and drained all the water.
I've been told that water from the engine should not reach the bilge because the engine could be leaking contaminants.
So your water is going to the hidden bilge. Wonder if there is a way to get it from engine pan to upper bilge pan with pump
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