Shaft Seal Failure?

[jimmcgee]

I have a 95 C30. I noticed that after a day on the water the shaft seal is leaking with a steady drip. After a day it will "take up" and go back to about five drips per minute. Unfortunately the adjustment nut is frozen and it's almost impossible to get a wrench on it as it's directly under the wall of the counter. My buddy has a 2000 MKIII and the packing nut is a good six inches further back and easily accessible.

With just a couple of weeks left in the sailing season and a new dripless PSS seal sitting on the shelf as a winter project. I really don't want to spend a day trying to break this nut free.

Has anyone else seen this behavior, and is there any reason to worry about a complete failure of the seal?

From what I've read I don't think so but...

Jim

 

[Stu Jackson]

Aren't you going to have to take it off anyway to do the PSS? Get some PB Blaster from Ace Hardware, and spray it on the stuffing box, being careful not to get any on the transmission seals or the stern tube hose. Do this for a few days in a row and get the proper wrench to remove the locking nut. Once you do get the nut off, use Lanocote on the threads and the facing sides of the two nuts and you'll never have to worry about getting them apart ever again. If you don't "want to spend a day doing it" who else will? As long as your bilge pump works and your batteries are charged, the leak won't be a problem.

I did a search on "wrench" and found this: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=704619&highlight=wrench

 

[jimmcgee]

Aren't you going to have to take it off anyway to do the PSS?

I did a search on "wrench" and found this: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=704619&highlight=wrench

Stu, I'd much rather do it when the boat is on the hard than waste one of the few remaining sailing days.

I have two of the wrenches in your link. The problem is the location of the rear nut. Picture the rear door to the engine compartment open and the hatch removed from the floor. You're now looking at an "L" shaped lip. On my boat the packing nuts are under that "L" and damn near impossible to get a wrench on. Yet, on my buddies MKIII they're both accessible through the floor hatch.

Once I'm hauled I can soak everything down with PB Blaster, undo the clamps and remove the hose, undo the flange bolts at the trans and slide the whole thing back. I don't have that option in the water, so I'd have to wrestle with the wrenches at an impossible angle and hopefully not round them over.

The bilge pump isn't having any trouble keeping up, especially after it takes up. I was worried that the seal might fail completely. So far the responses I've gotten are "don't worry about it, even if you pull the flax packing out to change it there's not a huge inflow."

Jim

 

[RTB]

I have basically the same issue, other than my nuts are easy to get at. I sprayed with PB Blaster and have two of the wrenches http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52-301-wrenches/adjustable-slip-nut-wrench-198010.aspx but can't break them loose. Water does start streaming out of the packing nut when I put force on the nuts, but not sure if that is normal? It was labor day weekend and no way to get hauled out if things went bad, so left it alone and the dripping slowed down after a couple of days. I hate to put a pipe wrench on the nuts and chew them up...not sure how to proceed at this point.

Ralph

 

[Stu Jackson]

Jim, I hear ya. All I was suggesting was the information specific to C30s in that link I provided. I agree that you can wait til you haul, and as I noted above, if your systems are working ya won't sink! That's all. Good luck when you get to it. Perhaps Bad Obsession will chime in again, since he has a C30 and as provided in the link he has the same issue you do.

But you might wanna consider starting the PBB soaking NOW rather than waiting.

 

[jimmcgee]

It figures

Stu, absolutely right on starting the PB now. It certainly can't hurt. Just feeling a little frustrated with the seal. I picked up the PSS seal at the Sail Pacific show last year in Oakland, but was traveling so much I didn't get a chance to put it on before spring launch. The other job I didn't get to was putting in AC.

When we finally splashed I told the wife the seal, which has never been a problem, will fail and it will be the hottest summer on record...

Jim

 

[Stu Jackson]

.... but was traveling so much I didn't get a chance to put it on before spring launch. The other job I didn't get to was putting in AC.

When we finally splashed I told the wife the seal, which has never been a problem, will fail and it will be the hottest summer on record...

Jim, I understand completely. Only downside is ya didn't stop by and say hello when you were here. That's the cause of all your problems this year --- it's all MY fault! If you'd stayed here, you'd have experienced the coldest August on record --- 35 days of fog with NO sun. Usually it's a three day on, three day off affair with the gray stuff. Yikes!

At least you're on the path to figuring it out and gaining access. Why not pm Bad O and ask directly and then let us know what trick you figured out to make it work. We see this all the time: everybody's got a "way" to do something and then, voila, someone comes up with a newer quicker more efficient way to do it. The learning never stops. Take some flix while you're at it and post 'em. I've always liked the "This is how I busted the first eight of my knuckles" stories than "cutesy boat pictures." Those I can see with my own eyes every time I go out on the boat, but those sunset and sunrise pictures earlier this week sure were nice - wish I was there.

 

[Anonymous 121765]

Jim,
as always the guys are right on. My 1980 C30 was like that also. No room. I put the PSS shaft seal in about 10 years ago along with my re-powering. Now I tell everyone I have "dust" in my bilge.

One thing you may want to be aware of is that I had a bronze shaft. My boat being older than yours, over the years, the flax wore grooves in the shaft. I replaced it with a s.s. shaft. So check your packing gland area for grooves when doing your changeout.

CR

 

[Bob S]

Jim I had the same problem getting a wrench on the locking nut. Use PB but spray it in a cup and use a Q-tip to swab it. Do it every day. Took me three days to even budge it. I have a bronze shaft and it wasn't worn at all. The original owner put 235 hours on her. From what I was told, he was the type to sit on his boat and entertain. He almost never sailed her. I've put on about 50 hour/season since. Remove the access door and the teak molding . It helped a little. That nut is directly under the cabinet face and floor. There is no way to get a good bight on the lock nut. BTW I repacked mine with 2 pieces of 1/4" GFO and the amount of drip doesn't fill the small gully under the nut. It evaporated before ever making the bilge. I've checked the shaft after six hours of motoring and it was slightly warm to the touch.

don't ya just love boats!

 

[jimmcgee]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Stu, next time I'm out your way I'll buy you a beer. That waterfront bar in Oakland that sank half into the ground during the earthquake might be a cool spot, otherwise I hear tell they have a bar or two in San Fran

I split time between Concord and Sacramento for about six weeks, a lot of long hours and not much time for play. I will say that when the thermometer was reading 107 in the salon this summer a little cold and fog would have sounded pretty good.

CaptRon, I also have a bronze shaft. I understood that the wear point from the stuffing box wouldn't line up with the PSS seal and shouldn't be a problem. We'll see if that matches up with reality when I get into it.

I'm going to start the PB Blaster this week, so it should be well soaked by the time I haul out toward the end of October. I'm thinking there's two ways I can go here, remove the rubber hose completely to give me room to slide the shaft back, or fabricate wrenches to fit the stuffing box out of steel flat stock to get me through the job. I will PM BadO and I'll post some photos of how the job goes.

Take care all,
Jim