Volvo Shaft Seal

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Sep 24, 2010
34
Beneteau 321 Edgewater, MD
We bought a 321 last year and have been doing some deferred maintenance this winter. The PO has recently replaced the Volvo Shaft Seal, less than 50 motor hours ago as of now. Part of the maintenance we are doing is replacing all thru-hulls and seacocks. When I pulled off the seacock for hose going to the shaft seal, it was frozen in the closed position even though the handle operated smoothly.

I imagined that the reason for the PO needing to replace the shaft seal so recently was that it overheated and caused the seal to go bad, but I have also read that the external water line is not necessary on low speed boats (sailboats). The seal was not leaking when we pulled the boat out of the water.

Should I replace the seal as a preventative measure because the external water feed was closed for the 50 or so hours I have put on the motor since it was replaced and might have burnt the seal? I plan to keep the boat in the water year round for about three years until my next haul out for bottom paint.
 
Apr 14, 2010
195
Jeanneau 42DS Larnaca Marina
The hose entering the shaft log behind the volvo seal is for cooling the cutless bearing and not the volvo seal. The nipple glued into the top of the log can break off easily as I found out and if it happens in the water, it is a catastrophic failure. I will be replacing the volvo seal with a PSS with it's own nipple for cooling both the seal and cutless and I will be glassing over the hole on the log left by the broken nipple. Make sure the thruhaul, valve and hose to the PSS nipple are in good condition. Hope this helps.
 
Nov 23, 2009
437
Beneteau Oceanis 361 Clipper --
The hose entering the shaft log behind the volvo seal is for cooling the cutless bearing and not the volvo seal.
Lee are you sure about this? I mean the cutlass bearing is always below the water line whereas the volvo seal is not.

And yes, that stupid nipple is dangerous. Mine broke, luckily when the boat was out of the water, after touching it accidentally ( but was corroded anyway). I have replaced it but i always check that looks OK.
 
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