Inboard installation of Dripless Shaft Seal

[Bob Kirsten]

Gang,

I saw an old forum that said installing the Dripless Shaft Seal was not too tough, so dove into it myself. Last year at the end of the season I would come back to the boat in the water and find an inch or more of water in the cabin after a week. I thought I tightened the packing, but it kept leaking.

I noted that the best price was from Deep Blue Yacht Supply at about $185 (list is $240). The problem was that I needed two measurements - the shaft diameter (no problem on this at 3/4"), but also the OD on the tube attached to the boat (at the shaft exit). That meant I had to unscrew the old packing nuts and de-install the shaft from the transmission which was not too easy. I got the big shaft packing nut wrench from West Marine (much like a large adjustable crescent), and, since it was packing nuts were brass, was able to unscrew it. The rubber housing behind it had 4 stainless straps, with two of them well under the fuel tank. I had to use a very stubby screwdriver to loosen them, then attacked the shaft. Two screws in the transmission plate threaded into indents on either side of the shaft, but the shaft itself fit in very tightly. With the bolts loosened, I got under the boat with hammer and a large open end wrench. I used the wrench to hammer the prop and shaft aft until it pulled out of the transmission plate. Climbing back inside, I found a tight fitting key in the shaft which took some WD40 and much wiggling with pliers to get that key out. Then the shaft pulled out no problem.

Sorry for the long story, but then I could pull the rubber boot off and find the diameter on the tube was 1 3/4". I am waiting for Blue Water to open to order the new unit and install it this week. Then I can finally get in the water this year.

I'll add final notes when I'm finished.

Bob Kirsten

[tpf]

I tried installing a PSS seal a few years ago and had great difficulty. The metal part that is installed on the shaft was a very tight fit and no matter what I did the orings rolled and extruded into the keyway on the shaft.

I actually pulled the shaft, filled the keyway with epoxy, chamfered the end and polished the OD to get the seal on but once on it was so tight I could not move the piece down the shaft (too much friction).

I contacted PSS to get the proper dimensions for the seal ID and oring grooves but they would not give them to me. They suggested that I send the seal back but I had a death in the family and gave up put the packing box back in and sold the boat a few years later.

I hope your experiences are better than mine.

[Bob Kirsten]

dpf,

Sorry to take so long to respond. I did experience the same problem you described about how long the DSS unit was, leaving no space for the key. I fabricated, out of mdf wood, a split cover that went around the shaft, but faced up against the forward portion of the DSS unit. It allowed me to compress the bellows on the DSS somewhat. Then I made some mdf wedges that I could drive against the aft end of the transmission to puss the bellows portion further aft. It gave me just enough room to still slide the shaft back, and fiddle the key back in. It probably took a dozen tries, with my ever patient wife working from the outside.

I do love the way it works, and she is completely dry now.

Bob Kirsten