Leaky shaft???

[jetskipro550]

So our drive shaft is leaking pretty bad. At first I thought it was just the dripping getting a litte excessive and it needed to be adjusted. But when I water tested it with the boat NOT in gear water was pouring in as a steady stream. Then I shut the engine off and the water continued to pour in between the shaft packing nut and the jam nut. Does something need to be tightened or is there a more serious problem at hand?

Thanks, Patrick

[jetskipro550]

here is a link to a picture that looks pretty much the same as what I am talking about

LINK

[Sunsetter95]

Here is a link to some dicussion on how to adjust your "nuts" so to speak.

Discussion on shaft packing adjustment.

[jetskipro550]

I have read all of those threads but I didin't think that it should be leaking a steady stream with the boat turned off. That seems a little scary!

[Sunsetter95]

If the packing nut is really out of adj, it will leak all of the time, more when turning.

Generally, most people notice that they are getting more water leaking in while the prop shaft is turning.

If yours can not be adj to where just a drip every 10-15 sec, then you may need to replace the packing. In a DD it is easy to get to.

If you need to replace the packing, you may want to look into this GFO packing.

Dripless packing

[Jesse]

Ditto on the dripless packing (GFO).

It is fairly easy to replace and once you install it you will be a happy boater.

[Baddog]

I started the thread referenced above and made the adjustment earlier this year very successfully. Before adjustment, I had a steady stream of water leaking with the engine off and no movement of the boat. Worse when under way. Now, 1 drop every 15-30 seconds. It is very easy to adjust on a DD and I understand a bit more verbal adjustment on a VD.

[jetskipro550]

Before adjustment, I had a steady stream of water leaking with the engine off and no movement of the boat

f the packing nut is really out of adj, it will leak all of the time

Thanks for the replies, thats what I wanted to hear!!!

[Brad B]

It is very easy to adjust on a DD and I understand a bit more verbal adjustment on a VD.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

More than a bit. Add a little grunting and tool throwing.

[Chauncemaster]

my packing sometimes leaks in a steady stream and needs to be tightened

[Baddog]

my packing sometimes leaks in a steady stream and needs to be tightened

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Can't help you with that one.

[Faceplant409]

I had adjusted mine in the old DD a couple of times...no sweat. But a couple of weeks ago I left the VLX in the water for a week and decided to take a look at the drip rate. One drip a second out of gear. I tried to get channel locks in there with zero sucsess. So I made sure the bilge pump worked and crossed my fingers.

The only way I see it happening (at least on an 04 without removing the throughhull ballast valve) is with crow's foot wrench adapters and socket extension.

P

[jetskipro550]

So we just adjusted ours today... It sucked!!! Our drip system is completely out of whack. When we started it ran a steady stream but we got it down to 1 every 9 seconds. Our problem was that we turned one nut an 1/8 turn and there was no drips at all so we turn it back a tiny bit, still no drips, then we turn it even further then where we started from and guess what....still no drips. We turn it one full turn past where we started and then it dripped a lot. So we play this game for about 45 minutes until we nailed it down to 1 every 9.

Our boat mechnic quoted us a price of $210 for a dripless system but the highest price for the GFO is only $59. I KNOW our mechnic isn't ripping us off, is there better systems then the GFO that cost more? We are definitly going to have the dripless put in after that PITA!!!

[Sunsetter95]

There is a completely dripless system but I do not have a price or the link. It is a complete change from what is on there now.

I'll see if I can find it.

[jetskipro550]

There is a completely dripless system but I do not have a price or the link. It is a complete change from what is on there now.

I'll see if I can find it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So the GFO is "virtually dripless" and the one that we would put in is "completely dripless" What do you reccomend?

[gooddog]

Look here...

http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1032

[Chauncemaster]

I had adjusted mine in the old DD a couple of times...no sweat. But a couple of weeks ago I left the VLX  in the water for a week and decided to take a look at the drip rate. One drip a second out of gear. I tried to get channel locks in there with zero sucsess. So I made sure the bilge pump worked and crossed my fingers.

The only way I see it happening (at least on an 04 without removing the throughhull ballast valve) is with crow's foot wrench adapters and socket extension.

P

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is why my 02 VLX still drips like a faucet. I've made sure the bilge pumps are working and just think about the extra water in the bilge as more ballast